Office of the President.Thurman Delna Kitchin Records

RG1.9

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Summary Information

Repository
Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives
Title
Office of the President.Thurman Delna Kitchin Records
Date
1924-1951 (inclusive)
Extent
18.5 Linear Feet / 44 document boxes
ID
RG1.9

Biographical and Historical Note

Thurman Delna Kitchin, physician and educator, was born October 17, 1885, in Scotland Neck, N.C., to William Hodge Kitchin and Maria Figures Arrington. William Hodge Kitchin was a Confederate soldier and attorney who served one term (1878-1880) as a U.S. Congressman.

Thurman Delna Kitchin had nine brothers and one sister including William Walton Kitchin, a Wake Forest graduate (1884), lawyer, Congressman (1896-1908), and N.C. governor (1909-1913); Claude Kitchin, a Wake Forest graduate (1888), lawyer, and Congressman (1901-1923); and Alvin Paul Kitchin, Sr., a lawyer and N.C. state legislator (1907, 1909, 1911).

Thurman Delna Kitchin attended Vine Hill Male Academy before entering Wake Forest College, graduating with an A.B. degree (1905). Interested in medicine, Kitchin attended UNC (1905-1906) and received his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College (1906-1908) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He then practiced medicine in eastern North Carolina, Lumberton (1908-1910) and Scotland Neck (1910-1917), before returning to Wake Forest College in 1917 as professor of physiology and pharmacology. Kitchin became Dean of the Wake Forest Medical School in 1919.

Kitchin was selected as president of Wake Forest College in 1930, and under his leadership, Wake Forest advanced as an institution in some key ways. Kitchin assisted with the relocation of the Wake Forest Medical School to Winston-Salem in 1941 and enlarged from a two-year to a four-year degree program. Kitchin increased the student body size, with the acceptance of women in 1942. He resigned in 1950 after 20 years as College president.

In addition to professional work, Kitchin also served as president of the North Carolina Medical Association (1928-1929) and was active in numerous medical and educational organizations as well as authoring several medical book, including Doctors in Other Fields and  The Doctor and Citizenship.

Together, Kitchin and his wife, Reba Calvert Clark Kitchin, had 3 sons: Thurman Delna, Jr., Irwin Clark, and William Walton. He died on August 28, 1955, in Wake Forest and was buried in Trinity Episcopal Cemetery, Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.

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Publication Information
Processed by: John Woodard; machine-readable finding aid created by Apex
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for use. 
Copyright Notice
Copyright for materials resides with the creators of the items in question or their descendants, unless otherwise designated. Users of this collection are responsible for using the materials in conformance with U.S. copyright law. 
Preferred Citation
Office of the President.Thurman Delna Kitchin Records (RG1.9), Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA. 

Collection Inventory

  • Bowman Gray School Of Medicine
    • Commencement box 14
  • Correspondence
  • Departmental Files
    • Music Department
    • Religion Department
  • Faculty/Staff Files
    • Students. Applicants. box 12
    • Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.
    • Student Council
    • Wait Hall. Building campaign. Correspondence.
  • Miscellaneous
    • Medical Students. Placement.
  • Subject Files
    • Athletics
    • North Carolina Baptist State Convention
    • Commencement box 21 folder 221
    • Enlargement Program
      • Pledges. Correspondence.
      • Initial Gifts
  • Subject Files
    • Medical School
    • Students. Applicants.
  • Winston-Salem Campaign
  • Additions