The City Speaks

We visited the Cabildo today and I have to say it was pretty cool to see all the different aspects in one museum. It is a shame to find out that the Cabildo had a fire in 1988 when it contains so much history. I was very intrigued by the Surgeon's Chest (yes a chest, a huge one in fact) with Medicine and Post-Mortem Dissection Equipment. I mean could you imagine hauling that thing around? The chest was owned by the Confederate States Army Surgeon Dr. Joseph Jones. This chest was unusual because it reflected the interest of post-mortem dissection. Even though this was unusual, he did so to increase his knowledge of the human body. This is fascinating to me because he was probably one of the first people to start doing so, and in doing so he gained so much knowledge for the living. When I looked at this box, I thought about how the instruments used were not sterilized after each use, but the thing is, is that Dr. Jones had no idea the benefits of sterilization. To us in today's medical field, we look back and think "how could they not know?" I mean you have to tell yourself though that we would not know about sterilization techniques without the evidenced based practice that we use today. This truly helps us gain the information we have today and use it to our benefit. We really do need to tip our hats to these people because they have brought us to where we are today.



Another interesting piece was the ballot box that was located in the Cabildo. Now a days, when you go to vote, it is so strict and there are the computers to enter your vote into. The fact that the ballot box was a simple box with a key lock was fascinating because it would be so easy to alter the votes once cast. This wasn't the most interesting though. What really caught my eye was the strong desire of free black men to gain their own voting rights. They went to numerous meetings and waited years before any changes were made. I was just so thrilled to see that through their perservance and dedication that their dream became a reality. Although their dream was only a reality for a short time, they did not give up right away. They continued to work so hard and with their hard work, they have come a long way to where we are now. It's hard to look back on history and realize that people treated other human beings like this. Right here in Louisiana, the free blacks had fought so hard for their rights no matter how many times they were declined. I mean look where that brought them to today. My Dad is involved in politics, so I have grown up around it. I have seen first hand how much work goes into making a new movement. Even in small towns, there is so much work that goes into having one small bill passed. I cannot even fathom how hard the blacks had worked to get as far as they have. It is truly incredible to see how hard they worked and never gave up. Some probably fought until their last breath, so they didn't have to see their loved ones continue to live like that. A voice is a voice, and the power of the words that can come from it are endless.

Now onto the pharmacy museum! Okay guys, this place was pretty neat. When you walk into the museum, there were potions and herbs lined up all around the room which was so cool to see. I mean the fact that some of those bottles were from the store originally was pretty cool. The pharmacy was actually owned by a man named Louis J. Dufilho who was America's first licensed pharmacist. I mean that's pretty cool right? What's cooler is the museum is where he did his practice. There were 3 floors entirely, but the second floor is the only one we could go to. There were some pretty cool, kinda scary things up there. I mean some of the medications they would give patients were red flags for us now. I mean the patients would normally not die from the disease they had, but rather the medication they were given. I mean thankfully we have learned these things throughout the years because I was cringing as I was reading some of the information under the bottles. Okay, depending on how familiar you are with the medical field, I just hope you know that you CANNOT give lead or mercury to a human to ingest. They are so harmful to your body! Yet Dr. Dufilho was giving them to his patients because at the time that was all he knew. The pharmacist himself died from all the injections of mercury in his system. So if those things don't make you cringe just reading, how about I tell you about a Cesarean Section.

 

The very first Cesarean Section was performed in 1610.... with no anesthetic. Ouch! The biggest thing that really caught my attention was the fact that there was no successful C-Section until 1764. So to remind you, out of all of the C-sections that were performed from 1610-1764, not one woman survived. There was either too much blood loss or disease. I mean the saddest thing is that the women who were pregnant had a very strong inkling that they were going to die during childbirth if they needed a C-section. There was no way around it because at the time they may not have realized it, but they were trial and error. This really makes me cringe as a nursing student because the way child birthing is now is already painful. I mean sure they have anesthetics, but these people back then didn't even have that! I really do have to bow my heads to the people who went through these times because this was all they know. They really did not have the resources we have today, and they managed to get a successful C-Section in 1764. This trip has spoken to me by really showing me what the people went through at the time, and how they gained all the experience and knowledge through trial and error. They gained this knowledge of trial and error with real human lives. Without these people, we would not have the medical advancements that we do today. It really is incredible when you think about it.