Eleanor Easley
1907-1998
Eleanor Easley was born in Bellevue, Ohio in 1907. She received her AB degree from the University of Idaho in 1928 and an MA from from the University of Iowa. While attending courses at Peabody and Vanderbilt Universities, she decided to pursue a career in medicine.
At a time when many medical schools were not open to female students, Easley applied and was accepted to the brand-new Duke University Medical School which opened in 1930. She graduated in 1934, becoming the first woman to graduate from Duke’s four-year medical school program and later, the first female Resident at the hospital. Dr. Easley was a member of the House staff and an Associate in Obstetrics and Gynecology, working at Lincoln, Watts, and Durham County General in addition to Duke Hospital. She was also the first female president of the North Carolina Obstetrics and Gynecology Society.
In 1941, she co-founded the Durham Women’s Clinic (now the Women’s Health Alliance Durham) with Dr. Richard Pearse to form the state’s first medical partnership, The clinic was one of the first in the area to hire a nurse midwife.
Dr. Easley was innovative in her approach to women’s health care. While many men were overseas after being drafted for the war, she cared for the vast number of women still needing medical attention and expertise. She was a pioneer in the use of anesthesiology for labor and delivery, as well as education about birth control, early detection of breast cancer, preparation for childbirth, and counseling for sexual problems.
Dr. Easley passed away in August 1998 at the age of 91.
Interview
This interview was conducted with Dr. Philip H. Pearce on May 25, 2007 by Jessica Roseberry. He was a partner in the Durham Women’s Clinic from 1967 to 2004 and worked there with Dr. Eleanor Easley.