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This oral history interview was conducted with Dr. David L. Simel on March 5, 2021 by Joseph O'Connell as part of the Department of Medicine's Oral History Project.

Duration: 01:07:46

During the interview, Simel discusses his early experiences in and around medicine, his research in clinical exam and diagnostic tools, and his work at the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center and as Vice-Chair for Veterans Affairs in the Department of Medicine. The themes of this interview include veterans' health, medical training, hematology-oncology, and general practice 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.

Frederick and Mary ("Molly") Bernheim speak about their backgrounds, respectively; how they met; their work, respectively, when they were getting their doctorates; time spent together in Germany in 1929; Frederick Bernheim's work at Johns Hopkins; coming to Duke as members of the original faculty; Dr. George Eadie, who recruited Frederick Bernheim; Frederick Bernheim being asked to teach pharmacology when his field had been primarily biochemistry; Frederick Bernheim's work in trying to integrate pharmacology and biology, which was new field at the time; Mary Bernheim's enjoyment of teaching; Dr. William Perlzweig, who recruited her; Dr. Perlzweig's temperament; teaching in the lab; Frederick Bernheim working on tuberculosis (TB); the small departmental budget and no grants to support research in the early 1930s; how World War II affected their work; many of the preclinical faculty staying to teach as opposed to the clinical faculty, who went overseas as doctors; the Bernheims keeping two English children during wartime; the difference between the general feeling in America about World War II and the Vietnam War; teaching people who came back from World War II; the ample supply of grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) when James Shannon was its director; Frederick Bernheim's research; Mary Bernheim's work in and commitment to the field of nutrition; others at Duke in their respective fields who made contributions; Frederick Bernheim on the academic council; other important Duke contributors in the basic sciences; the development of the curriculum; the numbers of graduate students over the years; Dr. Philip Handler and Dr. Eugene Stead; and the overworking of the medical student.

Major subjects in this interview include Dr. Meriweather's experiences integrating the Duke University School of Medicine.

This oral history interview was conducted with Dr. Samuel Katz on May 10, 2007 by Jessica Roseberry. The transcription of this interview was funded by a grant from the Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation.
Duration: 01:09:44
Katz discusses his preference of the term chair versus chairman of the Department of Pediatrics in order to be inclusive of female department chairs; the nature of the Department of Pediatrics when he first arrived as chair in 1968; former Department of Pediatrics chairs Dr. Jerome Harris and Dr. Wilburt Davison; Dean Wilburt Davison's view of the department; research in the department upon Katz's arrival; the department's relationship to other departments in the medical school; comparisons to Harvard's campus; Dr. Harris's relationship with the Division of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine; pediatric cardiologist Dr. Madison Spach; the less prominent position of the Department of Pediatrics upon his arrival; Department of Immunology chair, Dr. William Joklik; his own efforts to bring the Department of Pediatrics into a place of more prominence; women [one full time and one half time] in the department upon his arrival; Dr. Susan Dees; Dr. Davison's nonpayment of Susan Dees because her husband, Dr. John Dees, received a salary from the medical center; Dr. Shirley Osterhout as being a half-time employee in the Department of Pediatrics and a half-time employee as director of the Poison Control Center; the reputation of Dr. Rebecca Buckley before he arrived; Dr. Rebecca Buckley in the Department of Immunology; the recruitment of Dr. Buckley to the Department of Pediatrics; Dr. Dees's reputation and intellectual prowess; Dr. Susan Dees as a smoker; Dr. Shirley Osterhout as the leader of the Poison Control Center; Dr. Buckley's research on babies with Severe Combined Immunodeficiency; Dr. Buckley's international reputation; the small number of women in departments during the time of his arrival; women in other medical schools; the arrival of Dr. Catherine Wilfert; the four women in the Department of Pediatrics having husbands and children; Dr. Catherine Wilfert's national distinction; his marriage to Dr. Wilfert and their keeping separate names; Dr. Lois Pounds; Dr. Tim Oliver; the marriage of Dr. Pounds and Dr. Oliver; Dr. Pounds in the admissions department; women in the admissions department; pediatricians in the admissions department; Dr. Deborah Kredich in the Division of Rheumatology in the Department of Pediatrics; Dr. Wilfert's interaction with his alma mater, Harvard, about the admission of women to Harvard Medical School; the group of medical students in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology working militantly to equalize the gender gap in the department and in medicine in general; his suggestions of names of female department chairs upon his retirement; women in the Department of Pediatrics who actively promoted women's issues; his own advocacy for women's issues; difficulties for women; Dr. Phyllis Lephert; appointment and tenure decisions; the current Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure committee; pediatrics as seen as more of a women's specialty; Dr. Doris Howell; women and research; women clinicians in the Department of Pediatrics; female doctors married to male doctors in the Medical Center; other considerations pertaining to his and Dr. Wilfert's marriage; Dr. Brenda Armstrong; maternity leave; actively trying to give women a place in the Department of Pediatrics; aspects of a good pediatrician; and his own work, especially vaccines internationally. Includes a master and use CD and a transcript..

This oral history interview was conducted with Dr. Allan H. Friedman on May 14, 2019 by Susannah Roberson as part of the Dr. David Sabiston Oral History Project.
Duration: 00:17:24
During the interview, Friedman discusses his early life; educational background; how he decided to become a surgeon; how he came to Duke; his residency at Duke, including his first meeting with Sabiston for his interview; working with the first female intern in the Department of Surgery, Isabelle (Fader) Richmond; how Sabiston was able to attract the best house staff because of his national reputation; his relationship with Sabiston as it evolved through Friedman's residency to his faculty appointment and Sabiston moved from being a mentor to being a friend; and how Sabiston influenced Friedman's research and his career at Duke. Digital files include transcript (.DOCX), interview (.WAV), and consent form (.PDF).

This oral history interview was conducted with Dr. Wolfgang Joklik on May 16, 2007 by Jessica Roseberry.
Duration: 01:16:22
Joklik discusses his education in Australia and England, his career at Duke in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology as well as efforts to increase the employment of women in the department, his research in molecular virology, and the creation of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Duke. He also discusses the lives and careers of several of his colleagues at Duke, including pediatrics and microbiology specialist Catherine Wilfert and virology researchers Joe and Dorothy Beard.

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).