International Museum of Surgical Science

The International Museum of Surgical Science is one of Chicago’s most unusual museums. It combines the history of medicine and surgery with the history of one of the city’s remaining lakefront mansions. Located on Lake Shore Drive in the Gold Coast, the museum occupies the Eleanor Robinson Countiss House. The house is a French-inspired mansion that was completed in 1917. Inside, there are four floors of galleries to explore the development of surgery, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, anatomy, and healing practice from ancient history to the modern era. The museum is operated by the International College of Surgeons. It was founded in 1935 to encourage the exchange of surgical knowledge internationally.

The story of the museum starts as many do with the building itself. The mansion was commissioned by Eleanor Robinson Countiss, the daughter of John Kelly Robinson, an executive and heir connected to the Diamond Match Company. Eleanor had grown up in a wealthy Chicago family and became a figure in the city’s social and business circles. Her father provided the funds for the construction of her new home as a wedding gift to her and her first husband, Frederick Dower Countiss. Eleanor had a very specific architectural vision; she wanted her house to resemble Le Petit Trianon, the small French chateau on the grounds of Versailles that was associated with Marie Antoinette.

To realize that vision, Eleanor hired the prominent Chicago architect Howard Van Doren Shaw. The finished construction created a 12,000 square foot mansion with thirty rooms. The result was a French Neoclassical residence built from Indiana limestone, Italian marble, decorative plasterwork, elaborate fireplaces, brass fixtures, and a gilded staircase. An elevator was also installed and remains in operation today.

The house was also designed for entertaining. Eleanor and her family occupied the mansion during a period when Lake Shore Drive was becoming one of Chicago’s most prestigious residential areas. Eleanor hosted prominent visitors from Chicago’s business and social world, including members of the Ford, Shedd, and Morton families, as well as the prince and princess of Sweden. Eleanor met her second husband, Lawrence H. Whiting, while she was hosting the novelist Edna Ferber in their home. Allegedly, Eleanor and Lawrence’s meeting and romance occurred during this social gathering, and the relationship supposedly inspired Edna Ferber’s 1925 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel So Big. This also resulted in the divorce from Frederick Downer Countiss. Lawrence and Eleanor lived in the mansion until her death in 1931.

Eleanor herself was involved in more than just party hosting. She was involved in business and civic life. She managed the women’s department of Boulevard Bridge Bank and was involved in the development of the American Furniture Mart. She was involved in the Red Cross during World War I and was honored by the Queen of Belgium for her work.

The house’s next chapter began in the 1950s when it was acquired by Dr. Max Thorek and the International College of Surgeons. Thorek was a Hungarian-born surgeon who had established his medical career in Chicago and had an international vision for the surgical profession. In 1935, he founded the International College of Surgeons in Geneva, Switzerland, with the goal of encouraging surgeons from different countries to exchange knowledge. The organization established its headquarters in Chicago, and the former Countiss residence became connected to its expanding collection of medical artifacts. The idea for the museum originally came from the International College of Surgeons Hall of Fame. As the organization grew, surgeons began donating surgical instruments, medical objects, artwork, books, manuscripts, and other historically significant materials.

After several years of renovations, the International Museum of Surgical Science opened to the public on September 9, 1954. From the beginning, the museum was intended to present surgery as a field with a huge history. One of its earliest and most beautiful major installations was the Hall of Immortals, which featured twelve large stone sculptures representing important figures in medicine and science. Another early exhibition was the Hall of Murals, a series of paintings illustrating the development of surgical science through history.

The museum’s early galleries reflected the ambitions of the International College of Surgeons. Beginning in 1959, the museum opened galleries dedicated to countries including France, Mexico, Spain, and the Netherlands, with additional national rooms following later. The galleries demonstrated the contributions different nations have made to surgical knowledge. This approach reflected the college’s mission of creating an international community of surgeons and encouraging the exchange of medical knowledge.

Over time, the museum’s approach changed. Beginning in the 1990s, the exhibitions were organized around historical themes and surgical disciplines. Today, the gallery covers an enormous range of subjects. From ophthalmology, pregnancy, disease, dentistry, pharmacy, and more. The museum incorporated paintings, illustrations, sculptures, manuscripts, and other works of art to emphasize that the history of medicine is also a history of human culture. One of the museum’s most fascinating spaces is its nineteenth-century apothecary, which was reconstructed using materials from two actual apothecaries that operated around the turn of the twentieth century.

Another important part of the museum is its Max Thorek Rare Book and Manuscript collection. Books and manuscripts are particularly important to the history of surgery because medical knowledge was traditionally passed down through written texts, case studies, and professional publications.

Today the museum maintains more than 10,000 square feet of public galleries across the mansion’s four floors. Its mission is to help visitors understand the history, development, and advances of surgery and related areas, while preserving its collections for future generations. The museum continues to host exhibitions, education programs, lectures, and special events alongside its permanent collections.

Author Review:

The International Museum of Surgical Science is absolutely stunning. The building is beautiful and timeless, and that is one of the things that makes the museum so memorable. It is so beautiful that they even host weddings! There is an incredible amount of information throughout the galleries, so there is a lot to read and take in. Because of that, I think it is worth coming back multiple times rather than trying to see everything in one visit. The museum has free admission days for Illinois residents, which makes returning even easier. Their website is super easy to navigate in terms of admission prices and which days are free. From DePaul’s Lincoln Park Campus, it is a relatively short trip up Lake Shore Drive. It is about a 30-45 minute walk, or a 15-20 minute CTA trip. I would especially recommend checking out the museum’s lectures and programs if you are pre-med, studying science, or just a science nerd in general, because they seem very detailed. It is also worth adding that, if you are squeamish, you can still visit and have a good time because they have trigger warnings on exhibitions that require it. Between the history, architecture, and knowledge, it is definitely a must see Chicago museum.

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