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Brown House Joe College Display
When Trinity College moved to Durham from Randolph County in 1892, seeking connection to an urban environment, it landed in what is now known as Duke’s East Campus. After Trinity College became Duke University, East Campus was redesigned by the Horace Trumbauer architectural firm, gaining its signature Georgian-style red brick buildings. In 1930, East Campus became the Woman’s College under Dean Alice M. Baldwin, training women in academic and societal leadership before merging with Duke’s Trinity College of Arts and Sciences in 1972. East Campus began housing first-year undergraduates in 1995, and that tradition continues today. East Campus is also home to multiple academic departments, including Music, History, and Cultural Anthropology. -
East Campus Dorm, 1986
When Trinity College moved to Durham from Randolph County in 1892, seeking connection to an urban environment, it landed in what is now known as Duke’s East Campus. After Trinity College became Duke University, East Campus was redesigned by the Horace Trumbauer architectural firm, gaining its signature Georgian-style red brick buildings. In 1930, East Campus became the Woman’s College under Dean Alice M. Baldwin, training women in academic and societal leadership before merging with Duke’s Trinity College of Arts and Sciences in 1972. East Campus began housing first-year undergraduates in 1995, and that tradition continues today. East Campus is also home to multiple academic departments, including Music, History, and Cultural Anthropology. -
Welcome to Alspaugh, 1972
When Trinity College moved to Durham from Randolph County in 1892, seeking connection to an urban environment, it landed in what is now known as Duke’s East Campus. After Trinity College became Duke University, East Campus was redesigned by the Horace Trumbauer architectural firm, gaining its signature Georgian-style red brick buildings. In 1930, East Campus became the Woman’s College under Dean Alice M. Baldwin, training women in academic and societal leadership before merging with Duke’s Trinity College of Arts and Sciences in 1972. East Campus began housing first-year undergraduates in 1995, and that tradition continues today. East Campus is also home to multiple academic departments, including Music, History, and Cultural Anthropology. -
West Campus Dorms, 1986
The dorms of Abele Quad were once adorned with colorful benches and plaques demarcating sections of various Greek organizations, non-Greek selective living groups, and independent houses. Though many of these organizations created a strong sense of community, others perpetuated the exclusivity and negative social behaviors often associated with Greek life. Historically, over two-thirds of the student body chose to participate in selective living. In 2021, Duke announced an end to the hundred-year-old practice of selective living with the unveiling of QuadEx, the new Quad-based residential model. -
Random Student Living Group
The dorms of Abele Quad were once adorned with colorful benches and plaques demarcating sections of various Greek organizations, non-Greek selective living groups, and independent houses. Though many of these organizations created a strong sense of community, others perpetuated the exclusivity and negative social behaviors often associated with Greek life. Historically, over two-thirds of the student body chose to participate in selective living. In 2021, Duke announced an end to the hundred-year-old practice of selective living with the unveiling of QuadEx, the new Quad-based residential model. -
Fubar Homecoming Display, 1979
The dorms of Abele Quad were once adorned with colorful benches and plaques demarcating sections of various Greek organizations, non-Greek selective living groups, and independent houses. Though many of these organizations created a strong sense of community, others perpetuated the exclusivity and negative social behaviors often associated with Greek life. Historically, over two-thirds of the student body chose to participate in selective living. In 2021, Duke announced an end to the hundred-year-old practice of selective living with the unveiling of QuadEx, the new Quad-based residential model. -
Beta Theta Phi, 1986
The dorms of Abele Quad were once adorned with colorful benches and plaques demarcating sections of various Greek organizations, non-Greek selective living groups, and independent houses. Though many of these organizations created a strong sense of community, others perpetuated the exclusivity and negative social behaviors often associated with Greek life. Historically, over two-thirds of the student body chose to participate in selective living. In 2021, Duke announced an end to the hundred-year-old practice of selective living with the unveiling of QuadEx, the new Quad-based residential model. -
Project Wild T-Shirt
Project WILD (Wilderness Initiative for Learning at Duke) was the first pre-orientation program, founded in 1974 to give incoming freshmen a chance to meet classmates and learn through the outdoors before arriving at Duke. For many years, pre-orientation programs expanded in number, but were selective and limited in size. In 2022, Duke restructured the orientation model–expanding the number of programs so that all freshmen could participate in experiential orientation without cost. -
Group label: Freshman traditions
Stringent dress codes characterized student life from the 1920s to the 1950s. This bow from 1954 was a staple of outfits for first-year students in the Woman's College. Freshmen boys were required to wear "dinks" until Duke beat UNC at football. These garments accompanied a host of freshmen-oriented traditions, where upperclassmen could quiz freshmen on Duke history or harangue them into singing the fight song or reciting cheers. -
Group Label: bow
Stringent dress codes characterized student life from the 1920s to the 1950s. This bow from 1954 was a staple of outfits for first-year students in the Woman's College. Freshmen boys were required to wear "dinks" until Duke beat UNC at football. These garments accompanied a host of freshmen-oriented traditions, where upperclassmen could quiz freshmen on Duke history or harangue them into singing the fight song or reciting cheers. -
Group Label: Freshman dink
Stringent dress codes characterized student life from the 1920s to the 1950s. This bow from 1954 was a staple of outfits for first-year students in the Woman's College. Freshmen boys were required to wear "dinks" until Duke beat UNC at football. These garments accompanied a host of freshmen-oriented traditions, where upperclassmen could quiz freshmen on Duke history or harangue them into singing the fight song or reciting cheers. -
Duke's "Personality Record" in 1968 admission file
The admissions process has changed significantly in the last 100 years, but it has always been rigorous. In this 1968 file, the principal of an applicant's school would be asked to collect “personality” information on a student to be included in their application. Today, Duke's admissions application is much more standardized across peer institutions through a virtual format. -
Blue Book
The Blue Book is a freshman’s guide to starting their new life at Duke and is usually sent out to students in May before matriculation. Now an online resource, this Blue Book includes information about the history of Duke, class registration, dining, housing, financial information, and programs such as the first semester FOCUS and pre-orientation programs. -
Design for a Duchess Zine
Rachel Rubin (T'19) created a zine that spoofs "Design for a Duchess," criticizing unrealistic standards placed on Duke women and providing advice about life at an elite university. The zine addresses the “effortless perfection” myth, a term coined by the 2003 Duke Women’s Initiative report that describes the pressure on undergraduate women to appear effortlessly flawless in all areas. The author encourages students to resist this pressure and instead to seek the joy that comes from a self-defined Duke experience. -
Design for a Duchess handbook
The Social Standards Committee at the Duke Woman's College created and distributed an annual handbook with tips for incoming Duke “co-eds” (female students) from 1930 to 1972, which includes guidelines for dress and information about social events. Although social life was important to the Woman's College students, they were also known for their excellent academic performance and leadership in extracurricular activities. -
The Secret Game: A Wartime Story of Courage, Change, and Basketball’s Lost Triumph
On March 12, 1944, the Duke University Medical School basketball team traveled to play North Carolina Central University (NCCU), then called the North Carolina College for Negroes, for Duke’s first integrated basketball game. NCCU, Duke’s Durham neighbor, was founded in 1909 as a historically Black college. Duke was still segregated and years away from playing its first integrated varsity game. There were no spectators and only one reporter from the Carolina Times (who agreed not to write about the game). The NCCU Eagles, coached by John McClendon, beat the Medical Center squad 88-44. Scott Ellsworth (T’77, Ph.D.’82) first wrote a New York Times article in 1996 documenting this game after interviewing NCCU coach John McClendon. -
Duke Undergraduate Faculty Coaltion on the East-West Expressway
The 1973 plan to expand the East-West Expressway—now the Durham Freeway—westward threatened to destroy the predominantly Black Crest Street community while also cutting through Duke’s campus. Initially, President Sanford wrote in a letter that "Duke University supports without reservation the completion of [the] Expressway.” Afterwards, the Board of Trustees clarified Duke’s position to be one of “non-opposition.” The Duke Faculty Coalition circulated a petition to urge Durham to pursue an alternative to the extension. The Crest Street community, home to many of Duke’s labor employees, would embark on a 13-year campaign for proper compensation for their homes. -
Duke's "Light Rail"
The Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit (DOLRT) project was a planned light rail conceived in the 1990s to connect Durham with Chapel Hill. After 20 years of studies and negotiations, Duke announced in 2019 they would not support DOLRT, citing concerns of electromagnetic interference with research devices. The project collapsed soon after. -
Staff Christmas Dinner
This photograph from the Ted Minah collection captures a celebratory Christmas dinner for the staff of Duke University Food Services. Minah was the director of dining services from 1946 to 1974. As the second largest private employer in North Carolina, Duke has always hired much of its service workforce from the Durham area’s working class, many of whom were and are people of color. Dining staff have always been an important part of the functioning of Duke. -
Silent vigil poster
In response to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and later in support of increased wages for striking food service and housekeeping workers, Duke students staged the Silent Vigil in April 1968. The students first peacefully occupied the house of President Douglas Knight, then moved to the main quad. The weeklong Vigil, which included speeches, singing, and periods of silence, led to an increase in the minimum wage for the largely Black dining and housekeeping staff.
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