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Dr. Evelyn Schmidt left the South after earning her undergraduate and medical degrees at Duke University, convinced that her liberal political views alienated her from a racially and economically polarized region. When she returned in the early 1970s to head the Durham Community Medical Center, she found a city transformed by desegregation, but with a new set of challenges posed by enduring poverty and an influx of new immigration. In this interview, Schmidt shares her beliefs about the importance of providing access to health care, the need for preventive medicine, her fears about a rising uninsured population, and the challenges of bilingualism. As she discusses these issues she describes not only her philosophy but also the needs of a changing community and the connections between race, class, nationality, and health.

This interview is part of the Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007), a collection of over 4,000 interviews housed at the Southern Historical Collection.

Finding aid to the Southern Oral History Program Collection

Database of all Southern Oral History Program Collection interviews

Women physicians--North Carolina

Durham (N.C.)--Social conditions

Lincoln Health Center (Durham, N.C.)

Latin Americans--Medical care--North Carolina

African Americans--Medical care--North Carolina

Schmidt, Evelyn D.