Melnick exhibits contraceptive collection on campus

The Melnick Medical Museum at Youngstown State University is displaying a collection of contraceptives in a new exhibit at the Lincoln Avenue entrance of Cushwa Hall on the Youngstown State University campus. The four display cases contain artifacts on loan from the collection of the Dittrick Medical History Center at Case Western Reserve University. The artifacts are part of the museum’s collection of contraceptives, which is the most comprehensive collection of the subject in the world. The new display features historical male condoms, a diaphram, cervical caps, several types of oral contraceptives (or pills), and early IUD devices. Although the cases are arranged by type of contraceptive, they also follow a roughly chronological development following the popularity of new forms of contraception in the 20th century.