Science Museum and Wellcome Mark 50 Years of Partnership

The Science Museum and Wellcome are marking half a century of collaboration, which commenced in 1976 with the donation of 114,000 items from Sir Henry Wellcome's collection. Wellcome (1853-1936), a pioneer in the pharmaceutical industry, envisioned a 'Museum of Man.' In the 1970s, the Trustees of Wellcome aimed to establish a national medical history collection at the Science Museum. In 1973, Dame Margaret Weston approved the initiative, and Lord Donaldson announced the transfer on 22 June 1976. By 1983, this endeavor had successfully doubled the museum's collection. This partnership has produced exhibitions such as 'Glimpses of Medical History' (1980) and 'Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries' (2019), along with the 'Injecting Hope' exhibition (2022), which attracted around 5 million visitors. Additionally, Shuar representatives from Ecuador are scheduled to visit in 2025 for community engagement.