Oral history interview with Evelyn Schmidt, February 9, 1999

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.