Medical Center Archives Records, 1967-2016

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Summary

Creator:
Duke University. Medical Center. Archives.
Abstract:
The Duke University Medical Center Archives (DUMCA) plays a role in preserving and providing access to the legal, administrative, and historical records of the Medical Center and Health System administrative offices, department chairs and chiefs, and faculty. Materials in this collection include documentation of Elon Clark's work to inventory historical materials at Duke University Medical Center, correspondence from former archivist Dr. James (Jim) Gifford, documents pertaining to DUMCA's move to the Christian Avenue warehouse, papers pertaining to projects and exhibits completed after DUMCA became part of the Duke University Medical Center Library, and issues of the now defunct DUMCA newsletter. Materials range in date from 1967 to 2016.
Extent:
1.5 Linear Feet (1 carton) and 19.1 MB
Language:
English
Collection ID:
AR.0034

Background

Scope and content:

Contains records from the Duke University Medical Center Archives (DUMCA). Materials at the beginning of this collection pre-date DUMCA's establishment, and document Elon Clark's work to inventory historical materials at Duke University Medical Center. Other materials in this collection include correspondence from former archivist Dr. James (Jim) Gifford, documents pertaining to DUMCA's move to the Christian Avenue warehouse, papers pertaining to projects and exhibits completed after DUMCA became part of the Duke University Medical Center Library, and issues of the now defunct DUMCA newsletter. Materials range in date from 1967 to 2016.

Biographical / historical:

Since the 1970s, Duke University Medical Center Archives (DUMCA) has played a role in preserving and providing access to the legal, administrative, and historical records of the Medical Center and Health System administrative offices, department chairs and chiefs, and faculty. By preserving the Medical Center's documentary heritage, DUMCA makes it possible to study contributions of members to the Medical Center community and history of the institution. As of 2012, the Archives has nearly 10,000 linear feet of materials documenting the past 70 years.

DUMCA contains papers of significant individuals including W. C. Davison, Ewald Busse, William Alexander Perlzweig, Francis Huntington Swett, Bessie Baker, and Frederick Moir Hanes. Correspondence, speeches, short writings, photographs, budgets, oral histories and research materials located within these papers allow researchers to follow the professional activities of Duke individuals. DUMCA also has many artifacts used in early clinical examinations: an otoscope, a haemactometer, blood pressure cuffs, stethoscopes, and gastroscopes. In fact, one of the DUMCA's recent acquisitions was the doctor's bag of a first-year Duke medical student (1941). The historical collections in the Archives contain materials documenting the groundbreaking work of Duke medical professionals. The records of the Duke Poison Control Center, headed by Jay Arena and later Shirley K. Osterhout, provide evidence of the Center's international leadership and development of the first childproof safety cap. Another collection, the 65th General Hospital Collection, includes photographs and reports documenting skilled surgery and wound treatment on the battlefield. Images of buildings, ceremonies, individuals, and shots of news-making events and discoveries. One highlight of the collection is a photograph of the first autopsy performed at Duke.

The impetus for an archive at the Duke University Medical Center was an October 1965 article published in the "Intercom," the forerunner of "Duke Dialogue," entitled, "Wait, Please...Before You Throw That Away!" The authors requested that individuals send in their "priceless" materials to become part of the reading room of the new Medical Center Library, to be devoted to the "History of Duke University Medical Center." Barnes Woodhall, MD Vice Provost, and G.S.T. Cavanagh, then Director of the Medical Center Library, coordinated this first formal attempt to collect materials. Three years later, through the support of a grant from the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, Elon Clark, coordinator and professor of medical art, began collecting official papers, photographs, printed materials, and interviews pertaining to the history and business of the Medical Center. Through the interest and participation of many Medical Center faculty members, the DUMCA was formally established in 1977.

DUMCA actively collects the official records of DUMC and DUHS departments and divisions, including a variety of materials that provide evidence of the business, interests, and activities through of the years. Centralizing materials and relieving individual offices of the burden of storing and servicing records promotes greater and more efficient use of records. DUMCA is supported by the School of Medicine and is administratively part of the Medical Center Library.

Acquisition information:
Accession A2003.045 (transfer, June 2003), Accession A2023.010 (transferred by Russell Koonts, February 2023)
Processing information:

Processed by Dawne Lucas: August 2013; encoded by Dawne Lucas: August 2013; updated by Lucy Waldrop: February 2023

Arrangement:
Organized into the following series: Records, 1967-2011; Digital Files, 2006-2016.
Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Duke University Medical Center Archives.
Rules or conventions:
DACS

Contents

Using These Materials

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Using These Materials

Restrictions:

None.

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], Medical Center Archives Records, Duke University Medical Center Archives.