Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans Oral History Interview, 2007

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  • Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans discusses Dr. Susan Dees; her friendship with Dr. Dees; Dr. Dees introducing Semans to her] second husband, Dr. Jim Semans; little time for socializing in the medical center; Dr. Dees's success as both a physician and in her private life; changes in the field of medicine for females; other women at the medical center that Semans remembers during this time [circa 1940s and 1950s]; Mrs. Elizabeth Swett, wife of Dr. Frances Swett; Mrs. Swett's influence with the residents' wives; the Nearly New Shoppe founded by faculty wives; Mrs. Bayard Carter; Mrs. Elizabeth Hanes, wife of Dr. Frederick Hanes; Mrs. Mary Hart, wife of Dr. J. Deryl Hart; nonphysican females at Duke Hospital, such as Mary Poston, fitting in to the hospital culture; the social expectation of physicians' wives to entertain; Dr. Eleanor Easley; Dr. Easley as her ob-gyn physician; the characterization of women in the early days of Duke Medicine; Duke as slow to increase the numbers of women; other women about whom she has less knowledge; Reba Hobgood in social services; Drs. Wilburt and Atala Davison; Dr. Ruth Martin; Dr. Violet Turner; Dr. Barbara Newborg; Dr. Jean Spaulding; Elna Spaulding; Dr. Evelyn Schmidt; Mary Ann Black; trends in women's health; other women; the family feeling of Duke in the early years of the medical school; health care she has received at Duke; and her daughter as a physician. The transcription of this interview was made possible by a grant from the Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation.
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  • Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans Oral History Interviews
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