Duke Medical Center Archives Blog Category: Collection Highlights

Duke Medical Center Library & Archives is debuting a newly redesigned and updated online exhibit of Women in Duke Health just in time for Women's History Month.

Highlighting women in multiple fields at Duke, many of which were pioneers or firsts in their disciplines, this exhibit looks at their stories and the context in which those stories took place. The primary method of inquiry for context in this exhibit was via oral histories, a unique format that allows for both.

This 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. For most… MORE

Category: News, Collection Highlights

Duke Medical Center Library & Archives is debuting a newly redesigned and updated online exhibit of Women in Duke Health just in time for Women's History Month.

Highlighting women in multiple fields at Duke, many of which were pioneers or firsts in their disciplines, this exhibit looks at their stories and the context in which those stories took place. The primary method of inquiry for context in this exhibit was via oral histories, a unique format that allows for both.

This 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. For most… MORE

Category: News, Collection Highlights

With the events of the past year, it has probably become clichéd to say that “we are living in historic times”. However, as we celebrate Black History Month this year, the reality of systemic racism and injustice is forefront in many of our minds. An important first step to addressing systemic racism is learning more about how race and racism is embedded in our history, including that of Duke Health.  The Duke University Medical Center Archives seeks to preserve materials that document the history of Duke Health and make them available for research and education. For example, we have been actively capturing and preserving the 2020 Moments to… MORE

Category: News, Collection Highlights

With the events of the past year, it has probably become clichéd to say that “we are living in historic times”. However, as we celebrate Black History Month this year, the reality of systemic racism and injustice is forefront in many of our minds. An important first step to addressing systemic racism is learning more about how race and racism is embedded in our history, including that of Duke Health.  The Duke University Medical Center Archives seeks to preserve materials that document the history of Duke Health and make them available for research and education. For example, we have been actively capturing and preserving the 2020 Moments to… MORE

Category: News, Collection Highlights

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Category: Collection Highlights

Our annual Halloween event, It Came From the Archives, will not be happening this year for obvious reasons.  For the past six years, we have enjoyed sharing a variety of materials from our collections in a casual open house setting in the library.  While we try to select different items each year for display, some of our favorite things to share every year are medical illustrations. Duke University Medical Center was among the first educational institutions in the United States to provide medical illustration services. Artwork was created with traditional and digital media and includes surgical and anatomic drawings, schematic and… MORE

Category: Collection Spotlight, Collection Highlights

Our annual Halloween event, It Came From the Archives, will not be happening this year for obvious reasons.  For the past six years, we have enjoyed sharing a variety of materials from our collections in a casual open house setting in the library.  While we try to select different items each year for display, some of our favorite things to share every year are medical illustrations. Duke University Medical Center was among the first educational institutions in the United States to provide medical illustration services. Artwork was created with traditional and digital media and includes surgical and anatomic drawings, schematic and… MORE

Category: Collection Spotlight, Collection Highlights

Balancing the responsibilities of parenthood and those of a medical career is challenging, and this was certainly also the case for those at Duke in the 1970s. During the twentieth century American conceptions and ideals parenthood shifted drastically as a response to medical advances, social movements, and more and more attending college and/or working outside the home. Tucked away in old issues of the Intercom, Duke Medicine’s primary news publication from 1953 to 1986, we can find clear evidence that Duke faculty and students were grappling with these shifting perceptions, expectation, and values surrounding parenthood throughout the 1970s.

Beginning in 1972, Professor Betty Harris, an… MORE

Category: Collection Highlights

This is the third blog post in a three part series about processing digital files. See the following links for Part 1 and Part 2.

Over the course of this past year, the Duke University Medical Center Archives (DUMCA) began addressing our digital files backlog by identifying and adding these digital files to the collections to which they belong. This process has uncovered materials current Archives staff were unaware of, introducing us to new stories about Duke and Duke Alumni. 

When appraising digital files located in the backlog (for more information about the DUMCA’s digital files backlog see… MORE

Category: News, Collection Highlights

This is the third blog post in a three part series about processing digital files. See the following links for Part 1 and Part 2.

Over the course of this past year, the Duke University Medical Center Archives (DUMCA) began addressing our digital files backlog by identifying and adding these digital files to the collections to which they belong. This process has uncovered materials current Archives staff were unaware of, introducing us to new stories about Duke and Duke Alumni. 

When appraising digital files located in the backlog (for more information about the DUMCA’s digital files backlog see… MORE

Category: News, Collection Highlights

Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature

Medical Center Library & Archives - Level 3 (NLM) & Level 1 (MCL&A) 

NLM Exhibit on Display until June 16, 2018 

The Medical Center Library is hosting “Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature,” a six-banner traveling exhibition. Developed and produced by the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, it displays the abiding relevance of the Frankenstein story to contemporary questions about science and technology. Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel explores individual and societal responsibility through its discussion of scientific advancement and medical ethics. 

Category: News, Collection Highlights

Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature

Medical Center Library & Archives - Level 3 (NLM) & Level 1 (MCL&A) 

NLM Exhibit on Display until June 16, 2018 

The Medical Center Library is hosting “Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature,” a six-banner traveling exhibition. Developed and produced by the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, it displays the abiding relevance of the Frankenstein story to contemporary questions about science and technology. Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel explores individual and societal responsibility through its discussion of scientific advancement and medical ethics. 

Category: News, Collection Highlights

In honor of Black History Month, our blog this week features Clydie Pugh-Myers, a graduate of the first class of Duke’s licensed practical nursing (LPN) program in 1949.

Duke’s LPN program was established in 1948 as a collaboration of Duke University Hospital, Durham City School, and the North Carolina Department of Vocational Education to train African American nurses. Although 72 women qualified and registered for the program its inaugural year, only 26 would pass the rigorous training and examinations to graduate the following year. The LPN program transferred to the Durham Industrial Education Center, which would later become Durham Technical Community College, in the early 1960s.On January 18, 2006, Jessica Roseberry conducted an oral history interview with Pugh-Myers at her… MORE

Category: Collection Highlights

This week we are celebrating #ColorOurCollections with other libraries, archives, and cultural institutions around the world! This week-long social media initiative was launched by The New York Academy of Medicine Library in 2016. Participating institutions are sharing free coloring pages made using materials from their collections. 

The coloring pages from our collection can be found here. They include two drawings made by Robert Blake, a legendary medical artist at Duke. Along with his illustrations of the… MORE

Category: News, Collection Highlights

This week we are celebrating #ColorOurCollections with other libraries, archives, and cultural institutions around the world! This week-long social media initiative was launched by The New York Academy of Medicine Library in 2016. Participating institutions are sharing free coloring pages made using materials from their collections. 

The coloring pages from our collection can be found here. They include two drawings made by Robert Blake, a legendary medical artist at Duke. Along with his illustrations of the… MORE

Category: News, Collection Highlights