Interested in learning about the historical relationship between Duke hospitals and the surrounding community? The following is a sampling of readings and resources with a focus on the history of race and health disparities at Duke and in Durham.
These suggested resources have been compiled by Dr. Jeffrey Baker, MD, Professor of Pediatrics and History, Director of the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities & History.
- Duke University Medical Center (DUMC) Archives details Black History at Duke Health and includes videos, interviews, and oral histories.
- Bull City 150 This documentary project that exploring how Durham’s current inequities are rooted in its history. Its website features a very engaging on-line exhibit on the history of housing in Durham
- Durham: A Self-Portrait This historical documentary, directed by Steve Channing, examines the story of race and class in the American South and Durham over the past 150 years.
- Website of Occaneechi Tribe, Saponi Nation
- Keepers of the House. Documentary featuring interviews with Duke hospital environmental service workers.
- The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South by Osha Gray Davidson (UNC Press, 2007). Tells story of Durham’s history through two individuals, one a civil rights activist and the other a Klan leader, who against all odds came to recognize their commonalities and became friends. If you want to read one book about the complex interplay of race and social class in Durham), this might be it. Don’t bother with the movie.
- Upbuilding Black Durham: Gender, Class, and Black Community Development in the Jim Crow South by Leslie Brown (UNC Press, 2008). This is a story of Durham's African American community from the Civil War to WWII, centering on women
- Our Separate Ways: Women and the Black Freedom Movement in Durham, North Carolina by Christina Green. This book examines the Civil Rights movement in Durham, demonstrating the leadership roles of women activists
- The Dukes of Durham, 1865-1929 by Robert Durden. Here's where to learn about Washington Duke, Buck Duke, and tobacco
- Native Carolinians: The Indians of North Carolina by Theda Perdue and Christopher Arris Oakley (UNC Press, 2014). Discusses the history, life-style, and culture of the native people of the region before the arrival of Europeans
- The Latino Migration Experience in North Carolina by Hannah Gill (UNC Press, 2010)
- A Home on the Field: How One Championship Soccer Team Inspires Hope for the Revival of Small Town America by Paul Cuadros (Harper Paperbacks, 2007). This book offers a nuanced portrayal of the Latino community in Siler City, NC, not far from the Triangle
- Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor’s Reflections on Race and Medicine by Damon Tweedy (Picador, 2015). Penetrating memoir by a Duke physician on race and health, and the experience of being an African-American doctor. Not primarily on Duke’s history, but very relevant.
- Foundations for Excellence: 75 Years of Duke Medicine by Walter Campbell (Duke University Press, 2006) Best overall history of Duke School of Medicine and Hospital
- The Secret Game: A Wartime Story of Courage, Change, and Basketball’s Lost Triumph by Scott Ellsworth The story of a “secret” game between the Duke School of Medicine squad and the NC Central’s groundbreaking team, set against the history of Duke and Durham in the Jim Crow Era.
- Point of Reckoning: The Fight for Racial Justice at Duke University by Theodor D. Segal (Duke Press, 2021). Recounts the Allen Building takeover and more, relying on personal interviews.
- “A Solitary Act in the Bell Building: Striking a Blow for Racial Desegregation at a Southern Medical School” by Edward C. Halperin. Striking a Blow for Racial Desegregation at a Southern Medical School,” The Pharos (Spring 2—7): 48-51. Account of the Bell Building controversy by former Dean of Medical Education at Duke.
- A History of Infectious Disease At Duke School of Medicine by John Hamilton. Important understanding for HIV and TB
- A Chancellor's Tale: Transforming Academic Medicine by Ralph Snyderman by Ralph Snyderman. Account of Duke Heath in 1990s, has much related to Durham and race.
- Aaron McDuffie Moore: An African American Physician, Educator, and Founder of Durham's Black Wall Street by Blake Hill-Saya. Recent biography of founder of Lincoln Hospital.
- The Power to Heal: Civil Rights, Medicare, and The Struggle to Transform America’s Health Care System by David Barton Smith. (Vanderbilt Press, 2016). Good account of history of hospital desegregation. Durham appears, Greensboro plays prominent role.
- One Blood: The Death and Resurrection of Dr Charles Drew by Spencie Love (UNC Press, 1996). Lively telling of the truth and mythology surrounding the dead of the great African American blood bank pioneer in Alamance County in the early 1950s. Duke Hospital plays a role in this story.
- Blood Done Signed my Name: A True Story of Race and Redemption in the South by Timothy Tyson (Three Rivers Press, 2004). Thoughtful exploration of a shooting in nearby Oxford NC that explores the history of race relations in North Carolina, with significant attention given to the Wilmington “race riot” of 1918
- Museum of Durham History
- Historic Stagville. Stagville, the largest plantation in the piedmont of NC and home to over 900 enslaved people, was founded in the 1790s north of present-day Durham (before it existed). Historic Stagville is a 165-acre State Historic Site, entirely dedicating to teaching about the lives, culture, and labors of enslaved African Americans. Admission to the site is free. Self-guided and guided tours are available.
- Bennett Place. Location where the Civil War ended. Tours offer insight into NC and Durham at the end of the Civil War.
- West point on the Eno Park and Hugh Mangum Photography Museum. Reconstructed Mill, remarkable photograph collection from turn of century, illuminating lives of both Black and Whites
- Pauli Murray Center. The Pauli Murray Center for Social Justice is a nationally significant history site, anchored by Pauli Murray’s childhood home built by her grandparents in 1898 at 906 Carroll Street in Durham, North Carolina. Learn more about virtual events and the center’s outdoor educational installation about the life of Pauli Murray and the history of the house.
- Hayti Heritage Center. The St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation/Hayti Heritage Center presents a multitude of cultural arts programs, including gallery exhibitions, dance, music series, and film festivals.
- Duke Homestead Historic Site and Tobacco Museum. Visit the historic home, farm, and factory buildings of Washington Duke and his family. Learn more about the Dukes of Durham, special events, guided tours, and online resources.
- Greensboro International Civil Rights Center and Museum . This site features the original lunch counter commemorating start of the sit-in movement.