PROFESSIONAL ISSUES

More Mütter to love: Fulfillment of a dream

A new gallery, inspired by the museum's long-time curator, expands the space for displays both clinical and curious.

By Bonnie Booth, AMNews staff. Aug. 8, 2005.

There was no end to the lengths Gretchen Worden would go to promote her beloved Mütter Museum at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

She created museum calendars, lectured around the world and appeared on radio and television. She may have reached some of her largest audiences on the "Late Show with David Letterman."

College of Physicians of Philadelphia President Arthur Asbury, MD, said Worden and Letterman had the same wry sense of humor.

"You could tell by the grin on her face that she was up to something," Dr. Asbury said. "She would demonstrate how a stone breaker, used to break up stones in the bladder, worked. It would make a cracking sound and [Letterman] would grimace and flinch. It made wonderful theater.

"She was the one who brought news of the Mütter Museum to the world," he added.

It is only fitting then that the museum's new gallery, which unofficially opened July 1, is named the Worden Gallery. Spreading the word about the new space, however, will fall to someone else. Worden died Aug. 2, 2004, following a brief illness. She was 57 years old.

The gallery is a seamless addition to the museum, with the same carpeting, and refinished wooden and glass display cases that are 100 years old.

Laurie Grant, director of marketing and development at the College, said the extra space gives the museum an opportunity to display artifacts that have been held in storage for as long as 20 years.

"It was Gretchen's dream," Grant said.

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