Will Camp Sealy Papers and Records, 1938-1986

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Summary

Creator:
Sealy, Will Camp and Sealy, Will Camp
Abstract:
Contains the professional papers of Will Camp Sealy (1912-2001), chair of the Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery in the Department of Surgery at Duke University Medical Center (1950-1984). Materials include correspondence, reports, reprints, minutes, grant materials, speeches, notes, travel records, and committee materials. Major subjects include Duke University School of Medicine, arrhythmia, thoracic surgery, and cardiovascular surgical procedures. Materials date from 1938 to 1983.
Extent:
34.5 Linear Feet (23 cartons)
Language:
English
Collection ID:
MC.0083

Background

Scope and content:

Contains the professional papers of Will Camp Sealy. Types of materials include correspondence, reports, reprints, minutes, grant materials, speeches, notes, and committee materials. Major subjects include Duke University School of Medicine, arrhythmia, thoracic surgery, and cardiovascular surgical procedures. Materials date from 1938 to 1983.

Biographical / historical:

Will Camp Sealy was born in Roberta, Georgia, in 1912 to Hugh Key Sealy and Margery Parkie Camp. He received degrees from Emory University in 1933 (BS 1933; MD, 1936) and completed surgical residency training at Duke University from 1936 to 1942. During residency Sealy worked with Dr. Joseph Beard, well known as an early surgical virologist.
From 1942 to 1946, Sealy served as an army surgeon in World War II. During his time in the army, Sealy was promoted to lieutenant colonel and, in the European theater, made chief of surgery of the Army Medical Corps' 121st General Hospital and later the 128th Evacuation Hospital. He served in England, where he was in charge of surgical treatment for returning wounded pilots. In 1946 he received a Bronze Star for meritorious wartime service.
Following the war, Sealy returned to Duke University as a surgeon where he served under the first two chairmen of surgery: Drs. J. Deryl Hart, Halsted's last chief resident, and Clarence E. Gardner. Sealy's early interest in thoracic surgery was inspired by Dr. Josiah Trent, Duke's first thoracic surgeon. In 1950, Sealy became chair of the division of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery, a capacity in which he served until 1984.
Some of Sealy's research interests and discoveries include paradoxical hypertension, necrotizing arteritis after coarctation repair, and early use of perfusion hypothermia in cardiac surgery. His landmark studies of the surgical treatment of certain cardiac arrhythmias gained him worldwide recognition and opened one of the last frontiers of cardiac surgery. Sealy, Dr. Ivan Brown, and Dr. Glenn Young were among the first to determine the benefits of patient cooling by using hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass in adult and congenital heart surgery. Additionally, Sealy and his colleagues were among the first to use cardioplegic solutions for sustained protected cardiac arrest. He and Dr. Brown developed the first efficient perfusion-based heat exchanger.
Sealy's lasting and perhaps most important contributions were in the field of electrophysiology and arrhythmia surgery. His laboratory studies culminated in the first pathway ablation for Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome. This operation, detailed in "The Annals of Thoracic Surgery," was done on May 2, 1968. Sealy became known as theFather of Arrhythmia Surgery.
In 1969, he became the sixth president of The Society for Thoracic Surgeons. He held a director position on the American Board of Thoracic Surgery (1971-1977). Between 1975 and 1977 he also was Chairman of the Thoracic Surgery Residency Review Committee.
After his 1984 retirement from Duke, he became a consultant for many beginning arrhythmia surgeons and programs. From 1984 to 2000, he was part of the Mercer University faculty as program director and chair of the Department of Surgery.
Sealy was married to Marian Sanford Sealy, with whom he had four children, and later Jacqueline Womble Sealy. He died on January 27, 2001.

Acquisition information:
Source unknown (acquired, 1983), Accession A2009.039 (transferred by Will Camp Sealy, August 2009)
Processing information:

Processed by Archives staff: April 2005; encoded by: Emily Glenn: April 2005

Arrangement:
Organized into the following series: Correspondence, 1947-1978; Publications, Reprints, and Writings, 1938-1979; Speeches, Talks, Addresses, and Lectures, 1940-1982; Grants and Research Funds, 1954-1980; Associates and Societies, 1954-1979; Subject Files, 1947-1986.
Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Duke University Medical Center Library's online catalog.

Contents

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Restrictions:

This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals or IRB approval may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which Duke University assumes no responsibility.
The Correspondence Series must be screened for sensitive or confidential materials before being accessed. For further information consult with the Medical Center Archivist.

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], Will Camp Sealy Papers and Records, Duke University Medical Center Archives.