Significant portions of the following blog consist of text from a corresponding exhibit originally curated by former Historical Collections staff.

In honor of Black History Month, Historical Collections at the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library highlighted Black experiences at UVA Health via an exhibit in the library lobby entitled "Celebrating Black Alumni."

The banners used images and text from our collections, as well as a video of an oral history interview. For the entire month, Historical Collections shared other oral history interviews of Black alumni at UVA Health on our social media outlets.

The first interview was with Dr. Anastasia Williams, conducted at the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library on April 8, 2022. The interview was part of the Medical Alumni Stories Oral History Project, a joint effort of the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library and the UVA Medical Alumni Association and Medical School Foundation.

Anastasia Longchamps Bayardelle Williams was born in New York and attended Cornell University, graduating with an undergraduate degree in Chemistry in 1991. She moved to Charlottesville with her husband in 1993 so that they could attend medical and law school, respectively, at @UVA. Dr. Williams graduated from the UVA School of Medicine in 1998. After medical school she completed an internship in pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia (1998-1999) and a residency in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD (1999-2001). Dr. Williams worked as a pediatrician in northern Virginia for 20 years, founding Olde Towne Pediatrics in Manassas and Gainesville, VA, and serving as the Medical Director of Pediatrics for Novant Health UVA Health System. In this interview, Dr. Williams reflects on her time at UVA and her career.

You can watch the interview here: https://avalon.lib.virginia.edu/media_objects/t148fh47n

After Dr. Williams's interview, we shared an interview with Dr. Edward T. Wood, conducted by Dr. David S. Wilkes via Zoom on September 23, 2021. 

Edward Thomas Wood was born in Lexington, VA, in 1932. He attended Armstrong High School in Richmond, VA, and was a pre-medical student at Dartmouth University, where he earned an A.B. in 1953. Dr. Wood and his classmate Dr. Edward Bertram Nash became the first two Black students to attend and graduate from the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Matriculating in 1953, they graduated in the Class of 1957. After medical school, Dr. Wood completed several internships and residencies in New York. When he chose ophthalmology as a specialty, he opened his own practice in New York and spent the remainder of his career there. Learn more about Dr. Wood’s life and work in this oral history interview.

You can access the interview here: https://avalon.lib.virginia.edu/media_objects/37720c987

The following post celebrating Black experiences at UVA Health included an oral history interview with Dr. Maurice Apprey, conducted on May 12, 2022. 

Maurice Apprey was born in Ghana, West Africa. He received a B.S. in Psychology, Philosophy, and Religion from the College of Emporia, Kansas, and graduated in 1974. Dr. Apprey was one of a small number of students who trained under Anna Freud at the Hampstead Clinic in London, from which he graduated in 1979. After studying phenomenological psychological research and hermeneutics with Amedeo Giorgi at the Saybrook Institute in San Franciso, CA, Dr. Apprey received a Ph.D. in Human Science Research. He later pursued a doctorate in Executive Management from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. 

In 1980, Dr. Apprey joined the faculty of the UVA School of Medicine in the department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences. In 1982, he was appointed Assistant Dean of Student Affairs. His work with current and aspiring medical students continued for two and a half decades, and he was later appointed the Associate Dean of Diversity at the School of Medicine (in 1992) and the Associate Dean of Student Support (in 2003). During these years, Dr. Apprey was highly effective in increasing the number of students from under-represented backgrounds at medical school through initiatives like the Medical Academic Advancement Program (MAAP). He taught undergraduates, medical students, residents in psychiatry and psychology, and hospital chaplains, among others. In 2007, Dr. Apprey was invited to become Dean of the Office of African-American Affairs for the University of Virginia, a role in which he served until his retirement in 2022.

You can watch the oral history interview with Dr. Maurice Apprey here: https://avalon.lib.virginia.edu/media_objects/7s75dc63v 

Lastly, we found it essential to share our Black Experiences at UVA Health Resource Guide. This guide offers a list of Black pioneers in the history of UVA Health.

To learn more about Historical Collections at the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library and resources that chronicle Black experiences at UVA Health, visit our website where you can access research guides, digital exhibitions, oral history interviews, and historic photographs: https://guides.hsl.virginia.edu/c.php?g=1197221&p=8856954