Two exterior photographs of groups posing on steps of buildings. Top: unknown location, dated 1948. Bottom: W.D. Hill Community Building, Durham, N.C., undated.
A member of a powerful Roman family, poet Vittoria Colonna was widowed, wealthy, famous, and childless. Though thirteen editions of her Rime were published before her death, much of her verse circulated in scribal copies. Her published prose reflects her interest in religious reform, an interest that led to her being investigated during the Inquisition. An impeccable stylist with elegant taste, she commissioned a manuscript of her sonnets, now in the Vatican Library, as a gift for her close friend Michelangelo. This edition of her poetry also contains two poems by Veronica Gambara.
These trowels belonged to stonemason Pete Ferettini and were used for the construction of West Campus in the late 1920s. At that time, all stone was delivered to campus by train from a quarry in Hillsborough and cut by hand. Chisel marks can still be seen on some buildings. James B. Duke's death in October 1925 meant that he never saw the “new” campus realized. His only daughter, Doris Duke, symbolically laid the cornerstone on June 5, 1928, on the family’s behalf. Descendants of the Duke family have remained engaged and generous supporters of the university, and have served as trustees for Duke University and the Duke Endowment.
