Duke Medical Center Archives Blog Category: News

MaryAnn Black

Remembering MaryAnn E. Black
Posted On: March 27, 2020 by Rebecca Williams

The Duke Community was saddened to learn of the passing of MaryAnn E. Black yesterday. She leaves behind an extraordinary legacy of leadership and service to the Durham and Duke communities. Across her various positions as social worker, Durham County Commissioner, and State Representative, MaryAnn Black continuously sought to promote the health and human service needs of all Durham residents.  Upon hearing the news of her passing, we returned to an oral history interview conducted with Ms. Black to hear her insights. Her remarkable dedication to public service and gifts of cultivating partnerships is apparent throughout the interview. When talking about breaking down barriers in healthcare, she noted the importance of diverse hiring practices and avenues for progress:   “Breaking those… MORE

Category: News, Collection Spotlight

MaryAnn Black

Remembering MaryAnn E. Black
Posted On: March 27, 2020 by Rebecca Williams

The Duke Community was saddened to learn of the passing of MaryAnn E. Black yesterday. She leaves behind an extraordinary legacy of leadership and service to the Durham and Duke communities. Across her various positions as social worker, Durham County Commissioner, and State Representative, MaryAnn Black continuously sought to promote the health and human service needs of all Durham residents.  Upon hearing the news of her passing, we returned to an oral history interview conducted with Ms. Black to hear her insights. Her remarkable dedication to public service and gifts of cultivating partnerships is apparent throughout the interview. When talking about breaking down barriers in healthcare, she noted the importance of diverse hiring practices and avenues for progress:   “Breaking those… MORE

Category: News, Collection Spotlight

info alert

Digital Research Resources
Posted On: March 25, 2020 by Rebecca Williams

As of Friday, March 13, 2020 at 5pm, the Duke University Medical Center Archives is closed to the public until further notice due to COVID-19. Staff are working remotely and are available for consultation via our online request form or via email. We cannot access our physical collections, but we are happy to answer general questions and assist you in locating digital materials for your research if possible.

Below are some available online resources:

MEDSpace – If you’re looking for historic images, our digital repository, MEDSpace, is an excellent place to start. MEDSpace contains nearly 700 photographs documenting the history of Duke Medicine. You can also find early publications, medical illustrations and artwork, and medical… MORE

Category: News

Exhibit Display

New Exhibit Features Med Student Life in 1930
Posted On: March 9, 2020 by Rebecca Williams

We are excited to announce the installation of a new exhibit on Level 3 of the Medical Center Library. “A Medical Student’s Life at Duke in 1930” explores the lives of Duke’s first medical students, 52 first-year and 18 third-year medical students who were admitted to the new medical school in the fall of 1930.  According to the 1930-1931 School of Medicine Bulletin, the estimated yearly cost of attendance for students was between $295 and $315. Each year the school offered four terms of eleven weeks, commencing October 1st with one-week vacations in December, March, and June and a one-month vacation in September. Students were required to complete three terms… MORE

Category: News

George L. Maddox Papers

George L. Maddox Papers
Posted On: February 17, 2020 by Rebecca Williams

The Medical Center Archives is happy to announce that new additions to the George L. Maddox Papers are open for research. This collection contains the personal and professional papers of George L. Maddox, a former director of the Duke University Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development.


Over the course of his career, Maddox was a major figure in the push to improve health care and the quality of life for older adults in the United States. While at Duke, he was not only the director of the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, but also the program director for the Center’s Long Term Care Resources Program (LTRCP). This program was focused on providing… MORE

Category: News, Collection Spotlight

George L. Maddox Papers

George L. Maddox Papers
Posted On: February 17, 2020 by Rebecca Williams

The Medical Center Archives is happy to announce that new additions to the George L. Maddox Papers are open for research. This collection contains the personal and professional papers of George L. Maddox, a former director of the Duke University Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development.


Over the course of his career, Maddox was a major figure in the push to improve health care and the quality of life for older adults in the United States. While at Duke, he was not only the director of the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, but also the program director for the Center’s Long Term Care Resources Program (LTRCP). This program was focused on providing… MORE

Category: News, Collection Spotlight

RESCHEDULED:
Wednesday, February 26, 2020

4:30pm - 6:00pm
The Chappell Family Gallery (Perkins Library)
West CampusRemarks at 5:00 p.m. in the Holsti-Anderson Family Assembly Room (Rubenstein Library 153, next door to the Chappell Family Gallery).  Help us celebrate the opening of the new exhibit in the Chappell Family Gallery. Seeing the Invisible explores the history of protein visualization by following the contributions of Duke biochemistry professors Dave and Jane Richardson, who have spent over five decades researching these molecular building blocks of life and finding ways to help both scientists and other people better understand and appreciate their structures. Through drawings,… MORE

Category: News

The Duke University Medical Center Archives (DUMCA) is excited to announce the acquisition of the Onyekwere E. Akwari Papers, a collection that documents the personal life and professional career of Dr. Onyekwere E. Akwari, a Nigerian-American and the first African-American surgeon at Duke University. Dr. Akwari was the son of Theophilus Akwari, an export-import business owner, and Ngarasi Christiana Ukegbu, the owner and operator of numerous local shops. He was raised in Abia State, Nigeria as the oldest of eight children. In 1962, shortly after Nigeria declared its independence from British rule, Akwari made the decision to leave his home country and travel to the… MORE

Category: News

“Archives—it’s where technology comes to die” is a phrase I frequently use when discussing obsolete audiovisual formats in archives. Think about it, when is the last time you shoved a VHS tape into your VCR, a Betamax into your Betamax player, or a U-Matic into its player? Have you fired up your wire recorder recently? Threaded a film into your 16mm or 8mm projector? How about a DVD? Do you watch those anymore? Listened to any audiocassette tapes or CDs recently? What about a reel-to-reel audio tape? Even if you haven’t, these formats still exist. Often the only copy of a recording is on an obsolete format, which is why archival repositories that collect these obsolete formats, also need to collect obsolete format players.  … MORE

Category: News, Ask The Archives

“Archives—it’s where technology comes to die” is a phrase I frequently use when discussing obsolete audiovisual formats in archives. Think about it, when is the last time you shoved a VHS tape into your VCR, a Betamax into your Betamax player, or a U-Matic into its player? Have you fired up your wire recorder recently? Threaded a film into your 16mm or 8mm projector? How about a DVD? Do you watch those anymore? Listened to any audiocassette tapes or CDs recently? What about a reel-to-reel audio tape? Even if you haven’t, these formats still exist. Often the only copy of a recording is on an obsolete format, which is why archival repositories that collect these obsolete formats, also need to collect obsolete format players.  … MORE

Category: News, Ask The Archives

For All The People exhibits

For All the People Display Currently On View
Posted On: December 2, 2019 by Rebecca Williams

For All the People: A Century of Citizen Action in Health Care ReformMedical Center Library & Archives - Level 1On Display Now(November 2019- September 2022)  The Medical Center Library is hosting “For All the People: A Century of Citizen Action in Health Care Reform,” a six-banner traveling exhibition. Developed and produced by the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, it explores changes to the American health care system and highlights the work of citizens to instigate change.  In conjunction with the NLM display, the Medical Center Library and Archives produced a companion exhibit… MORE

Category: News

Introduction Panel to Documenting Durham's Health History

Documenting Durham's Health History Now on Display
Posted On: November 27, 2019 by Rebecca Williams

Documenting Durham’s Health History Medical Center Library & Archives – Level 2R, Room 212E, and Level 3 On Display November 21-December 13 Through maps, images, and video interviews, this exhibition examines the roots of health disparities in the "City of Medicine." It highlights four sequential case studies: tuberculosis before WWII, childbirth during hospital desegregation in the 1960s, HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980-90s, and the more recent rise of type 2 diabetes. The exhibit looks at each case study from multiple vantage points. While racial disparities characterize all four examples, each one illustrates how race… MORE

Category: News

Rhizopuspepsin domain 1

Jane and David Richardson Papers
Posted On: November 11, 2019 by Rebecca Williams

The Archives is happy to announce they are now home to the Jane and David Richardson Papers. Both Jane and David are currently professors in Duke’s Department of Biochemistry. Jane is James B. Duke professor of Biochemistry and David is professor of Biochemistry and founding director of Duke’s Structural Biology and Biophysics Graduate Training Program. The Richardson’s met while students at Swarthmore College. Following graduation, they married and David continued his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, pursing a PhD in chemistry while working in the laboratory of Albert F. Cotton and researching small molecule inorganic chemistry and crystallography. Meanwhile, Jane attended Harvard… MORE

Category: News, Collection Spotlight

Rhizopuspepsin domain 1

Jane and David Richardson Papers
Posted On: November 11, 2019 by Rebecca Williams

The Archives is happy to announce they are now home to the Jane and David Richardson Papers. Both Jane and David are currently professors in Duke’s Department of Biochemistry. Jane is James B. Duke professor of Biochemistry and David is professor of Biochemistry and founding director of Duke’s Structural Biology and Biophysics Graduate Training Program. The Richardson’s met while students at Swarthmore College. Following graduation, they married and David continued his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, pursing a PhD in chemistry while working in the laboratory of Albert F. Cotton and researching small molecule inorganic chemistry and crystallography. Meanwhile, Jane attended Harvard… MORE

Category: News, Collection Spotlight

Bell building

October is Archives Month
Posted On: October 25, 2019 by Rebecca Williams

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.

There are several ways to celebrate this month and learn more about the work of archives. The first is through social media. On October 2, 2019, archivists around the country took to Twitter to respond to questions tweeted with the hashtag #AskAnArchivist. From our Twitter account we provided… MORE

Category: News