Eddie L. Hoover Oral History Interview, 2019

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Summary

Creator:
Duke University. Medical Center. Department of Surgery.
Abstract:
Dr. Eddie L. Hoover, MD, a cardiac and thoracic surgeon, was the second Black student at the Duke University School of Medicine and the first Black resident in the Department of Surgery. Hoover went on to hold many leadership positions at different institutions including Chief of Surgery at the Brooklyn VA Hospital, Chair of Department of Surgery at Meharry Medical College, and Chairmen of Surgery at State University of New York at Buffalo, as well as being a founding member of the Society for Black Academic Surgeons. This collection contains 1 oral history interview conducted on June 25, 2019 by Emily Stewart as part of the Dr. David Sabiston Oral History Project. In the interview, Hoover discusses his early life; education; how he joined the medical profession; what it was like to be Black at the time Duke was starting to integrate its schools and facilities; the need for and starting the Society of Black Academic Surgeons; and his memories of Sabiston including his flawless memory, his meticulous nature, his love of the history of surgery; his dress code; his focus on research; and his desire to train academic surgeons who were going to teach the next generation of surgeons.
Extent:
1 Interview (1 transcript) and 11.0 MB
Language:
English
Collection ID:
OH.HOOVERE

Background

Scope and content:

Includes 1 oral history interview with Dr. Eddie L. Hoover conducted on June 25, 2019 by Emily Stewart as part of the Dr. David Sabiston Oral History Project.

In the June 25, 2019 interview, Hoover discusses his early life; education; how he joined the medical profession; what it was like to be Black at the time Duke was starting to integrate its schools and facilities; the need for and starting the Society of Black Academic Surgeons; and his memories of Sabiston including his flawless memory, his meticulous nature, his love of the history of surgery; his dress code; his focus on research; and his desire to train academic surgeons who were going to teach the next generation of surgeons.

Biographical / historical:

Dr. Eddie L. Hoover, MD, grew up in rural Mecklenburg County south of Charlotte, North Carolina. He was raised by sharecropper grandparents and grew up working on the farm. He attended segregated schools through high school, where he graduated in 1962. He was one of 14 students to integrate the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in the early 1960s, graduating in 1962. While still an undergraduate, the Associate Dean of Students convinced him to apply to medical school. Originally, he wanted to major in pharmacy, but Hoover changed his mind and went to Duke University School of Medicine for medical school. He was the second Black student there (1965-1969), later becoming the first Black resident in the Department of Surgery at Duke (1969-1971). Hoover's residency at Duke was interrupted by the Vietnam War. He was in the Navy from 1971 to 1973, where he was stationed in Guam. After his service, and at the request of Dr. Paul Ebert, he completed his General and Thoracic Surgery Residency at Cornell.

Upon completion of his Residency, Hoover joined the faculty at Cornell (1978-1980). He left to become the Chief of Surgery at the Brooklyn VA Hospital and Associate Professor of Surgery at State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate (1980-1987). He then was the Chair of Department of Surgery at Meharry Medical College (1987-1990) before joining the Department of Surgery at SUNY Buffalo in 1990 where he was the Chair of the Department of Surgery and a full professor. He retired from SUNY Buffalo in 2013.

Throughout his career, Hoover was a member of numerous surgical societies, as well as a founding member of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons. He has received many awards and honors including the Distinguished Alumnus Award by the Duke Medical Alumni Association in 2013.

Acquisition information:
Accession A2021.033 (transferred by Mary-Russell Roberson, April 2021)
Processing information:

Processed by Lucy Waldrop: April 2021

Arrangement:
Organized into the following series: Interview, June 25, 2019.
Rules or conventions:
DACS

Contents

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Terms of access:

Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Eddie L. Hoover Oral History Interview, Duke University Medical Center Archives.