First Friday: More Than Meets the Eye
This First Friday is themed around the new exhibit, More Than Meets the Eye, which explores social and material technologies that have shaped corneal transplantation.
Corneas became the first human tissue to be successfully transplanted in 1905. Come learn about the science of eye banking that has kept this surgical practice going since the early 1900s.
In partnership with AltruVision–A Lions Eye Bank—a nonprofit organization and our neighbor here in Philadelphia—this exhibition presents the history of corneal donations and transplantation. It shows how donor networks, preservation techniques, and transportation devices have evolved with surgical practices over the years. From Helen Keller’s 1925 address to the Lions Clubs International Convention—a powerful act of self-advocacy in which she called upon the Lions to become “Knights of the Blind”—to bespoke tools like the microkeratome and the humble FedEx box, More Than Meets the Eye encourages visitors to think about surprising coalitions and unique forms of expertise that have made it possible to perform this life-altering surgery.
November is Eye Donation Month, and we are pleased to kick it off by welcoming members of the extended AltruVision family to the opening of More Than Meets the Eye.
Be sure to swing by our handling table, where we will be displaying some of the tactile learning tools that can make the home, the lab, and even outer space accessible to people who are blind or have low vision. Then check out the Othmer Library’s table to see a 1786 copy of the first embossed book published for use by readers who are blind. Last but not least, AltruVision will also be hosting a table about the science of sight, the impact of donation, and ways to get involved.
