Revolutionary Botany
The College of Physicians and the Origins of American Pharmacy
Mark the nation’s 250th birthday by visiting our new special exhibition embracing Philadelphia’s role as “the birthplace of America” and the College as “the birthplace of American medicine.” Revolutionary Botany, on view through 2026, examines the origins of the American pharmacy and American botanical medicine.
In 1735, Carl Linnaeus introduced a new naming system for plants and animals, known as the Linnaean revolution, transforming the study of botany in Philadelphia and beyond. His system is still used worldwide today. This revolution also transformed medical practice, as colonial botanists and physicians shared knowledge of new medicinal plants found in America.
Revolutionary Botany explores how this change paved the way for the creation of the first collection of recommended medicines published in the United States, known as The Pharmacopoeia of the United States of America (1820). Nearly half the plants included in the Pharmacopoeia were first used by Native American healers. This major event also led to the development of pharmacy as a discipline quite separate from medicine, thereby dividing the prescribing and dispensing of drugs into two distinct professions.
College Fellows and Philadelphians Benjamin Smith Barton and his nephew, William Paul Crillon Barton, are celebrated for their pivotal roles in introducing invaluable plant knowledge, derived from conversations with indigenous healers, into the National Materia Medica. Their work is presented alongside stunning illustrations of indigenous medicinal plants included within the Pharmacopoeia.
Admission to this exhibition is included with your Mütter Museum ticket.
This exhibition has been made possible by the generosity of the Groff Family Memorial Trust.