Duke Medical Center Archive Blog

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 of… MORE

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The Duke University Medical Center Archives has been closed to the public since March 13, 2020 due to the ongoing pandemic. While we have been able to consult with patrons remotely and provide digital surrogates of materials, we are pleased to announce that our Archives reading room is now re-opened for Duke researchers by appointment only. In order to limit the number of people in our building, we have designated Tuesdays and Thursdays as research days. Please contact us to schedule a visit.

In addition to our normal reading room regulations… MORE

Category: News

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

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 month the Society of North Carolina… MORE

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For the past several months, the Duke University Archives and the Duke University Medical Center Archives have been collecting stories from students, faculty, and staff about their experiences during this unique time in history.

You may have seen articles about our efforts in The Chronicle or Duke Today. If you are anything like me, there is a good chance that you read about our collection efforts, but didn’t respond because you felt like you did not have anything to share. Or maybe you have too many experiences to share and it all just feels a little overwhelming! We want to… MORE

Category: News

The Duke Community was saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Catherine Wilfert this past weekend. She leaves behind an extraordinary legacy of scholarship, patient care, advocacy, and mentorship.  Dr. Wilfert was born on 26 July 1936, in Inglewood, California. She graduated with distinction from Stanford College in 1958 and then attended Harvard Medical School. Her internship was at Boston City Hospital, and her residency was at North Carolina Baptist Hospital. In 1964, Wilfert returned to Boston, where she continued to work in pediatrics and medicine. In 1971, she came to Duke University School of Medicine, where she achieved the rank of division chief of Pediatric Infectious… MORE

Category: News, Collection Spotlight

The Duke Community was saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Catherine Wilfert this past weekend. She leaves behind an extraordinary legacy of scholarship, patient care, advocacy, and mentorship.  Dr. Wilfert was born on 26 July 1936, in Inglewood, California. She graduated with distinction from Stanford College in 1958 and then attended Harvard Medical School. Her internship was at Boston City Hospital, and her residency was at North Carolina Baptist Hospital. In 1964, Wilfert returned to Boston, where she continued to work in pediatrics and medicine. In 1971, she came to Duke University School of Medicine, where she achieved the rank of division chief of Pediatric Infectious… MORE

Category: News, Collection Spotlight

We were saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Thomas Roberts Kinney earlier this week. Dr. Kinney was the Wilburt C. Davison Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Chair Emeritus in the Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Kinney had a long career here at Duke. You can see him pictured in the 1970 Intern composite from the July 1970 issue of the Intercom.

Category: Collection Spotlight, News

We were saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Thomas Roberts Kinney earlier this week. Dr. Kinney was the Wilburt C. Davison Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Chair Emeritus in the Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Kinney had a long career here at Duke. You can see him pictured in the 1970 Intern composite from the July 1970 issue of the Intercom.

Category: Collection Spotlight, News

Do you miss meeting and studying in the Medical Center Library? We sure do! Instead we are all spending a lot of time on Zoom these days. Changing your background is a great feature to hide your messy house, block that roommate in profile in the background, or just to express your own creativity and personality. We have created several free background templates for you to download and use. They feature images from the Medical Center Library and surrounding campus from the very beginning of the hospital until now.  You can click on any of the images below to enlarge and save to your computer or you can download them directly from this Box folder. … MORE

Category: News

COVID-19 has changed and disrupted our lives, at Duke and around the world. On campus, most students have returned home, classes are online, and all events are cancelled. Many staff are working from home; others that are deemed essential continue to work on campus. The hospital is preparing for an influx of people infected with COVID-19. Duke researchers are trying to find ways to fight the disease, from identifying treatments to creating better protective equipment.

And we all live with the fear of the physical impact of the virus, both for ourselves and our families.

The Duke University Archives and the Duke University Medical Center Archives have been hard at work to document this unique time in history. We have been capturing all of the news alerts, email… MORE

Category: News

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

The Duke University Medical Center Archives is happy to announce the recent addition to the Eleanor B. Easley Papers is processed and open for research. The addition includes Easley’s degrees, memberships, North Carolina medical license, and awards from her medical career. Materials date from 1928 to 2000.

The Easley Papers contains the professional papers of Eleanor Beamer Easley (1907-1998), a doctor of obstetrics and gynecology who practiced in Durham, North Carolina. Easley was the first female graduate of Duke's School of Medicine's first four-year class. In 1941, Easley helped co-found the… MORE

Category: News, Collection Spotlight

The Duke University Medical Center Archives is happy to announce the recent addition to the Eleanor B. Easley Papers is processed and open for research. The addition includes Easley’s degrees, memberships, North Carolina medical license, and awards from her medical career. Materials date from 1928 to 2000.

The Easley Papers contains the professional papers of Eleanor Beamer Easley (1907-1998), a doctor of obstetrics and gynecology who practiced in Durham, North Carolina. Easley was the first female graduate of Duke's School of Medicine's first four-year class. In 1941, Easley helped co-found the… MORE

Category: News, Collection Spotlight