warren anatomical museum warren anatomical museum the warren anatomical museum, housed within harvard medical school's countway library of medicine, was founded in 1847 by harvard professor john collins warren, whose personal collection of 160 unusual and instructive anatomical and pathological specimens now forms the nucleus of the museum's 15,000-item collection. the warren also has objects significant to medical history, such as the inhaler used during the first public demonstration of ether-assisted surgery in 1846 (on loan to the massachusetts general hospital since 1948), and the skull of phineas gage, who survived a large iron bar being driven through his brain. the museum's first curator was j.b.s. jackson. phineas gage skull of phineas gage closed until 2023 the museum gallery is closed for renovation until winter/spring 2023, as stated on the museum's website, although the collection remains accessible to researchers by appointment. normally a rotating subset of items, including gage's skull and the tamping iron that passed through it, is on public display.