The Archives is happy to announce that the Duke Cancer Institute Records has been reprocessed and is open for research. The Duke Cancer Institute (DCI) was established in 1973 as one of the original eight comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Since, Duke cancer researchers have made many notable accomplishments in the field, including the creation of the nation's first outpatient bone marrow transplantation program (1992) and assisting in the discovery of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that are responsible for many inherited forms of breast and ovarian cancer (1995). In 2010 the DCI was Duke’s first entity to consolidate cancer care, research, and education.
The Duke Cancer Institute Records contain correspondence, reports, grant materials, publications, photographic, and audiovisual materials pertaining to the activities and accomplishments of the Institute from its establishment until 2011. The collection also contains the papers of William W. Shingleton, the founding director of DCI. The newly processed portion of the collection is the Photographic and Audiovisual Materials Series. These materials include contact sheets, photographs, and negatives that document events such as the 1995 BRCA press conference, annual meetings, the Center for Living fashion show, the Angels Among Us 5k Run and Family Fun Walk, the Jaycee Awards, Oncology Radiation Therapy, and the Shingleton Award Dinners. One of the more amusing and unconventional events documented in the collection is DCI’s 1995 Take-A-Seat Gala and Auction. The photographs of Duke’s employees, friends, and family posing next to an assortment of creatively and ostentatiously decorated chairs is a gift for everyone, especially those nostalgic for the mid-1990s.
This collection should be of interest to anyone interested in the history of cancer care and research, or those would like to know more about DCI’s past fundraising activities and events. To learn more about these materials, visit the finding aid or contact the archives staff. For more information about the career of William W. Shingleton, his oral history interviews are available upon request at the Archives.
This blog was contributed by Archives Intern Caroline Waller.