Jack Fullilove and Alan Lesage papers, 1940s-2000s
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Summary
- Creator:
- Fullilove, Jack, 1917-2000 and Lesage, Alan, 1921-2003
- Abstract:
- Jack Fullilove and Alan Lesage were a gay couple who were involved in the arts community in Durham, Chapel Hill, and Hillsborough, NC. They were also medical doctors and residents of North Carolina and France. The Jack Fullilove and Alan Lesage Papers includes a variety of materials related to their life in Europe during World War II and, since 1955, in North Carolina and their involvement with local arts communities.
- Extent:
- 40 Linear Feet
- Language:
- Materials in English and French.
- Collection ID:
- RL.13009
Background
- Scope and content:
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The Jack Fullilove and Alan Lesage Papers includes a variety of materials related to their life in Europe during World War II and, since 1955, in North Carolina and their involvement with local arts communities. The significant part of the collection is correspondence which includes letters of such people as artist William Dietrichson, writers Max Steele, Carlson McCullers, and Allan Gurganus, poets Jonathan Williams, Reynolds Price, and Jeffery Beam among others. The collection also contains some drafts shared with Fullilove and Lesage by their friend writers (mostly Allan Gurganus). Also included are materials pertaining to their professional lives as doctors (Fullilove as a psychiatrist, and Lesage as a heart surgeon) including their doctoral theses, scans and copies of research articles, and newspaper clippings about their professional activity and public service. Personal materials consist of Fullilove's planners, diaries, and the drafts of his memoirs, including the research materials on his family history. Also included are newspaper clippings about cultural life, booklets of art exhibitions and music concerts, playbills, tourist guides, postcards and other ephemera collected from their travels to Europe. A substantial part of the collection is photo albums which document their life from the 1940s (including Fullilove's stay in Africa during World War II) up to the 1990s.
- Biographical / historical:
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Jack Fullilove and Alan Lesage were a gay couple, who were involved in the arts community in Durham, Chapel Hill, and Hillsborough, NC. They were also medical doctors and residents of North Carolina and France.
Jack Fullilove was born Rowland Elder Fullilove, 1917 October 11, in Athens, GA. Prior to medical school, Fullilove served as an engineer in the U.S. Army during WWII and was stationed in North Africa and Italy. Following medical school, he completed a two-year residency in medicine and surgery at the American Hospital in Paris. He moved to Chapel Hill from Baltimore, MD, in 1955 and finished his residency in psychiatry at the University of North Carolina. After practicing psychiatry at UNC and the National Institutes of Health, Fullilove opened the first day care center for psychiatric patients in the area. For several years he worked for the state, treating patients in Smithfield, Pinehurst and Raleigh. His friends included Carson McCullers and Greta Garbo. With his companion of 45 years, Dr. M. Alan Lesage, his Chapel Hill home was a salon where he mentored successive generations of artists and scholars. He died 2000 August 21.
Alan Lesage was born Maurice Alan Lesage, 1921 December 27, in Paris, France. He attended medical school at the University of Paris and was active in the French Resistance Forces late in World War II. He moved to Baltimore in 1954 and then Chapel Hill in 1955, working as an intern or resident in several hospitals before beginning work at Duke University Hospital in 1956. He died 2003 January 27.
- Acquisition information:
- The Jack Fullilove and Alan Lesage papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 2021.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Vladimir Lukin and Ofelia Lopez, September, 2023
Accessions described in this collection guide: 2021-0063
- Arrangement:
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Collection is arranged into the following series: Correspondence, General Personal Materials, Art and Culture, Photo albums.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Subjects
Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Duke University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog.
Contents
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- Restrictions:
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Collection is open for research.
- Terms of access:
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The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the Rubenstein Library's Citations, Permissions, and Copyright guide.
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- Preferred citation:
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[Identification of item], Jack Fullilove and Alan Lesage papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
- Permalink:
- https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m17f19