The Archives recently acquired new additions to the Robert L. Blake Papers. Blake was a medical artist in the Division of Medical Illustration (later named Division of Audiovisual Education) at Duke from 1943-1983. His long career is surpassed only by the lasting impact of his artistic contributions to the University and Medical Center. This recent accession expands upon our already extensive collection of Blake’s artwork.
This accession (pictured on the right) contains two scrapbooks, slides, prints, publications and other papers documenting Blake’s professional career at Duke. One scrapbook features photos of division staff between 1943 and 1983. The image of Bob Blake below is from this scrapbook. The other scrapbook features copies of original artwork by Blake from this same period.
As fascinating as the visual content of this accession is, the most interesting part (at least to us archivists) is the extensive documentation included with the photographs and artwork. Having these bits of information completes the historical narrative of the images. Further, this information can be used to update other images in our collection where documentation is incomplete.
Stay tuned to our blog for more updates as we process these materials. In the meantime, please checkout other artwork by Bob Blake on MEDSpace. If you have questions about these materials or medical illustration at Duke, please submit a request or give us a call at (919) 383-2653.