American Museum of Veterinary Medicine

Announcement!

As many of you know, the American Museum of Veterinary Medicine (AMVM) was not able to raise funds to purchase the Ridgewood Farm. However, the officers, directors, staff, and volunteers of AMVM wanted to keep the collection together and the name of AMVM alive; therefore, they began looking for a new home. We are pleased to inform you that they found a new home - Agrarian Country!

On March 2, 2010, the boards of directors of the American Museum of Veterinary Medicine and Agrarian Country announced that the AMVM will close its facilities in Birdsboro and reopen the museum at Agrarian Country in Grantville, Pennsylvania (Lebanon County) to become part of Agrarian Country’s showcase for agriculture at the new Heritage Arts Center (under development). Agrarian Country is the owner and caretaker of the famous 1872 Star Barn Complex that will be relocated and become an Agricultural Education and Exposition Center. Agrarian Country’s mission is to tell the story of agricultural life, history, and heritage (past, present, and future). Educational and edu-tourism programs will be conducted.

For more information about Agrarian Country and its current projects, contact us at:

Agrarian Country
1801 Oberlin Road
Middletown, PA 17057
717.831.0363
717.985.0632 (fax)
info@agrariancountry.com

www.AgrarianCountry.com
www.TheStarBarn.com
www.StarBarnThoroughbreds.com
www.FishingCreekPlayhouse.com

Dr. Robert S. Barr, President
Roberta A. Freeman, Executive Administrator
Max J. Herman, VMD, Chairman of the AMVM at Agrarian Country Management Council
Richard H. Detwiler, VMD, Chief Curator of the AMVM at Agrarian Country

Drs. Herman and Detwiler wish to thank you for your support of AMVM in the past and they look forward to seeing you at the reopening of American Museum of Veterinary Medicine at Agrarian Country!

We will be updating this website as soon as the final plan for the museum reopening has been approved.

AMVM News

Welcome to American Museum of Veterinary Medicine website.
To see our complete listing of events for 2010, please visit our
Calendar page.

We hope you find the time in 2010 to include a visit to the museum to see our displays and exhibits depicting the fascinating and educational history of veterinary medicine and its role in animal and human welfare. And, of course, no visit would be complete without stopping by our ASPCA Roger Caras Library and the Dr. Robert Shomer Rare Book Collection section. To learn more about the AMVM, click on the About AMVM link and to stop by, click on the Planning a Visit link. And we welcome your support of our mission with your contributions and membership. Just click on the Become a Member link. We're looking forward to seeing you soon !

Watch our Hi-Def videos from the American Vet Museum.

We need $12,000 immediately… We need funds immediately to match a grant provided by the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. This local history grant is to be used to document the relationship between the Pennsylvania farm and veterinary medicine using Ridgewood Farm – the site of our Museum – to illustrate this relationship. In order to get full advantage of the funds received, we must match it. Funds were raised at the end of last year, but we are still well short of what we need, as the match must be in place before the project can begin. We must complete and report on the project by June 2010. The project includes purchasing a life-size fiberglass milking cow and upgrading other educational exhibits. Please help us by contributing any amount you can. Just click on “Become a Member” to make a contribution or send a check to the Museum. Veterinary Career Day On May 30, 2009, AMVM held its first Veterinary Career and Family Fun Day. Visitors, and especially aspiring veterinarians, got to see an ultrasound performed on a dog, listen to a dog’s heartbeat, draw blood from the neck of a rubberized dog, view animal dental models, and give simulated intravenous and intramuscular injections. Probably the most fun was donning surgical scrubs and masks and sewing or splinting maimed stuffed animals with the assistance of veterinarians and veterinary technology students. There were roosters, chickens, rabbits, Icelandic sheep and rescued Greyhounds to pet. The Berks County Dog Training Club gave obedience demonstrations, and the Animal Rescue League brought animals looking for a new home. And, of course, the Museum was open for tours or to just wander through and view the exhibits.

The American Museum of Veterinary Medicine (AMVM) features medicine, instruments, equipment, text books and literature from more than a hundred years of veterinary history. Located on the Ridgewood Farm in Berks County near Reading, Pennsylvania, the site consists of a renovated historic farmhouse (circa 1740), with a high-style Federal wing (circa 1811), a rare 19th-century double bank barn and a host of outlying buildings.

The AMVM is a national, non-profit organization open to the general public, veterinarians, and all friends of veterinary medicine from across the United States.

Our mission is to provide a unique opportunity for the public to learn about the rich heritage of veterinary medicine and its role in animal and human welfare.

American Museum of Veterinary Medicine
5003A Main Street | Birdsboro, PA 19508
610-898-0659 or 610-489-4445
Hours: Tuesdays 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., Wednesdays 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
and by appointment.