Duke Medical Center Archives Blog Category: News

The Medical Center Archives is always happy to welcome researchers to view materials in our reading room, but we recognize that it is not always possible for everyone to visit our physical location! The Archives has a variety of online resources to help users learn about the collections and the Medical Center’s history. One particularly great resource that we would like to highlight is digitized issues of Intercom. 

Duke Medicine’s primary news publication from 1953 to 1986, the Intercom featured information about campus construction and events, faculty and staff news, facts and figures, and articles about medical research and innovations at Duke. The first 25 years of the publication were digitized by the… MORE

Category: News

The Medical Center Library & Archives is excited to introduce a new exhibit, Faces of Duke Health, which celebrates the diverse roles that contribute to the Duke Health community. Kicking off the series, the exhibit will spotlight Environmental Services (EVS), including our own Library EVS staff, and offer a glimpse into the history of EVS at Duke.

Category: News

It Came from the Archives! Halloween Highlights from the Duke Medical Center Archives

Location: Medical Center Library & Archives, Level 1

Date: Thursday, October 31, 11am – 2pm

Please join us for the Duke University Medical Center Archives’ annual Halloween event! This casual open house event will feature a selection of odd, intriguing, and significant materials from our collections. 

All are invited to drop in to view detailed medical illustrations, touch old medical instruments, explore forgotten stories from the history of Duke Health, and much more. 

Come by for a fun break to learn some history and… MORE

Category: News

Agents of Change: Portraits of Activism in the History of Duke Health is an oral history project documenting the work of activists and "change agents" throughout Duke Health’s history. This year-long project team was organized as part of the Bass Connections program and one of four teams connected to the Duke Centennial. Our team was led by Dr. Jeff Baker, Director of the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities & History of Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics and History and Rebecca Williams, Archives Librarian. Jonathan Pyka, Sara Spicer, and Lucy Zheng were the graduate team members. Gemma Holland, Ava… MORE

Category: News, Collection Spotlight

Agents of Change: Portraits of Activism in the History of Duke Health is an oral history project documenting the work of activists and "change agents" throughout Duke Health’s history. This year-long project team was organized as part of the Bass Connections program and one of four teams connected to the Duke Centennial. Our team was led by Dr. Jeff Baker, Director of the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities & History of Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics and History and Rebecca Williams, Archives Librarian. Jonathan Pyka, Sara Spicer, and Lucy Zheng were the graduate team members. Gemma Holland, Ava… MORE

Category: News, Collection Spotlight

Last summer we unveiled the exhibit, Highland Hospital: Portrait of 20th Century Mental Health Care, which documents the management, patient care, and educational programs of a residential psychiatric hospital located in Asheville, North Carolina. We are happy to announce that digital version is now available online.

Like the physical exhibit, Highland Hospital features photographs, administrative documents, promotional brochures, and newspaper clippings from the hospital’s history.  The exhibit explores the history of one regional hospital during the twentieth century including the daily life of its patients and the educational programs available. We hope that this portrait encourages you to… MORE

Category: News

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… MORE

Category: News

Mrs. Jessie Parker Smith, LPN, was a member of the first graduating classes of the Durham School of Practical Nursing during the late 1940s, as well as one of the cohorts of what is now known as the "Trailblazers", the first African American nurses hired by Duke. Smith remained a nurse at Duke for over 40 years. Initially a surgical nurse, she came to work with a variety of patients and specialties over her career. Tireless in her advocacy for the profession, Smith was an active member and Treasurer of the North Carolina Licensed Practical Nurses Association.

In April of 2022, Smith donated the North Carolina Licensed Practical Nurses Association (NCLPNA) Records to the Duke University Medical Center Archives. The NCLPNA was a predominately African American nursing group, and… MORE

Category: News, Collection Spotlight

Mrs. Jessie Parker Smith, LPN, was a member of the first graduating classes of the Durham School of Practical Nursing during the late 1940s, as well as one of the cohorts of what is now known as the "Trailblazers", the first African American nurses hired by Duke. Smith remained a nurse at Duke for over 40 years. Initially a surgical nurse, she came to work with a variety of patients and specialties over her career. Tireless in her advocacy for the profession, Smith was an active member and Treasurer of the North Carolina Licensed Practical Nurses Association.

In April of 2022, Smith donated the North Carolina Licensed Practical Nurses Association (NCLPNA) Records to the Duke University Medical Center Archives. The NCLPNA was a predominately African American nursing group, and… MORE

Category: News, Collection Spotlight

Joining a Community of Care: Duke Midwifery Service
Medical Center Library & Archives - Level 1
On Display February- May 2024

We are excited to announce the installation of a new physical exhibit on Level 1 of the Medical Center Library & Archives as well as a companion digital exhibit.  

The foundation of the exhibit are five oral history interviews with nurse midwives and other birth workers in Durham. These interviews were conducted by Josephine McRobbie and were made possible with a grant from… MORE

Category: News

Kayla Cavenaugh joined the Archives staff as an Intern in August 2023. During her internship at the Medical Center Archives, Kayla will process archival collections, write archival description, create finding aids, assist with acquisitions, as well as assist with the selection of images and writing metadata for MEDSpace and MediaBeacon. Her first project is to help complete the processing of the North Carolina Licensed Practical Nurses Association Records.

Kayla earned dual bachelor’s degrees in Art History and German with a minor in English, from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. After graduating, she served as a Fulbright English-Language Teaching Assistant in the rural community of Murau, Austria. In 2017, she learned to read Old German Script through a course… MORE

Category: News

Emma Eubank joined the Archives staff as an Intern in August 2023. During her internship at the Medical Center Archives, Emma will process archival collections, write archival descriptions, create finding aids, and assist with acquisitions. Her first project is to process the Duke Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology Records to make the collection available to researchers. 

Emma earned a BA in Anthropology and Medieval & Renaissance Studies from William & Mary in 2022. She is now in the dual degree program between the North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill working towards a MA in Public History from NCSU and a MSLS with a… MORE

Category: News

Archives Month is an annual, month-long observance of the agencies and people responsible for maintaining and making available the archival and historical records of our nation, state, communities, and people. Archives serve as the memory of our nation, and by celebrating, we recognize and give legitimacy to the enduring value of American records and America’s archives.

We encourage you to check out our Instagram account where we'll be highlighting treasures from the Medical Center Archives collection all month long.

This year the Society of North Carolina Archivists theme is for Archives Month is “Scandals, Nuisance, Calamity, and Anguish in the Archives… MORE

Category: News

Location: Medical Center Library & Archives, Level 1

Date: Tuesday, October 31, 11am – 2pm

Please join us for the Duke University Medical Center Archives’ annual Halloween event! This casual open house event will feature a selection of odd, intriguing, and rarely seen materials from our collections. 

All are invited to drop in to view detailed medical illustrations, touch old medical instruments, explore forgotten stories from the history of Duke Health, and much more. 

Come by for a fun break to learn some history and enjoy free Halloween candy!

Category: News

In honor of Dr. Lefkowitz’s 50 years at Duke, we would like to spotlight his collection of personal papers that are held at the Medical Center Archives.

The Medical Center Archives began collecting Dr. Lefkowitz’s materials in 2004 with the initial transfer of two boxes of records. The collection has since grown to 410.75 linear feet of materials and is one of our largest. It documents Dr. Lefkowitz’s career and contains his professional papers, including travel and conference materials, speeches, memoranda, committee materials, awards and honors, former employee files, old equipment files, grant materials, alumni files, material… MORE

Category: News, Collection Spotlight