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The Launching of Duke University
Robert Durden was professor emeritus of history at Duke and former chair of the history department (1974-1980) who focused on the history of Duke University and the Duke family. This book, affectionately called “Durden” by University Archives staff, details the first twenty-five years of Duke University, including the signing of the Duke Endowment Indenture, the creation of various schools and departments, including the Divinity School, Medical Center, and the Woman’s College, and student social life on campus. -
Duke Stone
The Collegiate Gothic style of Abele Quad is carved out of “Duke Stone,” a special stone from a quarry in nearby Hillsborough. The proximity of the quarry and versatility of the rock has made this an essential and valued building material for Duke. Duke’s “stone era” was first interrupted by the construction of the College of Engineering—now Hudson Hall—and the Physics Building following World War II; each was built of less expensive red brick in a Georgian style. Duke returned to stone with the completion of the Classroom and Administration Building—now the Allen Building—in 1954. Since then, buildings at Duke have varied in style and primary building materials, but have retained accents of the characteristic stone. -
Fuqua School of Business Brochure, ca. 1980s
This brochure promoting the Duke Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program details specific reasons Duke students chose to pursue an MBA at the Fuqua School of Business. Originally chartered as the Graduate School of Business in 1969, the school was renamed the Fuqua School of Business with a financial gift from J. B. Fuqua in 1980. Fuqua’s motivation for donating such a large gift to the university stemmed from the fact that as a boy he borrowed books from the Duke Libraries through a borrow-by-mail program that the university participated in. It was through these books that Fuqua gleaned much of his education. Fuqua never attended college, but through his determination and intelligence he went on to build Fuqua Industries, a Fortune 500 company. -
DukEngineer, vol. 21, no. 1 (October 1958)
This 1958 edition of DukEngineer magazine includes articles about engineering advancements at Duke and recruitment advertisements for Duke engineering students in the workforce. Many of the recruitment ads and campus interviews during this time pertained to the looming Space Race against the USSR, as Sputnik launched just a year prior. DukEngineer has been issued periodically since 1940 and became an annual publication in 2002. The Duke University School of Engineering was named the Edmund T. Pratt Jr. School of Engineering in 1999, after Edmund T. Pratt, Jr. (E’47). -
Asiatic Arboretum Pamphlet
Invitations to the 1990 and 1992 Sarah P. Duke Gardens receptions celebrate the dedication of the Kasuga Lantern and the Main Gateway of the Asiatic Arboretum, a venue for Japanese cultural exploration. Durham is a sister city to Toyama, Japan. As President Brodie remarked during the Gardens’ fiftieth anniversary, the Duke Gardens “are the Chapel’s proper complement, for the gardens also speak to the deepest human needs for spiritual regeneration, providing a sanctuary, a refuge from the heat of the day and the turmoil and worries of the world.” -
JB Duke's pocket watch
James Buchanan (J. B.) Duke (1856-1925), a Durham native and son of Trinity College benefactor Washington Duke, is perhaps best known for his establishment of the Duke Endowment and the subsequent creation of Duke University. He made his fortune through the American Tobacco Company and later through harnessing hydroelectric power, creating Duke Power—now Duke Energy. After years of conversations with President William Preston Few and Benjamin Duke, J. B. Duke signed the Indenture and Deed of Trust, establishing the Duke Endowment on December 11, 1924. This pocket watch is engraved with J. B.’s initials on the front and would have been attached to a long chain. -
Groundbreaking Ceremony pamphlet, April 3, 1992
This ceremonial hard hat was worn by President Terry Sanford at the 1992 groundbreaking ceremony for the Sanford Institute of Public Policy. While the Institute of Policy Sciences and Public Affairs had existed since 1971, the name change recognized President Sanford’s commitment to public service as a former governor and U.S. senator. During his tenure as Duke President from 1969 to 1985, Sanford was widely credited with transforming Duke into a world-class research institution. The Sanford Institute became the Sanford School of Public Policy in 2009. -
"Hard" hat used by Terry Sanford at groundbreaking ceremonies for the Institute's building
This ceremonial hard hat was worn by President Terry Sanford at the 1992 groundbreaking ceremony for the Sanford Institute of Public Policy. While the Institute of Policy Sciences and Public Affairs had existed since 1971, the name change recognized President Sanford’s commitment to public service as a former governor and U.S. senator. During his tenure as Duke President from 1969 to 1985, Sanford was widely credited with transforming Duke into a world-class research institution. The Sanford Institute became the Sanford School of Public Policy in 2009. -
Law Bulletin
This 1955 bulletin provides details about the study of law at Duke University, entrance and graduation requirements, expenses, and employment opportunities. Tuition for law school in 1955 would be the equivalent of about $5,000 in 2024. Duke’s Law department was established as an academic department in Trinity College in 1865, but did not move to the current School of Law building until 1963. -
Mary Lou's Mass Poster at the Duke University Chapel
Mary Lou Williams, the namesake for the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture, taught at Duke as an artist-in-residence from 1977 until her death in 1981. She was well known as a seasoned jazz arranger, composer, and musician. This poster features Mary Lou Williams as a performer for mass sponsored by the Duke University Catholic Center. The Catholic Center currently operates with both staff and student leaders to provide Catholic services and social events on campus. -
Duke University Chorale Record
The Duke University Chorale was founded around 1970, combining the Men’s and Women’s Glee Clubs, shortly before the 1972 merger of the Woman’s College and Trinity College of Arts and Sciences. The Chorale continues to be the primary choral group of the department of Music. They perform a variety of secular and sacred pieces at Duke, around North Carolina, and on an annual spring tour. -
Pitchforks Acapella Concert Flyer
Founded in 1979, The Pitchforks is one of the oldest a cappella groups at Duke University. This flyer details a joint concert in 1981 at Baldwin Auditorium with a variety of other collegiate a cappella groups in the United States. With sixteen albums, the Pitchforks Bring it Back (2006) and Disconcert (2008) both won the CARA Award for Best Male Collegiate Album. Other a cappella groups on campus include the Duke Amandla Chorus, Lady Blue, Temptasians, Something Borrowed Something Blue, Rhythm & Blue, Speak of the Devil, Out of the Blue, and Deja Blue. -
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company ADF poster
The American Dance Festival (ADF), founded in 1934, has brought some of the brightest minds in modern dance to Duke's campus every summer since it relocated to Durham in 1978. This poster advertises the 1989 performance of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, one of the most widely known queer activist dance groups. The performance took place just over a year after Zane's death from AIDS. The Company carries on his legacy and still performs with ADF today. -
The Glass Menagerie playbill
Duke Players is Duke's oldest student theater organization. It has been producing shows since 1920, although the organization was not officially founded until 1931. This production of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie took place in Page Auditorium in 1949, following the play’s premiere in 1944. -
"The Glass Menagerie" script page 38, script cover,
Duke Players is Duke's oldest student theater organization. It has been producing shows since 1920, although the organization was not officially founded until 1931. This production of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie took place in Page Auditorium in 1949, following the play’s premiere in 1944. -
Three of the First Black Undergraduates
Duke’s Board of Trustees desegregated the graduate and professional schools in 1961 and undergraduate education in 1962. Pictured here from left to right are Wilhelmina Reuben-Cooke (W’67), Nathaniel White, Jr. (T’67), and Mary Mitchell Harris (W’67), who were the first Black undergraduates to earn degrees from Duke. Gene Kendall and Cassandra Rush Smith matriculated with them in September 1963. -
Duke Kunshan University (DKU) Commencement (2022)
Duke Kunshan University’s (DKU) Class of 2022 was the first class to graduate from DKU’s four-year undergraduate degree program. A liberal arts and research university, DKU was established in 2013 in Kunshan, China, as a collaboration between Duke and Wuhan University to strengthen U.S.-China relations and to further both universities’ international reputations and innovative capabilities. DKU opened a graduate program in 2014 and an undergraduate program in 2018. The university shares resources and curriculum with Duke and the Chinese Ministry of Education to create a unique degree experience, where students receive degrees from both Duke and DKU. -
Trans 101 Training Booklet
Although the first LGBTQIA+ institution at Duke wasn’t created until 1994, LGBTQIA+ student organizations such as the Duke Gay Alliance have existed on campus since 1972. In 1991, President H. Keith H. Brodie established the Task Force on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Matters, partly to combat HIV/AIDS stigma on campus. The Task Force’s work led to the creation of what is now the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity (CSGD). This booklet, which provides resources on gender diversity such as proper terminology, disparities, and action items, is just one of many ways the CSGD educates Duke and supports the LGBTQIA+ community. -
Black Graduation Final Honors Ceremony Program
Final Honors is an annual graduation ceremony for graduates of the African and African American diaspora. Formerly hosted by the Black Student Alliance (BSA), which was founded as the Afro-American Society in 1967, Final Honors is currently hosted by the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture. Both BSA and the Mary Lou Williams Center work to create spaces and events for Black students on campus. In addition to Final Honors, a single multicultural graduation ceremony is held by the Center for Multicultural Affairs. -
Mask
On March 10, 2020, President Price announced Duke’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, implementing safety methods such as virtual classes and frequent testing. Meanwhile, the Duke Health System focused on caring for COVID-19 patients in the area. In response to the Duke experience during the pandemic, this booklet was created by students in the 2021 Duke Immerse “Pandemics, Health, and Power” program. Through archival analysis, creative pieces, interviews, and illustrations, the students uncovered the stories of marginalized populations at Duke during COVID-19 and past pandemics. In the group’s closing letter, they advocate for an emphasis on the humanities in the pre-med curriculum: “Organic chemistry does not teach what to do when ventilators are running out and you have to decide who gets the care rations … How can we expect a broken health care system to change when those being funneled into it have no sense of justice to fight for those the system continues to oppress?”
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