- Collection:
- Oral Histories of the American South: The Civil Rights Movement
- Title:
- Oral history interview with James Slade, February 23, 1997
- Creator:
- Slade, James, 1930-
- Contributor to Resource:
- Thomas, Karen Kruse
Slade, Catherine
Southern Oral History Program - Date of Original:
- 1997-02-23
- Subject:
- African American physicians--North Carolina--Edenton
Discrimination in medical care--North Carolina--Edenton
Poor--Medical care -North Carolina--Edenton
African Americans--Medical care--North Carolina--Edenton
Medically underserved areas--North Carolina--Edenton
Medical offices--Management - People:
- Slade, James, 1930-
Slade, Catherine - Location:
- United States, North Carolina, Chowan County, 36.12656, -76.60216
United States, North Carolina, Chowan County, Edenton, 36.05794, -76.60772 - Medium:
- transcripts
sound recordings
oral histories (literary works) - Type:
- Text
Sound - Format:
- text/html
text/xml
audio/mpeg - Description:
- James Slade was the second African American to attend medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He started there in 1952, embracing the challenges and limitations of attending UNC-Chapel Hill, including one racist professor. Slade eventually decided to become a pediatrician: the specialty attracted warm-hearted doctors less prone to prejudice. He began private practice in Edenton, North Carolina, in 1965, where for many years he was the only black physician. In this interview, he recalls the gradual integration of medical practice in Edenton and describes his experiences as one of very few African American medical professionals in his area. Slade, who is joined by his wife, Catherine, focuses on the challenges of medical care at the intersection of race, poverty, and rural isolation. Poor patients, black and white, had a unique set of needs that Slade worked to serve despite limited access to medical technology and peers with whom to collaborate. As he did so, he earned the loyalty of a black community that in addition to its unique medical needs, such as treatment for diabetes and hypertension made unique demands of its doctor. Toward the end of this interview, Slade also describes some of the changes that have affected the business of medicine in the past few decades and his concerns about the health of the black community.
The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the aggregation and enhancement of partner metadata. - Metadata URL:
- http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/R-0019/menu.html
- Language:
- eng
- Extent:
- Title from menu page (viewed on Nov. 19, 2008).
Interview participants: James Slade, interviewee; Catherine Slade, interviewee; Karen Kruse Thomas interviewer.
Duration: 02:58:19.
This electronic edition is part of the UNC-Chapel Hill digital library, Documenting the American South. It is a part of the collection Oral histories of the American South.
Text encoded by Jennifer Joyner. Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers. - Contributing Institution:
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project)
- Rights:
-
