Science and Medicine

Collections listed in this category include the personal papers of women working in science and medical professions as well as those collections that document common medical practice during a certain time period. Additional information on childbirth, home remedies, and routine medical practices are often found in women's diaries, letters, and recipe books.

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Barton, Clarissa

Papers, 1868-1883. 5 items and 1 vol. Washington, D.C. Nurse, founder of the American Red Cross. Pocket diary documents her European travels in 1869. Included are calling cards of Barton, clippings and letter referring to her lecture schedule.

Branscomb, Louise Hortense

Papers, 1885-1986. 303 items. Birmingham, Ala. Physician. Medical notebooks recording cases of surgery on women where Branscomb assisted and concerning topics such as contagious diseases, tropical medicine, and obstetrics/gynecology. Also included are speeches delivered to the United Methodist Church on her life as a physician and the role of women in the church as well as correspondence with her parents.

Chapman, Samuel

Papers, 1800-1822. 2 items and 1 vol. Charles County, Md. Financial ledger of lawyer and planter itemizes Chapman's extensive personal and business transactions including those with a midwife and free blacks.

Chesler, Phyllis

Papers, ca. 1970s-1990. ca. 27,000 items. New York, N.Y. Restricted. Feminist psychologist and author. Research files and manuscript drafts for Chesler's books including Women and Madness; Women, Money, and Power; About Men; With Child; Mothers On Trial; and Sacred Bond. Also included as correspondence and subject files on various people and organizations pertaining to women's health and legal issues.

Gardiner, Ann Henshaw

Papers, 1753-1970. 3,519 items and 77 vols. Martinsburg, W.Va. Nursing educator. Personal, legal, and financial correspondence, clippings, pamphlets, photographs, writings and scrapbooks contain information on the early years of the Duke University School of Nursing and the nursing program at Duke University Hospital, as well as family history.

Grout, Ruth Ellen

Papers, 1934-1984. 91 items, 4 vols. East Bridgewater, Mass., and Minneapolis, Minn. Physician. Diaries, correspondence, and reports documenting her twenty-four years as a health education teacher at the University of Minnesota and her career as a medical consultant for the World Health Organization in Europe, Thailand, Africa, Kuwait, Malaysia, and elsewhere.

Holgate, William C.

Papers, 1798-1911. 1605 items. Defiance, Ohio. Collection contains correspondence, 1872-1911, of Fannie Maud Holgate Harley which includes information on birth control, abortions, a small-pox epidemic, life in various women's academies, and routine family matters.

Lee, Sarah Wallis Bowdich

Papers, ca. 1820s. 2 items. England. Naturalist. Untitled manuscript narrating the history of African exploration and attempts to provide a survey of European knowledge in Africa ca. 1825.

McMahan, Elizabeth

Papers, 1996-2008. 8,214 items. Entomologist (termite biology), psychologist, cartoonist, writer of children’s books, ocean traveler; born 1924 in Davie Co. N.C.; Duke alumna; and former University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Professor of Biology.

Mitchell, Nina Cornelia

Papers, 1854-1958. 4,021 items and 46 vols. Flushing, N.Y. and Shepherdstown, W. Va. Largely family letters, genealogical materials, photographs, diaries and other papers concerning European travels; life in Europe during World War I; British hospitals and nurses; war work by women; life in Paris in the 1920s.

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Newman, Ruth Gallert

Papers, 1933-1968. ca. 1,500 items. Chevy Chase, Md. Child psychologist. Correspondence, subject files, writings, research proposals, and reports concerning the education of emotionally handicapped and maladjusted children. Documents her work as an associate with the Child Research Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health; co-director of the School Research Program of the Washington School of Psychiatry; consultant for the Center of Youth and Community Studies at Howard University; and supervisor and consultant for the Hillcrest Child Center in Washington, D.C.

Norton, Mary

Papers, 1852-1895. 76 items. Highstown, N.J. Chiefly letters to Norton from Clara Barton documenting their friendship, attempts to administer relief services to wounded soldiers during the Civil War, and Barton's post-war speaking engagements.

Rhine, Louisa E.

Papers, 1890-1983. 3,800 items. Durham, N.C. Restricted. Scientist. Diaries and journals, correspondence, writings, notebooks, genealogical papers and photographs document Rhine's professional life as a parapsychologist and includes information about the Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory and the Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man, both founded by Rhine's husband, J. B. Rhine.

Robinson, Zella Blakely

Papers, 1902-1903. 1 vol. Clinton, S.C. Nurse at the State Hospital for the Insane at Columbia S.C. Classroom notebook contains notes on obstetrics lectures delivered by Dr. Sarah C. Allan.

Salber, Eva J.

Papers, 1951-1990. ca. 7,690 items. Durham, N.C. Physician and professor of community and family medicine. Correspondence, speeches, writings, clippings, photographs and printed materials related to Salber's extensive carer in the community health field. Particularly highlighted is her research concerning smoking in school children and the elderly in rural communities and her positions with the Martha Eliot Center in Boston and the Duke University Medical Center. Also included are background materials (tapes, transcripts, and photographs) for her two books The Mind is Not the Heart and Don't Send Me Flowers When I'm Dead (1983).

Schmiedler, Gertrude Raffel

Papers, 1940-1974. ca. 24,300 items. Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y. Restricted. Parapsychologist. Correspondence and other materials generated by Schmiedler and others while conducting research into ESP and psychic phenomena.

Sizemore, Christine Costner

Papers, 1952-1982. 2,725 items, 3 vols., 28 tapes, and 1 film. Herndon, Va. Restricted. Personal correspondence with family, friends, and physicians; clippings, diaries, writings, and audio-visual materials provide information concerning Sizemore's life as a multiple-personality patient and as an author (I'm Eve) and lecturer on mental health issues.

Smith, Emma Juliana Gray and John P. George Smith

Letterbook, 1843-1845. 1 vol. Liverpool, England and Pernambu, Brazil. Zoologist. Letters from the Smiths while on expedition in Brazil to collect various specimens of animal, insect and plant life give detailed descriptions of their journeys as well as local customs and manners.