Heritage Films
Award-winning documentaries and dramatizations bring our history to life
For more than 35 years, Mayo Clinic Peregrine Falcon Program has assisted in the recovery of peregrine falcons as an endangered species.
The 56-bell carillon housed in the tower atop the Plummer Building in Rochester, Minnesota, is an important part of the healing mission of Mayo Clinic.
The story of the devastating tornado that struck Rochester, Minnesota, on August 21, 1883, its aftermath and legacy.
The intriguing story of an innovative chemist, a persevering physician and the dedicated team whose work resulted in the Nobel Prize.
Behind the Scenes
Discover the stories behind the film’s unique images, locations and historic items.
A corner of the 16th floor of the historic Plummer Building at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, made an appropriate background for laboratory recreations. It has changed little since the building opened in 1929. Currently used for library storage, it was originally an endocrinology laboratory, the medical specialty concerned with hormones—including cortisone.
This desk, custom-made for the Plummer Building in 1929, was acquired by former employee Bob Garrity during building renovations in the 1970s. He and his wife, Mary Jo, donated the table to Mayo Clinic during the production of this film. It returned to the Plummer Building, standing in as a laboratory bench.
Ravinder J. Singh, Ph.D. (right), director of the Mayo Clinic Endocrine Laboratory, and Robert L. Taylor of Mayo Clinic’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology served as the film’s laboratory consultants. Here they are seen preparing a solution that resembles the vial of cortisone used in the original clinical trials.
To represent Dr. Edward C. Kendall’s discovery of thyroxine in 1914, the film’s laboratory consultants used a similar process in a contemporary laboratory to isolate thyroxine crystals in a vintage flask.
Steven M. Anderson (right), Mayo Clinic’s glassblower, seen above with the film’s laboratory consultant, Ravinder Singh, Ph.D., provided glassware from his extensive collection for laboratory scenes spanning the years 1914 to 1949.
During the 1930s, the Swiss biochemist Dr. Tadeus Reichstein (above) and Dr. Kendall were simultaneously investigating adrenal hormones. In the spirit of scientific cooperation, Dr. Reichstein sent samples of a dozen substances he had isolated to Dr. Kendall. These rarely seen artifacts, preserved in the Mayo Clinic Archives of the W. Bruce Fye Center for the History of Medicine, were used in the film to represent Dr. Kendall’s compounds A through F.
The film includes many photos from the Mayo Clinic Archives. The graphic designer used a program that utilizes artificial intelligence to colorize black-and-white images. She consulted contemporaneous portrait paintings and Mayo historic buildings for color reference.
Scenes were filmed in Plummer Hall, the location of the 1949 presentation by Dr. Kendall and his collaborator, Philip S. Hench, M.D., announcing the results of the clinical trials of cortisone. Several scenes were carefully framed to match present-day scenes with period photographs (seen above on right) for a “then-and-now” effect.
As the film was in production, Dr. Kendall's grandchildren donated hundreds of photographs, papers, and artifacts to the Mayo Clinic Archives. The film includes rarely seen photos of Dr. Kendall from this collection.
Dr. Hench, a Sherlock Holmes enthusiast, was involved in placing a plaque near the site of one of the detective’s fictional adventures in Switzerland. His world-class collection of Sherlock Holmes first editions and memorabilia was donated to the University of Minnesota Libraries. It includes this 1904 illustration of Holmes in a laboratory.
As the cortisone clinical trials were conducted, Mayo Clinic’s audio-visual department filmed the patients demonstrating the dramatic effects of the drug on their arthritic symptoms. Consent forms signed by the patients were located in the Mayo Clinic Archives.
The recreation of the 1949 staff meeting in Plummer Hall called for a vintage film projector. The model above, held in the Mayo Clinic Archives, was restored to working condition by Kevin E. Bennet, Ph.D., administrator of the Division of Engineering.
While researching the film, the scriptwriter saw a reference to a 1949 promotional film produced by the American Medical Association that featured the cortisone research. An extremely rare copy of the film was located in the archives of Duke University Medical Center. It contains the only known motion footage of the cortisone team in Dr. Kendall’s laboratory.
Dr. Kendall donated to Mayo Clinic the ornate certificate and gold medal he received at the Nobel Prize ceremony in Sweden. The Department of Facilities, Mayo Paint Shop, made a mold from the medal to cast a realistic replica for the filming. The original medal is on display in the Mayo Clinic Historical Suite on the third floor of the Plummer Building.
The Mayo name often pops up in movies, TV shows and other unexpected locations.
Behind the Scenes
Go behind the scenes to learn more about the unique locations and historic images featured in the film.
The first building to bear the name Mayo Clinic opened in 1914. When it was demolished seventy years later, the carved stone over the door was buried in a landfill. In the 21st century, this lintel was excavated and installed above the door of Mayo Clinic Heritage Hall on the Rochester campus near its original location.
As Mayo celebrated its centennial year in 1964, the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp honoring the Mayo brothers. The illustration is based on a 1952 bronze statue by James Earle Fraser, creator of many public sculptures in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. This sculpture of the Mayo brothers now stands at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester.
From its beginning, the Mayo’s practice was based on teamwork. This rare 1911 photo includes Dr. William J. Mayo (center, in surgical cap), with Sister Joseph Dempsey, his first assistant and the longtime supervisor of Saint Marys Hospital to his right. Alice Magaw, a pioneering nurse anesthetist, is seated below Sister Joseph.
In 1912, a woman from the small town of Hull, Iowa brought her mother to Mayo Clinic for surgery. Her descendants recently donated a postcard “Minnie” wrote documenting that visit.
The W. Bruce Fye Center for the History of Medicine holds a large collection of Mayo-themed souvenirs going back to the clinic’s earliest years. Among them are this plate with an illustration of the Mayos’ first offices in the Masonic Temple building and a thermometer and tape measure with illustrations of the 1929 building that was later named for Dr. Henry S. Plummer.
In the early 20th century, collecting postcards was a national craze. Nearly a billion picture postcards were mailed in the U.S. in 1913. Visitors to Rochester found many to choose from in the local shops, including colorized photos of interiors and exteriors of Mayo buildings, local landmarks and even doctors’ homes. Today, they provide an intriguing glimpse at how Mayo Clinic looked in times gone by.
Mayo Clinic commissioned the construction of a life-sized, see-through human figure for exhibition at the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago. A ten-minute recorded lecture played as internal colored lights directed attention to various organs. Today, the Transparent Man can be seen in the Barbara Woodward Lips Patient Education Center in Rochester.
True Comics ran a two-part series on the origins of Mayo Clinic in 1943. While the visualizations are fanciful, the story depicted here is true. As boys, Will and Charlie Mayo really did accompany their father on his rounds and assist in “kitchen table operations.”
Howard F. Polley, M.D., was a member of the Mayo Clinic team that developed cortisone in the 1940s. Dr. Polley was an avid collector of cartoons about the clinic or featuring the Mayo name. He developed friendships with many cartoonists who sometimes sent him inscribed originals. The collection, which Dr. Polley donated to Mayo Clinic, includes this panel from a Dick Tracy comic by Chester Gould.
Thoralf M. Sundt, M.D., was a surgeon on the staff of Mayo Clinic from 1969 to 1992. He was internationally recognized for his many contributions to the specialty of neurosurgery and counted President Ronald Reagan among his patients. In 1991, Lesley Stahl interviewed Dr. Sundt for the television newsmagazine “60 Minutes.” He courageously continued serving patients until two months before his death from multiple myeloma.
The founding of St. Francis Hospital, the Skemp Clinic and Mayo Clinic.
Behind the Scenes
Go behind the scenes to learn more about the unique locations and historic images featured in the film .
One of Mayo Clinic’s licensed drone pilots captured dramatic images of the beautiful Coulee Region in which La Crosse, Wisconsin, is located and a bird's-eye view of the campus of Mayo Clinic Health System – Franciscan Healthcare. Filming took place at sunrise and sunset to capture the attractive light that filmmakers call “golden hour.”
Filming took place by special permission in the Mary of the Angels Chapel at the St. Rose Convent, home of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. Consecrated in 1906, the chapel is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Perpetual Adoration Chapel is adjacent to the Mary of the Angels Chapel. Prayers are offered continuously from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM, seven days a week. To avoid disruption, filming was accomplished from the upper level.
Images of some of the many decorative elements of the Mary of the Angels Chapel are used throughout the film to represent the sisters’ spiritual journey. Special instruments were used to cast light on paintings in the upper reaches of the chapel.
The two chapels have over one hundred windows created by the Royal Bavarian Stained Glass Factory in Munich, Germany. They were recently cleaned and restored by a Wisconsin artisan. This window depicts one of the sisters’ primary missions, education.
This wooden altar was constructed in 1872 for an earlier chapel the sisters built in La Crosse. When the current chapel was built, the altar was donated to a Catholic hospital in Sparta, Wisconsin. It was returned in 1941 and now serves as a reliquary altar.
Because of fire regulations, candles could not be lit in the reliquary chapel. The crew filmed the altar and displayed it on the large videowall in the Mayo Clinic studio. Candles were filmed in front of the videowall to illustrate the practice of Perpetual Adoration in the 19th century.
Visuals were obtained from many sources, including the archives of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration and the La Crosse Public Library. This view of La Crosse is from the Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division. It depicts the city two years after the sisters arrived.
This watercolor of the sisters’ convent in Nojoshing, Wisconsin is a rare contemporary view of the congregation’s early days. It was painted in 1866 by a student at the seminary which Bishop Henni located next to the convent.
The children and other descendants of Drs. Archie and George Skemp provided photos from their family albums for the film. The photo on the left is of Archie and his wife, Ellen; the one on the right is of George and his wife, Mary on their wedding day.
This rare photo of the clinic where Drs. Archie and George Skemp practiced was badly faded. The graphic designer brought it back to life for the film. She also removed parking meters and other contemporary elements.
A Mayo Clinic medical illustrator created drawings for key moments in the story for which period images were not available. For an illustration of the pioneer sisters at work, the artist’s daughter posed in his back yard.
After the film was edited, music was specially composed and created for the soundtrack. The composer used an electronic synthesizer to play orchestral strings, woodwinds, horns, percussion instruments, a pipe organ and more.
A brilliant physician … a life cut short … an enduring legacy.
Behind the Scenes
This film honors Dr. Giancarlo (Gian) Rastelli, a surgeon from Italy who made enduring contributions to the treatment of heart disease before his untimely death from cancer in 1970.
Gian, seen here with his sister Rosangela in Parma, Italy, received a NATO fellowship shortly after earning his medical degree. He chose to study at Mayo Clinic. This letter introduced him to Dr. John Kirklin, a Mayo pioneer in open-heart surgery. Gian arrived in Rochester, Minnesota, on October 1, 1961.
To capture the ambience of the clinic in Dr. Rastelli’s day, the filmmakers used footage from a 1964 film produced for Mayo Clinic’s centennial celebration. The photo above shows the Mayo Building (left) as it looked during Dr. Rastelli’s time at Mayo Clinic, before ten stories were added. Dr. Margaret Holbrook is seen operating a cobalt-60 radiotherapy machine.
When his fellowship ended, Gian accepted a staff position at Mayo Clinic. In the summer of 1964, he traveled to Italy to marry the love of his life, Anna Anghileri. Following their honeymoon, the newlyweds returned to Rochester. These and other photos were made available for the film courtesy of the Rastelli family.
Anna was a talented artist. She created drawings of their new home, taught at the Rochester Art Center, and contributed artwork for the Rochester Methodist Hospital newsletter.
Gian and Anna’s daughter, Antonella, was born in Rochester. Today, she is a physician who practices in Italy. Dr. Antonella Rastelli has visited Mayo Clinic to conduct research and give presentations about her father. In the photo at right, Dr. Antonella Rastelli is seen with Dr. Andrea Mariani (left) and Dr. John Stulak (center) of Mayo Clinic.
During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the crew followed strict safety protocols in filming and post-production.
Scenes recreating the 1960s were filmed in a studio at Mayo Clinic, using period photographs on a videowall as backdrops.
The film includes wax models that Dr. Rastelli used to demonstrate his research on heart defects. Karen Koka of the W. Bruce Fye Center for the History of Medicine handled these delicate artifacts during filming.
Dr. Joseph J. Maleszewski, a cardiac anatomic pathologist at Mayo Clinic, confirmed these wax models are from a 1968 exhibit on Dr. Rastelli’s research. The exhibit won a gold medal from the American Medical Association. Dr. Rastelli (far left) is seen with his Mayo Clinic colleagues Dr. Dwight C. McGoon (center) and Dr. Jack L. Titus.
The stained glass window seen in the film is located at Mayo Foundation House, the former home of Dr. and Mrs. William J. Mayo. It depicts 2,000 years of medical progress.
Gian was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1964. Despite the rigors of treatment, he continued living a productive and happy life until his death at Rochester Methodist Hospital in 1970 at the age of 36. This scene was filmed at the hospital and composited with a stock photo to represent the view from the hospital at the time Dr. Rastelli was a patient there.
Soon after his death, colleagues dedicated a plaque to Dr. Rastelli. More than 50 years later, it has a place of honor in a cardiology staff library at Mayo Clinic.
In 2017, a group of Italian medical students, intrigued by the story of the man behind the name in their textbooks, created an exhibit on Dr. Rastelli’s life and work. It has traveled internationally to widespread interest and acclaim.
The medical students and Dr. Antonella Rastelli collaborated on a biography of her father, which was published in Italy. They worked with colleagues at Mayo Clinic to publish an English translation, which was an important source for the film. This international group worked together for more than a year to prepare these inspiring tributes to Dr. Giancarlo Rastelli, sharing his enduring message that science is an act of love.
Travertine stone used in Mayo Clinic buildings gives a research team from Mayo and the University of Illinois an unexpected clue about kidney stones.
The first professional nurse at Mayo Clinic and wife of Dr. Charlie, her story still resonates today.
Behind the Scenes
This film was a collaboration of more than 100 people, including production professionals, actors, historians, subject matter specialists and others.
A corner of the 16th floor of the historic Plummer Building at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, made an appropriate background for laboratory recreations. It has changed little since the building opened in 1929. Currently used for library storage, it was originally an endocrinology laboratory, the medical specialty concerned with hormones—including cortisone.
Edith and Dr. Charlie are played in their early years by Christina Stier and Blake Hogan.
Edith and her husband, Dr. Charles H. Mayo, are played in middle-age by Anna Lakin and Ari Hoptman.
Cynthia Hayden plays Edith in 1942, at age 75.
Sally Wingert plays Sister Fabian Halloran, one of the pioneering Sisters at Saint Marys Hospital.
Bill McCallum plays Charles W. Mayo, M.D., Edith’s eldest son, a surgeon at Mayo Clinic.
Pam Captain plays Hattie Damon Mayo, the widow of Dr. William J. Mayo.
Dr. William J. Mayo, Edith’s brother-in-law, is played by Sasha Andreev.
Michelle Barber plays Anna Neumann, who was part of the Mayo family’s household staff for almost 40 years.
Edith’s favorite brother, Dr. Christopher (Kit) Graham, is played by Richard Dietman.
With help from the make-up artist, Mayo Clinic employee Marv Mitchell was transformed into Dr. William Worrall Mayo.
Mayo Clinic employee Kathy Shepel fabricated many of the paper props seen in the film, re-creating historic documents too fragile or valuable to leave the Mayo Clinic archives.
The artifacts she re-created include this artificially aged photo of the Graham family and a scrap of paper containing Edith’s final grades from nursing school.
She designed a wartime cover of the fictional “Modern America” magazine, as well as the page describing the essay contest on which the plot of the film turns.
She re-created documents and photographs related to Edith’s sponsorship of a student in China.
Two versions of Edith’s school essay were created: one for a scene set in the 19th century and another as it might have looked 60 years later.
The History Center of Olmsted County loaned the filmmakers a replica of the medal presented to Edith as American Mother of 1940.
The bicycle ridden by Ruby Palmer as Mayo Trenholm is a vintage-style contemporary model adapted by the filmmakers.
The nursing uniform made for the film was closely modeled on Edith Graham’s graduation photo.
Sister Mary Goergen helped ensure the historical accuracy of the habit worn by Jeryl Mitchell, portraying one of the Franciscan Sisters trained by Edith Graham.
A variety of historic locations are seen in the film, including the Mayo Clinic Historical Suite in the Plummer Building.
Several scenes were staged in the former kitchen of Saint Marys Hospital.
Scenes were filmed at Assisi Heights, the motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Francis of in Rochester, MN.
A number of interior and exterior scenes were filmed at Mayowood, the former home of Dr. Charlie and Edith.
The scene featuring Hattie Mayo was filmed in the dining room of a former home of Dr. Will and Hattie.
The scene of Mayo arriving at Saint Marys Hospital to visit Sister Fabian was filmed at the former main entrance to Saint Marys Hospital.
The scene of Edith attending a 19th century medical meeting was filmed in Goldstein Hall in the Guggenheim Building at Mayo Clinic.
The authentic one-room schoolhouse at the History Center of Olmsted County was the setting for Edith presenting her essay on Women’s Rights. Rochester children played her classmates.
For a scene of Dr. Charlie and Edith washing dishes, the actors, the kitchen and the house were filmed in different locations and combined in post-production.
Dr. Charlie and Edith are seen riding in an authentic 19th century cutter, acquired from retired Mayo Clinic employee Barbara Mestad and her husband, Roger.
For safety reasons, Steve Wood of Wildwood Sleigh and Carriage “doubled” for Dr. Charlie driving the cutter.
Rochester children portray Mayo Trenholm’s cousins in a game of Robin Hood. Many members of the Mayo family have fond memories of spending summers at Mayowood.
A behind-the-scenes look at the architecture, art, nature and innovations that create Mayo Clinic’s unique environment.
Behind the Scenes
Go behind the scenes to discover interesting facts about the people, places, artwork and historical artifacts featured in this film.
More than 250 employees and volunteers responded to a casting call to portray patients and staff.
To support patient privacy, certain scenes in public spaces were filmed after hours and on weekends.
Mayo Clinic’s licensed drone pilots captured birds-eye views of Mayo sites in Arizona, Minnesota and Florida (pictured here.)
A scissor lift raises the camera for a striking view of the “Mayo Clinic Persian Chandelier” by Dale Chihuly in the lobby of Mayo Clinic Hospital in Florida.
This image shows what Landow Atrium in the Gonda Building in Rochester, Minnesota, looks like from the perspective of the iconic “Man and Freedom” sculpture.
A small GoPro camera was affixed to an Electric Track Vehicle, capturing a view of its journey through the ceilings of buildings on the Mayo campus in Rochester.
This restored 1875 train depot is located in Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis. For the re-creation of a 19th century patient coming to Mayo Clinic, crates and luggage were arranged to block the view of road signs and traffic. A model train car was added in post-production, along with a burst of steam.
For the re-creation of a family traveling to Mayo in the 1960s, a Minnesota collector provided a perfectly restored 1963 Oldsmobile station wagon.
This scene features Mayo employee Jingfei Cheng portraying an international patient planning her visit to Mayo Clinic. It was filmed on the top floor of an apartment building in Rochester; the cityscape behind her is a stock photo added in post-production.
Mayo Clinic carpenter Michael P. Johnston created an accurate scale model depicting the growth of Mayo buildings in downtown Rochester between 1914 and 2001.
The graphic designer used software to create “architectural renderings” from archival photographs of Mayo buildings, including the iconic Plummer Building.
To capture the Christmas tree appearing on the Plummer Building at twilight, the cameraman set up a two-hour motion-controlled time-lapse shot on the roof of a building across the street.
The distinctive glass “wave wall” of the Gonda Building is echoed in the lobby of the Mayo Clinic Building in Phoenix.
Luther Hospital and the Luther Building at Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, are named for the hospital that began providing medical services to the community in 1908.
This view from Annenberg Plaza in Rochester shows how the design of the 1989 Siebens Building (left) pays homage to its neighbor, the 1928 Plummer Building.
This cutaway drawing of the Plummer Building, illustrating Mayo’s patient-centered efficiency, appeared in a 1939 Life Magazine article.
Color-coded cards and this guide were given to patients to help direct them to their appointments in the Plummer and 1914 buildings. These items are from the archives of the W. Bruce Fye Center for the History of Medicine.
This detailed illustration of ornamentation on the Plummer Building was hand-drawn by an employee of the architectural firm Ellerbe and Company in the 1920s.
The tower of the Plummer Building is decorated with Romanesque stone carvings. The griffin, part eagle and part lion, symbolizes vigilance and strength.
The bronze doors of the Plummer Building are 16 feet tall and weigh more than two tons. They were designed by Ray Corwin of Ellerbe & Company and sculpted by Charles Brioschi, a St. Paul artist.
Near the bronze doors of the Plummer Building, a stone carving depicts Dr. Henry Plummer examining the architect’s plans. It features an owl, symbolizing wisdom, and Dr. Plummer’s omnipresent cigar.
The floor in the Plummer Building lobby is made of art marble, a mixture of marble chips and colored cement. The intricate designs feature seven colors of marble from Algeria, Belgium, Italy and Pennsylvania.
The ceiling of the Board of Governors Room, located in the Historical Suite on the third floor of the Plummer Building, features molded plaster and gold polychrome.
This corridor of the Richard O. Jacobson Building in Rochester shows how stone, glass, wood and artwork combine to create a warm, enduring environment in contemporary Mayo buildings.
The beautiful polished Esmeralda onyx chosen for the lobby of the Jacobson Building was quarried in the Middle East.
This travertine, formed in a hot spring in Italy, is similar to the materials used in the Roman Coliseum. Travertine is one of the most widely used stones on the Rochester campus.
The exterior of the Mangurian Building in Jacksonville, Florida, features Danby marble, quarried in Vermont. The same stone was used on the exterior of the Gonda Building.
These contrasting stones were chosen for both the exterior and interior of the Mayo Clinic Building in Scottsdale, Arizona. The look and feel of sandstone is very appropriate for a campus in the Sonoran Desert.
The Black Marinace in the 12th floor waiting area of the Gonda Building was quarried from an ancient river bed in Brazil. Marinace is a stone comprised of a variety of rocks, fossilized by extreme temperatures and high pressure.
This striking gold-colored marble was installed in the Mathews Grand Lobby in the Mayo Building in Rochester using the “bookmatching” technique. The slabs are finished and arranged so the veins and patterns of adjacent blocks mirror one another.
According to legend, blue sodalite from Brazil has calming and even healing properties. It can be found in the Stephen and Barbara Slaggie Family Cancer Education Center in the Gonda Building and in the second floor lobby of the Mangurian Building.
“Boy with a Dolphin” was designed by David Wynne to convey a sense of joy and well-being. This popular sculpture was installed next to the Mayo Building in Rochester in 1984.
The architectural installation “Cycles of Life” by John Richen features a reflecting pool and three circular forms, representing patient care, education and research. It’s located on the concourse level of the Mayo Clinic Building in Scottsdale.
The world-renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly created an installation for the Mayo Nurses Atrium in the Gonda Building. Its 13 chandeliers contain 1,375 pieces of glass.
This bronze sculpture of St. Francis looking up through Brother Sun is by the Minnesota sculptor Paul Granlund. It greets visitors to the hospital at Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato, Minnesota.
This seven-foot bronze figure of Jean D’Aire was a study made by Auguste Rodin for his famous sculpture, “The Burghers of Calais.” It stands in Hage Atrium in the Siebens Building in Rochester.
The lobby of the Mayo Clinic Building in Phoenix features a scale model of the “Mayo Ancestors” statue by Glenna Goodacre and a Mayo ambulance made by the Studebaker Company in 1905.
“Man and the Energies,” by William Saltzman, is one of a series of murals commissioned for the Mayo Building in Rochester on the theme “Mirror to Man.” While many of the murals have been covered, this one is still visible on the third floor.
The luminous 15-foot painting “Give Me Wings” by Susanne Schuenke depicts butterflies in oil and gold leaf on linen. It hangs in the lobby of Mayo Clinic Hospital in Florida.
Dr. Renee E. Caswell led artist Denise A. Currier and a team of Mayo Clinic Arizona employee volunteers in the two-year process of creating this 13 x 5-foot quilt to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Mayo Clinic in Arizona. It’s displayed on the concourse level of the Mayo Clinic Building in Scottsdale.
Hand-carved Hopi Katsina dolls depict helpful messengers from the spirit world. This group is displayed on the concourse level of the Mayo Clinic Building in Scottsdale.
This tabletop from Agra, India, was created by inlaying semiprecious stones in white marble, a technique developed in ancient Greece and Rome. It’s displayed in the 17th floor elevator lobby of the Gonda Building.
These beautiful stained glass windows were carefully removed and stored when the old chapel of St. Francis Hospital in La Crosse, Wisconsin, was demolished. They are now installed behind the altar of the hospital chapel of Mayo Clinic Health System – Franciscan Healthcare.
The chapel at Mayo Clinic Hospital, Methodist Campus in Rochester features a “rose window” based on those found in many Gothic cathedrals.
This art glass ceiling by Canadian artist Eric Wesselow decorates the Islamic prayer room in the Center for the Spirit, located in the subway of the Mayo Building in Rochester.
The art glass wall, “Healing Garden,” is in the Cahill Meditation Atrium on the first floor of the Cannaday Building in Jacksonville.
A peaceful multi-faith chapel is located near the entrance of Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix.
Mass is offered daily in the Saint Marys Chapel at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Rochester. It seats more than 400 people and was designed to accommodate patients in wheelchairs and on gurneys.
The Groves Foundation Meditation Room is on the 7th floor of the Mary Brigh Building in Mayo Clinic Hospital, Saint Marys campus. It provides a peaceful environment, with light filtered through stained glass and the calming sound of running water.
The 5,000 square foot indoor Healing Garden at Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, is a place for patients and visitors to enjoy greenery and sunshine, even in the middle of winter.
Louchery Island in Jacksonville provides a peaceful, beautiful setting of water, greenery, artwork and wildlife for reflection and meditation.
Visitors to the Mayo campus in Jacksonville often catch a glimpse of this snowy egret, a small white heron that has made its home on Louchery Island.
The campus of Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea, Minnesota, provides serene views of Fountain Lake.
Patients and visitors to the Scottsdale campus can explore the nearby Mayo Clinic Nature Trail, a .7 mile walk through the Sonoran Desert.
These colorful plants in Feith Family Statuary Park are part of 40 acres of flower beds, shrubs and prairie grasses on the Rochester campus.
Pianos on Mayo campuses are often played by patients, visitors and employees. Carl W. Crist, a volunteer at Mayo Clinic in Florida, performs in a waiting area of the Cannady Building.
A string quartet comprised of students from Arizona State University performs a concert in the lobby of Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix.
This 1928 photo shows a bronze bell, weighing almost 8,000 pounds, about to be hoisted into the tower of the Plummer Building. The Mayo brothers gifted the Rochester Carillon as a memorial to the American soldiers who served in World War I.
Austin Ferguson, the current carillonneur of Mayo Clinic, is only the fourth musician to hold that position since 1928. He operates the clavier—a console of wooden batons and pedals—in the bell tower of the Plummer Building.
This rare archival film clip shows a Franciscan Sister in the operating room at Saint Marys Hospital.
Displays in Mayo Clinic Heritage Hall, located in the Mayo Building in Rochester, provide reminders of Mayo Clinic’s mission and values. The marble engraving of the Mayo Clinic Model of Care was inspired by a similar feature in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
See “Where Healing Begins: The Mayo Clinic Experience” and the entire library of Mayo Clinic Heritage Films.
True story of how Dr. W.J. Mayo helped a German physician and his family make a fresh start in America amid the threat of World War II.
Imagine an evening in the year of greatest crisis at Mayo Clinic. The founders have died — how will their successors carry on?
The Mayo brothers traveled throughout the world, but Arizona was one of their favorite places to vacation.
Her standard of editorial excellence helped Mayo Clinic become a world leader in medical scholarship.
A “diversified genius,” he made innovations in medicine, design and engineering that help define Mayo Clinic today.
From the Civil War to the present, on battlefields and the Home Front, Mayo Clinic has supported the men and women of America’s armed forces.
After a devastating tornado in 1883, Dr. William Worrall Mayo and Mother Alfred Moes became unlikely partners in healing. Their legacy lives on today.
The Sisters’ hilltop home is a both a haven of serenity and a dynamic community of service.
In a moment of crisis, the young Mayo brothers learn that working together is the best way to serve patients.
A baseball player turned physician featured in “Field of Dreams” had surprising connections to Mayo Clinic.
With their different personalities and experiences, Dr. Will and Dr. Charlie were global ambassadors of medicine and goodwill.
Stricken by polio, Dave Madden spent 16 years in an iron lung, but his zest for living knew no limitations.
The world knows them as Presidents and First Ladies. At Mayo Clinic, they are loyal patients, trusted advisors and generous supporters.
This film imagines how a community-based physician and world-famous surgeon find surprising similarities in the issues they face and the dedication they share in caring for patients.
“May God bless the work of our hands.” Since 1883, the Sisters of St. Francis have helped make Mayo Clinic what it is today.
Join Dr. Will in a 1910 Packard motorcar as he and his colleagues discuss his upcoming speech about teamwork and service to patients.
Sons of a country doctor, Will and Charlie Mayo created a new way to care for patients.
Everyone needs a place to relax and think about what’s most important in life. Dr. Will Mayo found renewal and inspiration aboard his riverboats.
Mayo Clinic’s contributions in World War II, including the G-suit and the high-altitude mask, helped transform aviation as well as medicine.