“A Worthy Place”: Durham, Duke, and the World of the 1920s-1930s

“To make Durham a worthy place for a great university is a part of Durham’s problem, and not only a part of Durham’s problem, but also a part of the problem that confronts Duke University itself.”

-Swan, Herbert S. “The Durham Plan.” Durham, NC: City Planning Commission,1927, page 16.

The city of Durham saw great changes leading up to, during, and after the construction of Duke University a century ago. This exhibition explores how the project of building the new university intervened in the life of the city and its inhabitants, including the tensions that occasionally surfaced between city and university planners. By examining the lived experiences of Durham residents and the Duke community, the exhibit presents the diversity of city life in the 1920s and 1930s, provoking conversations about Duke’s role in the emergence of Durham onto the world stage.