Contains personal papers, records, and memorabilia of the United States Army 65th General Hospital, a United States Army Medical Corps unit staffed by Duke University Medical Center alumni in England during World War II. The unit distinguished itself as a center for both specialized treatment and the immediate care of combat casualties. Following the war, physician of the 65th, Leo Alexander, acted as a consultant to prosecutors in the Nuremberg Trials. Types of materials include official reports, newsletters, patient records, memorabilia, oral histories, photographs, artifacts, audiovisual materials, investigative notes, and short writings. Major subjects include Duke University Medical Center, United States Army, the 65th General Hospital, World War I, World War II, war crimes, neurosurgery, Ivan Brown, Leo Alexander, Norman Ross, and O. Norris Smith. Materials range in date from 1917 to 2002.
This collection combines the papers of Ivan Brown, Leo Alexander, Norman Ross, and O. (Opie) Norris Smith, each a physician at the 65th Base Hospital of World War II or the 65th General Hospital of World War II. The first series, General Collected Materials of the 65th, contains general administrative records, medical records, photographs, newsletters, memorabilia, reunion materials, artifacts, oral history interviews collected by Ivan Brown, a surgeon in the 65th General Hospital. The first series also includes materials of the 65th Base Hospital, a Duke University military medical unit that served during World War II. The second series, Leo Alexander Papers, also collected by Ivan Brown, contains the papers of Leo Alexander, a neuropsychiatrist and consultant to the postwar War Crimes Commission in Nuremberg. Alexander's papers contain personal materials, trial records, investigative correspondence, copies of some Nazi records, publications, and patient records. The third series, Norman Ross Papers, contains correspondence, clippings, memorabilia, and photographs. The fourth series, O. Norris Smith Papers, contains photographs, medical reference materials, and memorabilia. Ivan Brown gathered and cataloged the general administrative and medical records of the unit, along with many photographs, newsletters, and memorabilia. Materials range in date from 1917-2002.