Rebecca Kirkland papers, 1954-2012, 2024

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Summary

Creator:
Kirkland, Rebecca, 1942-
Abstract:
Rebecca Gray Trent Kirkland (born 1942) is a pediatric endocrinologist and the third daughter of Mary Duke Biddle Trent (Semans) and Josiah C. Trent. This collection mostly contains correspondence from her mother and stepfather James H. Semans about family relationships, travel, and holiday plans over the course of her life, as well as from her friends and sisters after she moved away to attend prepatory school. There is also a transcript of a 2008 interview with Kirkland and two of her sisters about their family.
Extent:
0.8 Linear Feet (Two boxes and one oversize folder.)
Language:
Material in English.
Collection ID:
RL.11264

Background

Scope and content:

This collection primarily contains correspondence received by Kirkland over the course of her life from her mother Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans and stepfather James Hustead Semans discussing family relationships, travel, and holiday plans. There is also the transcript of a 2008 interview between Margaret Humphreys, Kirkland, and two of her sisters related to their family.

The majority of the correspondence specifically dates from 1957-1960, when Kirkland was enrolled in preparatory school in Bryn Mawr, PA. While there are some items from her parents, there are even more from her friends and sisters, keeping her informed of their lives back home in Durham.

There is also a 1969 journal issue, 2024 event poster, one file of clippings and printed material on her medical career at Baylor, and one file of 1959-1960 correspondence addressed to her future husband, when he seems to have been a high school senior about to enroll in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Most senders are identified by first name only, and none are Rebecca herself.

Biographical / historical:

Rebecca Gray Trent Kirkland was born in 1942 in Durham, North Carolina, to philanthropist Mary Duke Biddle Trent (Semans) (1920-2012) and thoracic surgeon Josiah Charles Trent (1914-1948). She was the third of their four children together, along with Mary Duke Trent Jones, Sarah "Sally" Elizabeth Trent Harris, and Barbara Biddle Trent Kimbrell.

Kirkland attended the Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and subsequently enrolled at Duke University, where she earned degrees from the Woman's College in 1964 and the School of Medicine in 1968. She married John Lindsey Kirkland III, a pediatric endocrinologist, on 26 June 1965 in Durham. She is currently Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics at the Baylor College of Medicine, where she has been since 1975.

Acquisition information:
The Rebecca Kirkland papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library as gifts from Kirkland in 2016, 2020, and 2025. Material transferred in 2023 came from a 2019 addition to the Semans family papers.
Processing information:

Processed by Katrina Martin, July 2016; Laurin Penland, February 2021; and Zachary Tumlin, June 2025.

Additional material transferred from Semans family papers by Zachary Tumlin, December 2023.

Accessions described in this collection guide: 2016-0122, 2020-0108, and 2025-0065.

Arrangement:

The Rebecca Kirkland papers are arranged chronologically.

Physical facet:
Two document boxes and one oversize folder.
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.

Subjects:
Mothers and daughters -- North Carolina -- Durham -- Correspondence
Upper class families -- North Carolina -- Durham
Women pediatricians -- Texas
Names:
Baylor College of Medicine. Faculty
Duke family
Kirkland, Rebecca, 1942-
Semans, Mary Duke Biddle Trent
Places:
Durham (N.C.) -- Social life and customs

Contents

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Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

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:

[Identification of item], Rebecca Kirkland papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Permalink:
https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m1m62p