Disentangling the History of Blood and Othering: A Relational Materialist Approach to Decolonising Medical Museums

Oral history is an important undertaking when dissecting the past. It ensures people's history is reflected accurately through their own memories and experiences, allowing them to control their own narrative. As a cultural historian, oral history is vital for a good understanding of people's experience. It also creates an opportunity for relatability and the idea of being 'seen' within contemporary discussions about history. I attended many oral history workshops and seminars during my second Masters and chose to focus my dissertation on oral history sources. As I was writing on the Second World War, I was unfortunately unable to conduct interviews myself and had to rely on oral history interviews that were in the public domain. I believed it was important to use these interviews to highlight women's experiences of their treatment by wounded soldiers at the time of WWII. It is not an aspect history that is often discussed and I believed it needed clarification and greater focus. Thus, due to my appreciation and understanding of this often overlooked area of history, I understand why oral histories fit with this project as it is important that minorities have their experienceswith blood heard and listened to.
These voices are important when critically assessing the racist preconceptions surrounding the treatment and transfusion of blood as many people would have witnessed first-hand a reluctance to treat those belonging to ethnic minorities. The discrepancy in attitudes towards blood ownership has been a topic of politically charged debate throughout history beginning with the discovery of the circulatory system by William Harvey. Oral histories open up the conversation and shine a spotlight on misrepresentations of blood in museums and also provide an opportunity for the history of ethnic minorities to be displayed in a positive manner. The power of medical objects is unique in demonstrating the rich and diverse history of medicine. Objects have a great power to reveal history and trigger memories for people who were familiar with them at the time. Objects also provide a way for people to three-dimensionally visualise what history was like rather than to be simply told. They are regularly utilised in museums because they provide a space for understanding and reflection.
In recent decades, museums have previously been filled with collections from colonial conquests, giving rise to a white-centric representation of history. Using medical objects from the Thackray collection, this project will allow us to ensure that ethnic minorities and their stories are better incorporated into our understanding of history. It is important that this takes place as history needs to represent all and not just the general consensus from those in power. The medical objects at Thackray relating to blood and the difficult circumstances in which they were used (or not used) will emphasise that racially biased imaginaries of history cannot be avoided.
Difficult conversations will need to take place as we encourage people to interrogate their own idea of history and how racially biased treatments and misconceptions about human anatomy have deeply affected ethnic minorities throughout time. During the Second World War, the blood of ethnic minorities was invariably rejected for the transfusion of Caucasians; anyone who wanted to donate and aid the cause w ic minorities who were HIV positive were less likely to receive the same level of care and treatment as their Caucasian counterparts. I believe this discrepancy would serve as an important area to explore as it will have made a lasting impact on the families ofthose who were denied treatment. This project certainly has the scope to explore the relationship between AIDS and blood in relation to medical objects and could serve as a good opportunity to tackle a subject that is sometimes considered taboo.