Black History at Duke Health

Below is a selection of recommended Duke Medicine digital resources related to the history of African Americans at the Medical Center.

• African American Pioneers & Trailblazers School of Medicine videos featuring individuals speaking about the history and legacy of African Americans at Duke Medicine, part of the 50 years of integration event.
• Duke’s African American LPN Program An article by Archives staff about Duke’s Licensed Practical Nursing Program for African American students, started in 1948.
• Integrating Medicine An article by Archives staff about the first African American School of Medicine student, Wilhelm Delano Meriwether.

• The Magic of Medicine at Duke  A 2009 collection of essays written by Duke leaders and pioneers. Pieces that focus on African Americans at Duke Medicine include Ed Halperin's "Desegregating the Bell Building,” Eddie Hoover's "Diversity at Duke: A Work in Progress," and Jean Spaulding's "Climate Change: Duke, Durham, and the Birth of a Health System." 

Above: Four African American licensed practical nursing students and a Duke University Hospital staff member or nursing instructor around a table, date unknown. Part of the Photograph Collection, and available via MEDSpace.

Below are recommended resources from Duke University related to African Americans at Duke.

• African Americans at Duke Subject guide about the history of African Americans at Duke, created by Duke University Archives.
• African-American Firsts at Duke University A list compiled in honor of the event, “Celebrating the Past, Charting the Future: Commemorating 50 Years of Black Students at Duke University.”
• Behind the Veil: Documenting African American Life in the Jim Crow South  Duke University Libraries' selection of 410 recorded oral history interviews chronicling African American life during the age of legal segregation in the American South. Includes several interviews with individuals who worked at Duke.
• The Education of Ida Owens Duke Graduate School's documentary on Ida Stephens Owens, the first African American woman to receive a doctorate from Duke University.
• The Road to Desegregation at Duke A digital exhibit documenting desegregation at Duke University.