Founded in 1997, the Medical Heritage Center (MHC) is the special collections of the Health Sciences Library. The Center preserves, promotes, teaches and celebrates the health care legacy of central Ohio as the essential foundation from which the future of the health sciences is born.
The Center is located on the 5th floor of Prior Hall.
Access to the collections, research assistance, and tours are provided by appointment.
The rare books collection contains over 20,000 volumes representing limited edition and one-of-a kind monographs dating back to 1555.
All rare books are catalogued and searchable through The Ohio State University Library Catalog.
The artifacts within the Center’s collection represent medical equipment used as early as the 1800s and ranges from those now perceived as quackery to those that were truly innovations of their time.
Please contact the Collections Curator for more information and access to the artifact collection.
The archives include the papers and memorabilia from regional and nationally recognized luminaries as well as local health sciences organizations.
Finding aids for the archival collections can be viewed at the OhioLINK Finding Aid Repository.