Lister Hill Letter
Newsletter of the Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences at UAB

September/October 2000

ART IN THE LIBRARY: THE SIMS WINDOW

Now housed in the Reynolds Historical Library, this stained glass window once adorned the chapel of the Women's Hospital Building in New York.  It was originally presented by Women's Hospital President John E. Parsons and installed there in 1906 in memory of Dr. James Marion Sims (1813-1883), a pioneer in the field of gynecology who at one time practiced in Alabama.

The subject of the window was uniquely appropriate for its original venue, representing the Biblical account of the woman with abnormal flux who was healed by touching Christ's garments.  It is reportedly the only stained glass window dealing with gynecology as presented in the Bible.

In the early 1960s, the Woman's Hospital became a wing of St. Luke's Hospital and the old structure was demolished.  The window was removed at that time and was procured by Birmingham gynecologist Buford Word for UAB and placed in the Lister Hill Library.

The Sims Window was designed by John Hardman, of the firm John Hardman and Sons of Birmingham, England, who is famous for producing the windows for the houses of Parliament in the 19th century.