Inside Duke Medicine
Desegregation of the Bell Building
posted May 8th, 2009
Photo by Kelly Malcom
William Lynn’s act of defiance is commemorated on the 4th floor of Davison.
The Bell Building’s place in the history of the Duke University School of Medicine goes beyond its status as the first research building. It was also the first institutional building to be desegregated.
Former vice dean Edward Halperin, M.D. recounted the quiet acts of rebellion that led to this achievement in an article published in the Spring 2007 issue of The Pharos, a publication of the AOA Medical Honor Society. In it, he details the efforts of several faculty members who cleverly solved the issue of separate restrooms.
In his own personal recollections, Irwin Fridovich, M.D. recalled his role in the standoff:
“In the early days there were separate restrooms for white and black and they were so marked. There was a rest room directly opposite the door to my lab and it was marked ‘Negro men’. One day Dr. William Lynn entered my lab and asked whether I could recommend a solvent that would remove paint. I suggested ligroin, also known as petroleum ether. He requested a small amount, which I provided in a beaker along with a wad of cheesecloth that I kept in the lab for filtration of tissue extracts. Dr. Lynn used these materials to remove the word Negro from the restroom door.”
Fridovich was soon approached and accused of removing the sign, with a promise that a sign painter would return to put it back the way it was.
“As promised, the sign painter appeared and did his job,” he said. “The very next day Bill Lynn appeared and requested more solvent and more cheesecloth and again expunged the offending word.”
And back and forth it went until repainting the sign became an exercise in futility. The word was permanently removed and the Bell Building’s legacy sealed through defiance and chemistry.