For nearly 40 years, Joel Ito worked at the Oregon National Primate Research Center as a research associate, creating medical illustrations for faculty and researchers. He arrived in 1966 after receiving his master’s degree in medical illustration from the Medical College of Georgia. Upon his retirement in 2012, decades’ worth of artwork came to the Isabel McDonald Library at ONPRC. The collection is now housed in the OHSU Library’s Historical Collections & Archives, and for the first time, hundreds of images have been digitized and made available online in OHSU’s Digital Collections in the Joel Ito collection.  

Many of the works in the new digital collection feature human and non-primate subjects, showcasing Ito’s broad range. While some images were created for specific publications, others stand on their own. Some illustrations are from unknown provenance and may not have been previously published. 

In addition to the works by Ito, this collection holds a few images from other artists and some that have no attribution. We hope that by making them visible online, we may learn more about them. If you recognize an unidentified image in the collection, please let us know.

Ito’s images join those of other prominent medical illustrators in OHSU’s Digital Collections, including Fred Harwin and Clarice Ashworth Francone, whose works are highlighted in the summer/fall exhibit on view in the BICC Library space. 

Visit OHSU’s Digital Collections to experience the many medical illustrations held by OHSU’s Historical Collections & Archives.