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Watts Hospital, located in Durham, North Carolina, was the city's first hospital. It was funded by George W. Watts and opened in 1895 as a private 22-bed, modern hospital, dedicated to the care of Durham's white citizens. African American citizens were cared for at Lincoln Hospital, which opened in 1901. By 1909, Watts Hospital's 22-bed facility was too small for a fast growing Durham, and a newer facility was built on 25 acres at the intersection of Club Boulevard and Board Street. This is where the hospital remained until it closed in 1976 when it merged with Lincoln Hospital when Durham County General Hospital (now Duke Regional Hospital) opened. The grounds and buildings of the hospital's 1909 campus were converted into the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, which opened in 1980. Types of materials hospital ledgers documenting births and expenses. Materials date from 1909 to 1940.

Watts School of Nursing (SON), formerly Watts Hospital Training School for Nurses, is North Carolina's oldest nursing school, established by George W. Watts in 1895. In 2019, Watts SON became Watts College of Nursing and their long-standing diploma program transitioned to a baccalaureate program in January 2020. Types of materials include nursing student composites, photographs of Watts Hospital, and a certificate. Materials date from 1975 to 2013.

Contains the teaching films of W. Banks Anderson Sr. (1897-1977), professor of ophthalmology and first ophthalmologist at Duke University Medical Center. Materials include 16mm teaching films and their accompanying notes. Materials date from the 1950s to the 1960s.

Dr. W. Gerald Austen, MD, a pioneer in the field of cardiac surgery, was the chief of the Surgical Services at Massachusetts General Hospital for 29 years, as well as a friend and colleague of Dr. David C. Sabiston. This collection contains 1 oral history interview conducted on September 9, 2019 by Emily Stewart and is part of the Dr. David Sabiston Oral History Project. In 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.

Contains the professional papers of William H. Briner (1926-1999), professor of radiopharmacy and nuclear pharmacy at Duke University Medical School from 1970 to 1988. Types of materials include lectures, reprints, correspondence, 35mm slides, photographs, drafts, reports, speech transcripts, itineraries, handwritten notes, a CV, manuals, books, and newspaper clippings. Materials also include his research and lectures from the National Institutes of Health and correspondence and notes regarding specific projects while working at Duke, including his collaboration on the development of fluorine-18 with North Carolina State University, the construction of the Bell Building, and the creation of the first radiopharmacy lab. Materials date from 1954 to 1989. .

Contains the personal and professional papers of Wilburt Cornell Davison (1897-1972), pediatrician, chair of pediatrics, and first dean of Duke University School of Medicine (1927-1960). Types of materials include correspondence, subject files, memorabilia, scrapbooks, photographs, clippings, programs, budgets, reports, deeds, poems, manuscript materials, creative writings, genealogical materials, article reprints, diplomas, and certificates and invitations. Oversized diplomas and certificates have been separated from this collection. Major correspondents include George G. Allen, Atala Davison, Jay M. Arena, F. Vernon Altvater, Bessie Baker, William B. Bell, William Preston Few, Wiley D. Forbus, Frederic Moir Hanes, Elizabeth Hanes, Julian Deryl Hart, Sir William Osler, Talmage Peele, Wilder Penfield, Watson S. Rankin, Josiah Trent, and Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans. Major groups and associations in the collection include Alpha Omega Alpha, American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, Association of American Medical Colleges, Lincoln Hospital, Rockefeller Foundation, and Society for Pediatric Research. Major subjects in this collection include pediatrics, medical education, Duke University School of Medicine, Duke University faculty and students, Duke Hospital, and Private Diagnostic Clinic. Materials date from 1881 to 1972.

Contains the professional records of Dr. Wiley Davis Forbus (1894-1976), MD, professor and chair of the Department of Pathology at Duke University from 1930 to 1964; Area Consultant in Pathology for the Veterans Administration from 1948 through the 1960s; "chief mover" (Baker, 1959) of the North Carolina Medical Examiner's System; and Medical Education Consultant in Europe and the "Far East" from 1953 to the 1960s. Major subjects include the Department of Pathology, the Duke University School of Medicine, nursing and medical education, autopsies, the early history of Duke University, the Veterans Administration, Duke Pathological Services, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, medical education in the "Far East" in the 1950s and early 1960s, race relations in North Carolina, small hospitals in North Carolina, Medico-Legal concepts and practices, history of medicine in North Carolina, and early Hodgkin's disease research. These records include but are not limited to abstracts, accounts, annual reports, budgets, committee files, correspondence, course outlines, curriculum, curriculum vitae, lectures, manuscripts, memoranda, minutes, monographs, photographs, plans, proceedings, programs, protocols, publications, recommendations, reports, and schedules. An effort was made to cross reference when possible and list the contents and major topics within each folder on the folder tab for easy use. Materials date from 1849 to 1979 with the bulk of the materials dating from 1923 to 1979.

Wilhelm Delano Meriwether was the first African-American to graduate from the Duke University School of Medicine.