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Dr. Merel H. Harmel, MD, professor emeritus and founding chair of the Duke University School of Medicine Department of Anesthesiology (1971-1983) was a pioneer in the practice, safety, and teaching of anesthesiology. Along with founding the Department of Anesthesiology ay Duke, he also founded anesthesiology departments at the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center and the University of Chicago. This collection contains 2 oral history interviews conducted on April 24, 1995 by Dr. James Gifford and May 26, 2004 by Jessica Roseberry. In the 1995 interview, which is part of the Dr. David Sabiston Oral History Project, Harmel discusses his career, the development of his research interests, and his interaction his department (the Department of Anesthesiology) with Sabiston and the Department of Surgery at Duke. In the 2004 interview, Harmel discusses his career, becoming the first chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, and other administrative aspects of how a division becomes a department and how it operates within an established medical center.

Contains audio, video, and a small amount of digital photographs documenting the history of Duke University Medical Center. Coverage includes documentaries, alumni gatherings, interviews, speeches, lectures, conferences, awards, tributes, groundbreakings, building dedications, grand rounds, and student-faculty shows. Materials in this collection have been acquired from multiple sources. Some of the materials have been separated from existing collections. People featured in the collection include: Jay M. Arena; William G. Anlyan; Lenox D. Baker; Ivan W. Brown; F. Bayard Carter; Elon Clark; Martin M. Cummings; Wilburt C. Davison; Victor J. Dzau; Wiley D. Forbus; Joseph C. Greenfield, Jr.; Charles B. Hammond; Philip Handler; Merel Harmel; Barton F. Haynes; Leslie Hohman; Charles Johnson; Samuel L. Katz; Joseph E. Markee; Robert J. Reeves; David T. Smith; Eugene A. Stead, Jr.; Andrew G. Wallace; and Barnes Woodhall. Items of note include Wilburt C. Davison's Dave at Roaring Gap, MEDSAC and Quail Roost conference recordings, a 14-part orientation of Duke Hospital North, documentaries about the 65th General Hospital, documentaries about Duke's hyperbaric chamber, the multi-part interview series "Before the Colors Fade," and "Keepers of the House" documentary. Also includes videos of the School of Medicine's Match Day program and Memory Lane video series for graduating medical students. Types of formats include VHS tapes, Betacam tapes, U-Matic tapes, audiocassette tapes, DVDs, CDs, other forms for optical media, film, magnetic tapes, reel-to-reel audio, wire recordings, and digital files. Materials range in date from 1946 to 2024.