Duke Medical Center Archive Blog

What role does your department play in supporting the library’s mission, and how does your team bring that mission to life for patrons?

Medical Center Archives actively collects the official records of the School of Medicine, Nursing, and all of Duke Health. This includes a variety of materials that tell the story of our institution’s activities, business, and interests… MORE

Category: News

The 98th Academy Awards ceremony were held earlier this month. While some Duke alumni were part of the celebrations, the connection between movies and Duke Health is probably not an expected one. One of our most popular past blog posts is When Hollywood came to Duke: The Filming of Brainstorm at the Duke Center for Hyperbaric Medicine & Environmental Physiology. We encourage you to revisit that post to learn more about the filming of Natalie Wood’s last film and view photographs of her in Duke’s hyperbaric chamber.

After learning about that film’s connection to… MORE

Category: Collection Highlights

March is Women’s History Month! Learn more about Duke history by checking out our online exhibit: Women in Duke Health.

This exhibit highlights women in multiple fields at Duke, many of which were pioneers or firsts in their disciplines. It looks at their stories and the context in which those stories took place through oral histories. We encourage you to listen to the recordings or read the transcripts of these women talking about their experiences.   

Further historical perspective is presented through individual profiles and interviews, a general timeline of events, and background interviews conducted with people who have a longtime view of Duke Medicine.

View the… MORE

Category: Collection Highlights

A new collection is now available in MEDSpace highlighting scholarship from the Department of Radiology’s inaugural Radiology Research Day, held January 29, 2026.

Radiology Research Day was developed by Dr. Jon Martin to showcase research conducted by residents and students within the Department of Radiology. After learning about MEDSpace through the 2025 Medical Center Library survey, Dr. Martin partnered with the Medical Center Library & Archives to create a dedicated collection preserving presentations from this event.

This collection represents a collaboration between the Department of Radiology and the Medical Center Library & Archives and provides a… MORE

Category: News

February is Black History Month. During this month, we celebrate the legacy, achievements, and cultural impact of Black and African American individuals.

To learn more we encourage you to check out the Archives’ research guide Black History at Duke Health. The stories of Black people have been historically underrepresented and concealed in archival collections. Consequently researching their history can be difficult. Our guide aims to introduce researchers to materials documenting the history of Black individuals at the Duke Health. Included are oral histories, archival collections, photographs, audiovisual materials, and publications, selected key dates and key… MORE

Category: News

The Duke community was saddened to learn of the recent passing of Mary T. Champagne, Dean Emerita of Duke University School of Nursing. She leaves behind an extraordinary legacy of leadership, advocacy, and commitment to care. During her tenure as Dean from 1991-2004, she oversaw an important period of grow and development in the School of Nursing.

Mary Thomson Champagne was born in 1946. She first attended Jose State College where she earned a BSN in 1968. She then served in the Peace Corps from 1968 to 1971. While in the Peace Corps, she worked at the Hospital of Nursing in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan. In 1975, Champagne graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with an MSN and, in 1981, with a PhD.… MORE

Category: DUMC History

The Archives received an addition to the Department of Community and Family Medicine Records documenting the Safety and Health of Working Women (SHOWW) exhibit of 1999. This project was a collaboration of academic researchers (some from the Duke Department of Community and Family Medicine) and community representatives in rural northeastern North Carolina designed to explore occupation roots of health disparities. Materials were assembled by Dr. Hester J. Lipscomb. The addition includes 14 photographs and accompanying placards, as well as 4 additional descriptive placards. Exhibit materials date to 1999.

Over the years, this department has had several name changes. From 1979 to 2019 the department was named the… MORE

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The Duke University Medical Center Archives (DUMCA) actively collects the official records of the DUMC and DUHS departments and divisions, including a variety of materials that provide evidence of business, interests, and activities through the years. In doing so, the DUMCA serves as the institutional memory of the DUMC and DUHS by collecting, preserving, and making accessible materials that provide evidence of day to operations. Guided by our collection development policy, we strive to document the intellectual, administrative, social, cultural, and visual history of the DUMC and DUHS in order to provide evidence of past actions and contribute to an understanding of the structure and history of the DUMC and DUHS.

See below for a listing of materials added to the DUMCA. The types… MORE

Category: News

Faces of Duke Health: Facilities   
Medical Center Library & Archives - Level 1  

The Medical Center Library & Archives is excited to announce the second installment in our exhibit series Faces of Duke Health. This exhibit series celebrates the diverse roles that contribute to the Duke Health community. We are now highlighting the work of Engineering & Operations (E&0). The physical exhibit now offers a glimpse into the history of E&O at Duke as well as highlighting two wonderful facilities workers in our building! 

Our first installment highlighted Environmental Services (EVS). If you missed this exhibit, you can check out our… MORE

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The Archives recently received an addition to the Department of Pediatric Records, and while the collection contains a variety of administrative, financial, research, photographic, correspondence, planning, and architectural files, the bulk of the materials recently transferred are photographs, both candid and group.

Photographic materials, e.g., prints, negatives, contact sheets, lantern slides, 35mm slides, and more, serve as a visual memory, recording a moment in time that a written record cannot document. Transferring departmental photographs and other photographic materials to the Archives not only enhances the Archives’ holdings by strengthening our collections, but it also improves retrieval of these… MORE

Category: Collection Spotlight

Fifty years ago today, the ribbon was cut in the doorway of the new Medical Center Library space in the Seeley G. Mudd Building. Prior to this date, the library was housed in the basement of the Duke Hospital. The interiors of the building have changed since 1975 as well as the area that surrounds the library. To celebrate the 50th birthday of our building, we are sharing some photos of our library from 1975 and from today in 2025! 

Then and Now: Entrance to the Library 

Then and Now: 1st floor 

Then and Now: 1st Floor Reading Room

Then and Now: Lobby Area

Then and Now: Stairs to Second Floor

Then and Now:… MORE

Category: News