C. Pardue Bunch Oral History
Identifier: HHC 54
UNM Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center
The 1984 interview, conducted by Dr. Jake Spidle, surveys the life and career of Dr. Charles Pardue Bunch (1913-1985), a family practitioner for forty years in Artesia, New Mexico. Among the subjects covered are Dr. Bunch's personal and professional backgrounds; his desire to be a medical missionary in China, the nature and special interests of his practice, the medical community of the Pecos Valley, his long and varied service within the New Mexico Medical Society, his many civic and religious interests and honors, his writings, and his family.
Series I. Oral History 1984: This series contains the draft and final transcript of the oral history and two audio tapes.
Series II. Memorials 1985: This series contains copies of memorials and clippings published after the death of Dr. Bunch.
The collection is open for research and available to the public.
Biography or History
Charles Pardue Bunch was born May 4, 1913 in Statesville, North Carolina. Although he spent most of his formative years in Statesville, Dr. Bunch lived with relatives a few years in New Mexico for health reasons. He graduated from Carlsbad (New Mexico) High School in 1929. That year he was sixteen, president of his senior class, and the winner of the Governor's Cup for an essay he wrote on highway safety, although he had never driven a car.
Dr. Bunch received his undergraduate degree from Duke University in 1934 and that same year was a delegate to the first American-Japanese Student Conference in Tokyo. In 1935-36, he was headquarters secretary of the Student Volunteer Movement in New York. He received his M.D. degree from Duke Medical School in 1939. In 1941, Dr. Bunch started graduate school in Chinese Studies at the University of California, Berkeley in preparation for becoming a medical missionary. However, his health and World War II intervened and instead he started a general practice at Sturgill, North Carolina. Dr. Bunch moved his practice to Artesia, New Mexico in 1944.
A man of many interests, Dr. Bunch published articles in medical and scientific journals and wrote a chapter, "Is All Healing Based on Faith?" for a book titled "Faith Healing." He was an active participant in local, state, and national organizations. Dr. Bunch was a charter member of the American Academy of Family Practice, and the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. He was an active member of the New Mexico Medical Society, holding various committee positions and serving as president in1963-64. Dr. Bunch was president of the Eddy County Medical Society, 1951-1952, and an associate clinical professor at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Department of Family Practice. From 1952-1958, Dr. Bunch was a member of the New Mexico Board of Medical Examiners.
In 1984, the New Mexico Chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians nominated Dr. Bunch for the "Family Doctor of the Year." Letters of support for this nomination came from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, patients, colleagues, educators, and his church. Dr. Bunch was named one of the ten finalists for the award.
Dr. Bunch married Marjorie King in 1936 and they had four children. He retired in 1984 after forty years as a family practitioner in Artesia. Dr. Bunch died November 3, 1985.
1 oversize folder, 2 audio tapes
Oral history of a family practitioner, Dr. C. Pardue Bunch (1913-1985), who practiced for forty years in Artesia, New Mexico. Among the subjects covered are personal and professional backgrounds, practice in a rural community, personal interests in hypnosis and psychosomatic illnesses, the medical community of the Pecos Valley, and the New Mexico Medical Society.
Related Archival Material
C. Pardue Bunch Papers. HHC 66 New Mexico Health Historical Collection Earl L. Malone Oral History. HHC70FL 1060 New Mexico Health Historical Collection Emmit M. Jennings Oral History. HHC71FL 857 New Mexico Health Historical Collection Owen C. Taylor Oral History. HHC213FL 1238 New Mexico Health Historical Collection New Mexico Medical Society Presidents 1949-1969 [graphic]. PH 056 New Mexico Health Historical Collection New Mexico physicians, licensed 1940 to date [graphic]. PH 107 New Mexico Health Historical Collection
Original audio recordings are stored in the Special Collections Annex.
UNM Health Sciences Center
Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center, MSC09 5100, 1 University of New Mexico
New Mexico Health Historical Collection
Email: archivist@salud.unm.edu
URL: http://hsc.unm.edu/library/spc
The materials were organized and cataloged in 1984 by Janet Johnson, and reorganized by Peggy McBride in 2005.
Artesia (N.M.)
Ashe County (N.C.)
Derbyshire, Robert C. (Robert Cushing), 1910-
Holistic Health.
Hypnosis.
Missions and Missionaries--New Mexico.
Pecos Valley (N.M.).
Physicians--New Mexico.
Sturgill (N.C.).
Finding Aid of the C. Pardue Bunch Oral History, 1984
Processed by Janet Johnson. Revised by Peggy McBride.
Part of the UNM Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center Repository
MSC09 5100 , NM P: 505.272.9896
Albuquerque New Mexico 87131 United States
jpringle@salud.unm.edu
C. Pardue Bunch Oral History, New Mexico Health Historical Collection, UNM Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center.
C. Pardue Bunch Oral History, New Mexico Health Historical Collection, UNM Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center. https://nmarchives.unm.edu/repositories/23/resources/3038 Accessed January 26, 2023.