Interview, August 2, 2007

Creator:

Semans, Mary Duke Biddle Trent

Scope and content:

This oral history interview was conducted with Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans on August 2, 2007 by Jessica Roseberry as part of the Women in Duke Medicine Oral History Exhibit.
Duration: 1:47:10
Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans discusses Dr. Susan Dees; her friendship with Dr. Dees; Dr. Dees introducing Semans to her] second husband, Dr. Jim Semans; little time for socializing in the medical center; Dr. Dees's success as both a physician and in her private life; changes in the field of medicine for females; other women at the medical center that Semans remembers during this time [circa 1940s and 1950s]; Mrs. Elizabeth Swett, wife of Dr. Frances Swett; Mrs. Swett's influence with the residents' wives; the Nearly New Shoppe founded by faculty wives; Mrs. Bayard Carter; Mrs. Elizabeth Hanes, wife of Dr. Frederick Hanes; Mrs. Mary Hart, wife of Dr. J. Deryl Hart; nonphysican females at Duke Hospital, such as Mary Poston, fitting in to the hospital culture; the social expectation of physicians' wives to entertain; Dr. Eleanor Easley; Dr. Easley as her ob-gyn physician; the characterization of women in the early days of Duke Medicine; Duke as slow to increase the numbers of women; other women about whom she has less knowledge; Reba Hobgood in social services; Drs. Wilburt and Atala Davison; Dr. Ruth Martin; Dr. Violet Turner; Dr. Barbara Newborg; Dr. Jean Spaulding; Elna Spaulding; Dr. Evelyn Schmidt; Mary Ann Black; trends in women's health; other women; the family feeling of Duke in the early years of the medical school; health care she has received at Duke; and her daughter as a physician. The transcription of this interview was made possible by a grant from the Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation. Includes 2 master CDs and 2 use CDs.

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