Photographs of orthopedic-related medical research in Japan, 1962, including deformity and disease in children potentially related to radiation exposure and the atomic bomb

Box of 43 photographs mailed from Dr. Paul T. Kotani at Osaka City University Hospital in Japan to Dr. Joseph E. Milgram, wrapped in single sheet of university letterhead (no surviving correspondence). In original mailing carton, postmarked 1962. 43 original photographs of panels numbered (inside the image) 1-19, 22-24, 2 views of 26, 27-36, 38-46. The photographs have slight curling and some instances of unobtrusive discoloration. The images are slightly blurry, though much of the text is legible through a magnifying loupe. They show research presentation boards contributed by professionals at several Japanese medical institutions and universities including Hiroshima University, Okayama University, Niigata Cancer Center, Hirosaki University, Tokyo Medical College, Nagoya University and others.

Some of the research relates to the medical aftermath of the atomic bomb, including disfigurement. Several panels address congenital abnormalities and issues affecting children, with one titled "Rehabilitation programs for the crippled children in Japan." Another panel is "Studies upon the so-called Itai-itai (painful) disease and osteomalacia" by the Kohno Clinical Medicine Research Institute (Tokyo). Now known as chronic cadmium poisoning, the disease was local to a region in Toyama Prefecture and is reported to affect "females over 30 years of age working as a healthy housewife." The recipient of the images was Dr. Joseph E. Milgram, who was director of orthopedic surgery at the Hospital for Joint Diseases Orthopedic Institute in Manhattan. The "Hoke-Milgram traction cast" is referenced on slide 15. The item comes from James Milgram, M.D., son of the original recipient whose eminent collection of Americana and Historical Documents was auctioned at Hindman in 2022.