UNC Pharmacy Photo Journey: 1943-1952
A visual journey of the history of the School and the US through WWII and into the Atomic Age
Story by Ryan McDaniel | Published November 1, 2022
Incoming Class, 1943
Picture of the first year class from the 1943 Yackety Yack. Historical context: 1943 was the year the world was introduced to Rosie the Riveter on the "We Can Do It!" poster.
Balancing Work & Home Life During Wartime
During WWII there was a great need for - but also a shortage of - qualified health care workers. So some, like pharmacist Mrs. Fagan here, found unique ways to handle their responsibilities to both work and home. Photo from the September, 1944 Carolina Journal of Pharmacy.
The 1944 First Year Students
Photo of the first year students of the 1944-45 academic year. Historical context: 1944 was the year the Allied Forces landed on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, better known as D-Day.
The 1945 First Year Students
Photo of the first year students of the 1945-46 academic year, and an advertisement soliciting donations to community war funds, leveraging the familiar image of the community pharmacist.
The 1946 First Year Students
Photo of the first year students of the 1946-47 academic year. Historical context: 1946 was the year the Nuremberg Trials concluded.
UNC School of Pharmacy Graduates at Work
A picture of the pharmacy at Duke Hospital, c. 1947. Lucy Kennedy, '45 at the counter near the cash register and Archie Mills '36 in the background.
Post-War Enrollment Surges to New Highs
Enrollment in the UNC School of Pharmacy topped 200 for the first time in the 1947-1948 academic year. Photo of the graduating class of 1948 from the Carolina Journal of Pharmacy.
Celebrating 50 Years
Photo spread from the 1948 Yackety Yack highlighting the UNC School of Pharmacy, which turned 50 in 1947.
Creation of the Division of Health and Medical Affairs
From 1949, a picture of one of the first meetings of the administrators of the newly-created Division of Health Affairs. The division was created "to preserve the health of the people of the State through education of young people, to improve health through research, and determine what are and how best to meet the health care needs of the state."
The Class of 1950
Photo of the graduating class of 1950 and an artist's rendering of what he imagined the "pharmacist of the future" would look like. From various 1950 issues of the Carolina Journal of Pharmacy.
First PhD Degrees Conferred
The UNC School of Pharmacy established the PhD degree in 1947. Just four years later, in 1951, two students earned the first PhD degrees from the School; Yen-Tsai Chang and Doris Bullard Hawkins.
I’m inspired of the great history and traditions of this great school of pharmacy.