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Milton Niedfeldt:
UW Special Collections
Archives of Patricia Benjamin: NHUS Library
Pamela (Pam) Ellen Ferguson Collection 1988-2022
Milton Niedfeldt: UW Special Collections
UW Special Collections holds the archives of Milton Niedfeldt one of the early founders of AMTA. Niedfeldt was the secretary for the WA Society of Massotherapists in 1945. It includes many old newsletters, writings and letters that tell the story of how the American Massage Therapy Association came into being. Here are some photos of what can be found in his archives. We hope to get some of these important documents scanned and preserved.
Archives of Dr. Patricia Benjamin, past historian for the AMTA and author of The Emergence of the Massage Therapy Profession in North America: A History in Archetypes
Benjamin’s extensive archive has been donated to the National University of Health Sciences in Lombard, IL. It includes many artifacts, newsletters, magazines and books. President Kirby Clark Ellis visited this archive in Jan. 2025. We are working with the library to digitize and share some of the historical documents and items in this wonderful collection.
National University of Health Sciences
200 E. Roosevelt Rd.
Lombard, IL 60148
Pamela (Pam) Ellen Ferguson Collection
1988-2022
The H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture & Sports The University of Texas at Austin
The Pamela (Pam) Ellen Ferguson Collection contains materials created and collected by the aforementioned Asian Bodywork Therapy (ABT) practitioner, instructor, and author, spanning from 1988-2022, with the majority dating from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s. Materials held within the collection demonstrate Ferguson’s contributions to the ABT field in her role as teacher and writer and include syllabi, theses, instructional videos, manuscripts, and a collection of sources used for ABT-related research.
History Timelines Timelines give us a brief overview of the various eras.
Special Preservation Projects
Body of Knowledge (BOK).
The BOK website is no longer online so I have taken the information from archive.org and preserved as much as I can.
Archive.org
History of AM&MM to AMTA
1953-1958 The Masseur, The official bulletin of the American Association of Masseurs/Masseuses by Society of Massage Archives
HISTORY IN THE MAKING by Ruth Williams A history of the American Massage and Therapy Association
(Formerly the American Association of Masseurs and Masseuses) Depicting the growth, the aims and the purposes, from its beginning in 1943 to 1968.
History of National Certification: Series of articles on archive.org once published on the process of how National Certification came to be and the story behind why it was needed and where it is today coming soon.
World of Massage Museum
WOMM was founded by Robert Noah Calvert and Judith Lee Calvert, May 1, 2000 and is the result at the time of its establishment of fifteen years of collecting from around the world.
Mission statement: WOMM was organized as a nonprofit educational institution to illustrate, preserve, promote and sponsor exhibits, programs and research that will bring about a better understanding and appreciation by the community of the history, art, science and cultural environment of massage.
•Special Note: The entire museum is in Spokane, Washington. They had sixteen massage tables, just to mention one of the collection areas and that takes a lot of display space. We have a new location now and are in he process of setting up the museum once again. We hope it will be open for viewing by Spring of 2003. Meanwhile, the Friends of WOMM Historical Society has been established along with the Members Only website, so please take a look at that.
This is found on the World of Massage Museum on archive.org
The WOMM collection is organized within ten categories of objects and documents. The ten categories are:
- Art and Ads
- Library
- Vibrators
- Body Rollers
- Lubricants
- Massage Tables and Chairs
- Instructional Aids
- Other Apparatus
- Education and Techniques
- Novelty
Featured items in the ten categories of the museum collections:
Art and Ads
Postcards, engravings, posters, flyers, advertisements and pieces of art. Featured items: 1837 poster of Dr. Swift offering Gentle Swedish Massage in New York; painting from the tomb of the ancient Egyptian King Tut being anointed with oil by his wife; a variety of photographs from Hollywood movies depicting famous thespians receiving massage in the movies.
Library
Over 400 books, magazines, pamphlets, videos and manuscripts dating as early as 1823. The library includes most of the classic texts of the late 19th Century and early 20th Century.
Vibrators
The first steam-powered devices (photo or illustration) from 1848; the first hand-cranked vibration machines from 1855 through the Victorian age; many types of vibrators of the 20th Century used for medical and relaxation purposes; advertisements and promotional literature illustrating many of these units. (Erotic devices are not included.)
Click Here for the article “Pages from History: Vibration and Vibrators, Part One”
Click Here for the article “Pages from History: Vibration and Vibrators, Part Two”
Body Rollers
From Switzerland a unit called “Le Vampire” dating about 1880; the Punkt Roller from Germany; wooden foot roller from Malaysia; jade foot rollers from China; ancient Polynesian Lomilomi sticks; a porcelain massage device from France that was used to give facial rubbings. The oldest object in the museum is a 1,000-year-old Jade rubbing device that is held in the hand like a brass knuckle.
Lubricants
Oils, creams, talcum, lotions and liniments that span 100 years of history.
Massage Tables and Chairs
Victorian massage table from 1878; a vibrating massage table made in 1918 that was used in the Battlecreek Sanitarium; several homemade and manufactured models found during the 20th Century. The first massage chair and models representing major changes in chairs are also represented.
Click here for the article “Pages from History: Slabs, Couches and Tables”
Click here for the article “Pages from History: The Massage Chair”
Instructional Aids
Paper mannequins from various eras; an articulated hand; a complete, real human skeleton; the BodyScope device used in the 1940’s as a teaching aid; numerous charts, diagrams, drawings, and engravings from ancient to modern times.
Other Apparatus
An electric belt used in 1880 for treating headaches; massage cushions and pillows; lights for different purposes; traction devices and “quack” electrical treatment units.
Education and Techniques
A 1939 diploma from the College of Swedish Massage in Chicago; the complete correspondence course from that school; photos of graduating classes during the middle of the 20th Century; printed materials related to the variety of techniques and their instruction that span 150 years of education and technique.
Click here for the article “Pages from History: Swedish Massage”
Novelty
The Novelty division includes a Mickey Mouse back scratcher, Scooby-Doo Massage Steering Wheel Cover, massage parlor posters and other humorous and interesting items.
American Massage Therapy Louisiana Chapter Archives
AMTA-WA Newsletters 1953-1962
Issues in Complementary Medicine : Report of the Clinician Workgroup (or why WA State has mandated that health insurance companies cover massage therapy.
Report of the Clinician Workgroup on the Integration of CAM
Factual Chronology Of Legal Events Related to RCW 48.43.045
April 1993 The Washington State legislature adopted the “every
category of provider” mandate as part of the 1993 Health Care Reform Act.
April 1995 The Washington State legislature adopted the every
category of provider mandate in RCW 48.43.045. The statute was to be effective January 1, 1996.
