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This oral history was conducted with Dr. Norman M. Rich on May 21, 2019 by Dr. Justin Barr as part of the Dr. David Sabiston Oral History Project. Transcript is available.
Duration: 00:57:53
During the interview, Rich discusses his early life in a copper mining town in Arizona; early interest in the repair of blood vessels; education; decision to become a surgeon; military service as a surgeon in Vietnam and later running the vascular service at Walter Reed and running the vascular fellowship program; Rich and Sabiston's friendship and warm working relationship; Rich's career in medicine after retiring from active duty; attending conferences, domestic and international, with Sabiston; and Rich's commitment to teamwork.
Digital files include transcript (.DOCX), interview (.WAV), consent form and contextual files (.PDF), contextual images (.JPG), and Bagger files (.TXT).

This oral history was conducted with Dr. Carl E. Ravin on May 20, 2019 by Emily Stewart as part of the Dr. David Sabiston Oral History Project.
Duration: 00:51:26
During the interview, Ravin briefly discusses his early life, education, military service during the Vietnam War, and his early career as a chest radiologist; memories of Dr. David Sabiston including the time Sabiston would not greet him because he was not wearing a white coat, as well as how Sabiston negotiated behind the scenes and controlled the environment by setting an example of how he thought the environment should operate; becoming chair of the department of surgery and changes he made; writing a chapter on imaging for Sabiston's surgery textbook; how Sabiston created an atmosphere at Duke with a superb quality of care from top rate doctors that also heavily focused on academics; Sabiston's commitment to the institution of Duke; and Ravin's relationship with Sabiston after his retirement.
Digital files include transcript (.PDF), interview (.MP3), and consent form (.PDF).

This oral history interview was conducted with Dr. Hilda P. Willett on May 21, 2007 by Jessica Roseberry as part of the Women in Duke Medicine Oral History Exhibit
Duration: 01:53:21
Hilda P. Willett discusses her background; her siblings; her parents' emphasis on education; the lack of funding for higher education; scholarship; Georgia State College for Women; Dr. James Stokes's encouragement for further education; other career choices for women (teaching); the lack of finances for graduate school; Dr. David Tillerson (D. T.) Smith (chair of Duke Department of Microbiology); doing tuberculosis research for Dr. Smith; attaining the first PhD in the Department of Microbiology (1949); her faculty position in the department; the advancement of male members of department to full professorship; the resistance by male members of department that she become a full professor; Dr. Smith's protest of this unfair situation; the appointment, promotion, and tenure committee within her department; her own research on the tubercle bacillus; her discovery of why isoniazid worked; the new chairman of department; her small laboratory; her ceasing of research due to wishes of new chair; the directorship of graduate studies for the department; the awareness of lower salaries for women; women in clinical departments aware of this discrepancy; Mary Poston's role in the department; Mary Poston as the only female in the department; Dr. Willett as the only female in the department; name changes to the department; focus changes of the department due to scientific advancements; Dr. Joe Nevins; Mary Poston's clinical laboratory; having more women on main campus than in the medical center; her husband as a private practitioner in the community; her husband's help with the household; hiring help to take care of her children; her husband's practice in Raleigh; her commute; teaching; assigning lectures as course director; her own social strengths and weaknesses; research funded by the National Tuberculosis Association; presenting at conferences; her fear of flying; elaboration on her own research; Dr. Wolfgang Joklik's reliance on her; the character of Dr. Smith; Dr. Norman Conant; her major contributions in research; editorial contributions to editions of "Zinsser's Microbiology"; the largeness of the task of serving as co-editor of "Zinsser's Microbiology"; her parents; working during her college years; and working with graduate students. The transcription of this interview was made possible by a grant from the Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation. Includes 2 master CDs, 2 use CDs, and 1 transcript.

This oral history was conducted with Dr. Fred A. Crawford on May 22, 2019 by Taylor Patterson as part of the Dr. David Sabiston Oral History Project. Transcript is available.
Duration: 00:49:09
During the interview, Crawford discusses his early life and education, his experience at Duke University and Duke University School of Medicine, working for Dr. Will C. Sealy, memories of Dr. David and Agnes Sabiston, his residency, leaving his residency at Duke to serve in the Army during the Vietnam War, and his career after Duke at the University of Mississippi and the Medical University of South Carolina as a thoracic surgeon.
Digital files include transcript (.DOCX), interview (.MP3), consent form (.PDF), keywords and summary (DOCX), and Bagger files (.TXT).

This oral history interview was conducted with Doris Howell on November 12, 2007 by Jessica Roseberry.
Duration: 01:01:00
Dr. Doris Howell discusses her early background; medical school at McGill University; positive treatment in medical school; her initial desire to go into the field of psychiatry; her choice to go into pediatrics; the characterization of pediatric work; her internship at Children's Memorial Hospital in Montreal, Canada; her residency at Duke; the difference between styles of training in Canada and the United States; her more rigid style due to Canadian training; Dr. Bill DeMaria convincing her to change her style; her fellowship at Harvard with Dr. Lou Diamond; her field of pediatric hematology; the large numbers of leukemia patients in her work at Duke; growing the division to take care of these patients; being the only trained pediatric hematologist between Washington, New Orleans, and Miami; the immense patient load; training residents and fellows; many fellows being Middle Eastern; becoming the chair of Pediatrics at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania; being concerned about all-women's medical college; Dr. Susan Dees as a role model; pediatrics as a field easier for women to enter during her time; her positive treatment at Duke; awards; convincing the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania to become coeducational; being only female chair of pediatrics nationally; working briefly at the Association of American Medical Colleges; becoming the temporary chair of the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of California, San Diego; the difficulty of being a chair in a field you have not trained in; her return to the field of pediatrics; the development of San Diego Hospice; San Diego Hospice as being an all-purpose hospice for all ages; staying involved; building a research fund for women's health; the difference between women's health issues and men's health issues; her working philosophy; not having biological children but caring for her patients; being engaged several times but being a female physician as complicating the relationships; her decision to stay single and commit her time to pediatric care; her advice to young female medical students; and her contentment with the life she has led. The transcription of this interview was made possible by a grant from the Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation.

This oral history interview was conducted with Dr. Frances K. Widmann on November 28, 2007 by Jessica Roseberry as part of the Women in Duke Medicine Oral History Exhibit.
Duration: 01:11:53
Frances K. Widmann discusses her background; her parents as physicians; marrying a physician; her mother as a female physician; her own interest in pathology; her work synthesizing the work of others in the "Technical Manual of the American Association of Blood Banks" and "Standards of the American Association of Blood Banks"; the importance to the field of these two volumes; medical school at Case Western Reserve; only small differences in the treatment between her and male medical students; coming to Chapel Hill in 1961 because of the availability of household help for families; being paid less than male members of the Department of Pathology at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; coming to Duke in 1971; working at the Durham Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital as director of the blood bank; the relationship between the Durham Veterans Administration Hospital and Duke Hospital; the centralized nature of Durham Veterans Administration Hospital's laboratories as opposed to Duke's laboratories; running a blood bank; the necessity of testing for certain antibodies in the blood; the difference in patient population at the VA Hospital and at Duke Hospital; her residency years; household help; organizing her schedule to be with her family during her residency years; the chair of Duke's Department of Pathology gaining newfound respect for her work during his own illness; other women in the Durham Veterans Administration Hospital; the use of male-centered language in Department of Pathology at times; and the desire for medical culture to allow more freedom for non-work-related activities. The transcription of this interview was made possible by a grant from the Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation. Includes 1 master CD, 1 use CD, and 1 transcript.

This oral history was conducted with J. Michael Slaughter on November 6, 2019 by Emily Stewart as part of the Dr. David Sabiston Oral History Project. Transcript is available.
Duration: 00:48:28
During the interview, Slaughter discusses his early life and education; memories of Dr. David and Agnes Sabiston; and working as the business manager for Duke Department of Surgery and all the duties that came along with that job, including managing payroll and planning all departmental social functions.
Digital files include transcript (.DOCX), interview (.MP3), consent form (.PDF), keywords and summary (DOCX), and Bagger files (.TXT).

These oral history interviews were conducted with Dr. Joseph O. Moore on November 6 and 9, 2020 by Joseph O'Connell as part of the Department of Medicine's Oral History Project.

Duration: 01:12:14 (interview 1)

Duration: 01:12:53 (interview 2)

During the interviews, Moore discusses the advent of the specialization of hematologic oncology, Moore's early experiences that inspired his interest in medicine as a career, changes in Duke's facilities and programs over his tenure, and developments in cancer treatment. The themes of these interviews include medical training, the history of Duke Medical Center, and hematologic oncology. Digital files include interview metadata and transcript (PDF), interviews with stereo (WAV), interviews with mono (MP3), image (JPG), consent form (PDF), and TXT files.

This oral history interview was conducted with Jane S. Richardson on November 9, 2007 by Jessica Roseberry as part of the Women in Duke Medicine Oral History Exhibit.
Duration: 01:16:22
Jane S. Richardson discusses her background; her interest in astronomy; her interest in philosophy; working in the same lab where her husband, David Richardson, was getting his PhD; in 1969, the laboratory solving the structure of the Staphylococcal nuclease, the tenth protein structure to be determined; her enjoyment of being unknown; working as a technician in the laboratory; what the structure of a protein might tell about that protein; solving the crystal structure of copper/zinc superoxide dismutase at Duke; learning about the geometry of the active site of this enzyme; the significance of knowing the structure of proteins; X-ray crystallography as the technique used then and still used to solve protein structures; the current worldwide Protein Data Bank, which stores about fifty thousand protein structures; her work as a technician; working on computer models of proteins as early as 1960s; current work of the Richardson lab: building tools for determining and analyzing RNA structure; all-atom contact analysis; other people at Duke currently actively working on protein structure, although not the Richardson lab; Jane Richardson being most noted for ribbon drawings of proteins; ribbon drawings outlining the schematics of all known protein structures in 1980; she and her husband not being able to be in the same department due to nepotism rule at the time; creating a uniform set of conventions for the protein ribbon drawings; the freedom to do this work because she was "invisible"; Duke giving her tenure when she became a member of the National Academy of Sciences; common structures depicted in the ribbon drawings; subjectivity of representing protein structures because she outlined the conventions of the drawings; the ubiquitous nature of the ribbon drawings due to computer graphics; current use of the same conventions; her original method of drawing on top of a computer printout of a very simplified protein structure; the laboratory's invention of Kinemages, one of the first molecular graphics systems available on personal computers; the current size of the laboratory; Duke in the 1970s; Dr. Robert Hill; women as being "on the edges" of the department; her own unusual career track; not getting a PhD; this fact embarrassing the university once she became well-known; receiving a MacArthur Fellowship because of the ribbon drawings; her own circuitous route as being useful; the collaborative nature of her work with her husband; the difficulty in current scientific culture of collaborating, since the tenure emphasis is on receiving credit for something; change in the nepotism rule; pairs of scientists; the connectivity of the current field due to computers; pressure as one result of connectivity; and her enjoyment of having many female colleagues currently. The transcription of this interview was made possible by a grant from the Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation. Includes 1 master CD, 1 use CD, and 1 transcript.

Dr. Fridovich speaks about his arrival in Duke University's Department of Biochemistry in 1952; Dr. Bernheim's reputation at the time for having discovered the amine oxidase; Dr. Bernheim's reputation for good teaching; Dr. Bernheim's reputation for writing abstracts for the publication Chemical Abstracts; the importance of Dr. Bernheim's discovery at the time; Dr. Bernheim's book, A Sky of My Own, about flying; Dr. Bernheim's interest in outdoor activities; the Bernheims housing an English child during World War II; the few women on the faculty; Dr. Bernheim's husband, Dr. Frederick Bernheim, and both of them being highly regarded scientifically; the founding chair of the department, Dr. William Perlzweig; women in the department over time; the field of biochemistry moving beyond Dr. Bernheim's discovery; Dr. Bernheim's donation of land to the Eno River Association; the physical space of the Department of Biochemistry upon his arrival; the growth of the department; Dr. Bernheim focusing more on teaching than research in her later years; Dr. Bernheim as always being called Molly, not Mary; flying as being important to Dr. Bernheim; the equipment that was used in the department in the 1950s; the equipment Dr. Bernheim might have used in her earliest years of research; Dr. Rebecca Buckley; national attention on Dr. Bernheim for her discovery; Dr. Bernheim's modesty; and the fading of that attention over the years.

These oral history interviews were conducted with Dr. Thomas M. Bashore on October 12 and 16, 2020 by Joseph O'Connell as part of the Department of Medicine's Oral History Project.

Duration: 00:30:42 (interview 1)

Duration: 01:25:24 (interview 2)

During the interviews, Bashore discusses his discusses his interest in visuals and history related to medicine, his pedagogical approach, and his thoughts on program leadership and restructuring. The themes of these interviews include cardiology, medical training, and collaboration in medicine. Digital files include interview metadata and transcript (PDF), interviews with stereo (WAV), interviews with mono (MP3), image (PNG), consent form (PDF), and TXT files.

This oral history interview was conducted with Dr. Elizabeth Bullitt on October 18, 2005 by Jessica Roseberry.
Duration: 01:15:00
Bullitt discusses her background; her fascination with the brain and neurosurgery; residency at University of Colorado; internal problems in program at University of Colorado; coming to Duke under Dr. Robert Wilkins; military feel of Duke program; rules in Duke program; Dr. Guy Odom; Dr. David Sabiston; hierarchy in Department of Surgery; male presence in neurosurgery, particularly at the time; husband as present chief of Neurosurgery at Duke; being the first female neurosurgeon on staff at both Mayfield Neurological Institute and University of North Carolina; feeling need to survive as opposed to feeling like a pioneer at Duke; treatment as a female neurosurgeon at Duke; her sensitivity to her treatment and dedication to her field; evaluation of her treatment versus current regulations against such treatment; facilities for female neurosurgeons; being overlooked at Duke because female; feeling uncomfortable returning to Duke; uniforms in Duke Department of Surgery; Dr. Robert Wilkins; others in the department who influenced her, including Dr. Blaine Nashold; meeting husband [Dr. Allan Friedman] at this time; time commitment as resident at that time versus the current time commitment; technology at Duke at the time; Carol Ludolph; conservative nature of Duke Surgery Department in terms of operating, flexibility; treatment received from patients; history of career at University of North Carolina; balancing home life and work life; current work with brain imaging at University of North Carolina. The transcription of this interview was made possible by a grant from the Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation. Includes 2 master audio cassette tapes, 2 use audio cassette tapes, and a transcript.

This oral history interview was conducted with John Robinette on October 22, 2019 by Taylor Patterson as part of the Dr. David Sabiston Oral History Project.

Duration: 01:24:37

During the interview, Robinette discusses his education; career at Duke, starting as an administrative assistant for Dr. William Anlyan and eventually moving into the role of a hospital administrator working with Sabiston closely on operating rooms; his experiences building the new Duke Hospital; working with Sabiston in the role of an administrator; the history of the Private Diagnostic Clinic (PDC) and its importance to Sabiston and Duke University; Sabiston's culture as one high standards, high work ethic, and fairness; changes implemented by Sabiston such as separate lounges for doctors, residents, nurses, housekeeping, etc., private hospital rooms, and relaxing visiting hours; the importance of academics and research in the surgical program to Sabiston; the corporatization of hospitals; memories of Dr. Joseph Greenfield; and personal memories of Sabiston and his wife Aggie. Digital files include transcript (.DOCX), interview (.MP3), and consent form (.PDF).

This oral history interview was conducted with Dr. Jean Spaulding on October 3, 2006 by Jessica Roseberry as part of the Women in Duke Medicine Oral History Exhibit.
Duration: 01:18:01
Spaulding discusses her family background; growing up in Michigan; the diverse community in Michigan; coming to the South; negative and prejudiced treatment in the South as an African-American; the lack of recognition of the Vietnam War in Duke Medical School; negative treatment from some in the medical school; the medical school not being affected by the undergraduate protests and takeovers taking place at the Allen Building due to racial issues; the segregation of donors' blood along racial lines; being the only African-American in Duke Medical School; negative statements made about her scholarship in her admissions interview because she was a woman; the prejudice of some of the professors at Duke Medical School; cross burning on her front lawn; her determination to stay and exercise her civil rights; her closeness with the other five women in the class; the attractiveness of psychiatry to her; the trust relationship between patients and doctors in psychiatry; Mary Ann Black; Dr. Spaulding and Ms. Black as the only African-Americans at the Child Guidance Clinic; the close relationship with Ms. Black; the Community Child Guidance Clinic; the atmosphere of the Duke Department of Psychiatry; Dr. Ewald Busse; Dr. H. Keith H. Brodie; the open nature of those at the Child Guidance Clinic; the joys of raising a family at same time as education and career; her pregnancy during medical school; taking time off to raise her first daughter; threats of the removal of her scholarship due to time off; the rescinding of threats when legal recourses were mentioned; the Biddle Foundation Scholarship; the opportunity to chair the Community Psychiatry Division; the decision to open a private practice instead; the predominance of female clientele in her practice; the particular stresses of that population to do everything; her own perspective as a person who accomplished many things simultaneously; balance in her life; her participation in the Women's Council for Duke; assisting Dr. Snyderman in developing the health system; the board of trustees of the Duke Endowment; what the presidential search committee saw in Dr. Nannerl Keohane; Duke's acquisition of Durham Regional Hospital; communication with Mary Ann Black at the time; Duke's relationship with the larger community; the view of Duke by some segments of African-Americans in the Durham community; Mary Semans; women and African-Americans whose names should be mentioned; Promising Practices; the development of initiatives for women at Duke Health System; females in positions of high leadership at Duke; Dr. Ralph Snyderman; role as trustee of Duke Endowment; her mother-in law, Elna Spaulding; her father-in-law, Asa Spaulding; and her daughters. The transcription of this interview was made possible by a grant from the Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation. Includes 2 master CDs, 2 use CDs, and 1 transcript.

This oral history was conducted with Dr. Jack Hughes on October 3 and 4, 2019 by Joseph O'Connell. Transcript is available.

Duration: Hughes_AudioStory.wav: 00:12:14; Hughes_Interviews.wav: 03:05:42

The October 3 and 4, 2019 interview with Hughes moves more or less chronologically through Hughes' upbringing and education, his military service during World War II, his residency and training in Minnesota, and his experiences at the intersection of academic and private practice medical communities in Durham, North Carolina. Digital files include transcript (.PDF), interviews (.WAV), consent form (.PDF), Hughes portrait).JPG), and Bagger files (.TXT).

This oral history interview was conducted with Dr. Alfred Gras on September 23, 2005 by Jessica Roseberry.
Duration: 00:20:00
Gras discusses his renaissance of interest in his own receipt of penicillin as medical student; notes from his father's journal about the event; Mary Poston; David Tillerson Smith; sulfonamides; his near death and miraculous recovery from bilateral staphylococcal pneumonia from use of penicillin; availability of penicillin at the time; Dr. Edward Levy and Dr. John Peck setting up penicillin drip; Dr. Levy and Dr. Peck telling him he was receiving a "vitabrew " in his leg; vein problems due to the treatment; further use of the penicillin extracted from his urine; obtaining the penicillin; his lack of having heard about penicillin; write-up of case in New England Journal of Medicine; cost (none) of his experimental penicillin versus estimated cost of same amount ($10,000); coming to Duke Medical School; lack of event status of the incident among his peers; cessation of penicillin due to complications from intravenous delivery; and further career. Includes a master and use audio cassette tapes and a transcript, which is available both in print and digitally.

This oral history interview was conducted with Dr. Pamela S. Douglas on September 23, 2020 by Joseph O'Connell as part of the Department of Medicine's Oral History Project.

Duration: 00:42:28

During the interview, Douglas discusses her career trajectory, her work in protocols and standards related to echocardiography and imaging technologies, and how she has contributed to efforts related to diversity and burnout in the field of cardiology. The themes of these interviews include medical standards, heart disease, and diversity and inclusion in medicine. Digital files include interview metadata and transcript (PDF), interview with stereo (WAV), interview with mono (MP3), image (JPG), consent form (PDF), and TXT files.

This oral history was conducted with Dr. W. Gerald Austen on September 9, 2019 by Emily Stewart as part of the Dr. David Sabiston Oral History Project. Transcript is available.
Duration: 00:39:57
During the interview, Austen discusses his early life and education; his work at Massachusetts General Hospital; Dr. David and Agnes Sabiston, including first meeting David Sabiston and his first stroke; his wife, Patty Austen; the history of open heart surgery; and the Duke Department of Surgery.
Digital files include transcript (.DOCX), interview (.MP3), consent form (.PDF), keywords and summary (.DOCX), and Bagger files (.TXT).