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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. -
Silent Vigil Photograph
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. -
"Picture a better Duke" in frame
Duke Students & Workers in Solidarity (DSWS) formed in 2016 in response to grievances from employees in the Parking and Transportation Services department. Students partnered with staff and issued demands, staging “A-Ville” outside the Allen Building, and occupying the administrative building for a week. About their employment experience at Duke, one staff member said, “Although I have managed to survive, many of my beautiful brown coworkers have not.” DSWS’s activism is part of a history of student-employee coalitions around worker issues at Duke. -
Duke Students & Workers in Solidarity Facebook Photos
Duke Students & Workers in Solidarity (DSWS) formed in 2016 in response to grievances from employees in the Parking and Transportation Services department. Students partnered with staff and issued demands, staging “A-Ville” outside the Allen Building, and occupying the administrative building for a week. About their employment experience at Duke, one staff member said, “Although I have managed to survive, many of my beautiful brown coworkers have not.” DSWS’s activism is part of a history of student-employee coalitions around worker issues at Duke. -
1949 Bus Boycott Photograph
When Duke Power, the campus bus provider at the time, increased bus fares by 5 cents, students erupted in protest, declaring “Shoe Leather Day,” a campus-wide boycott of buses. In one of the earliest instances of activism at Duke, students walked and carpooled between East Campus and West Campus. A 1993 article would later write that “the nation knew of students roller-skating, using pogo-sticks, and riding in the cars of faculty members.” Buses ran empty as the protest stretched from a day to a week. Ultimately, the protest was unsuccessful and Duke Power maintained the fares. -
Roller Skate
When Duke Power, the campus bus provider at the time, increased bus fares by 5 cents, students erupted in protest, declaring “Shoe Leather Day,” a campus-wide boycott of buses. In one of the earliest instances of activism at Duke, students walked and carpooled between East Campus and West Campus. A 1993 article would later write that “the nation knew of students roller-skating, using pogo-sticks, and riding in the cars of faculty members.” Buses ran empty as the protest stretched from a day to a week. Ultimately, the protest was unsuccessful and Duke Power maintained the fares. -
Bus Boycott Newspaper
When Duke Power, the campus bus provider at the time, increased bus fares by 5 cents, students erupted in protest, declaring “Shoe Leather Day,” a campus-wide boycott of buses. In one of the earliest instances of activism at Duke, students walked and carpooled between East Campus and West Campus. A 1993 article would later write that “the nation knew of students roller-skating, using pogo-sticks, and riding in the cars of faculty members.” Buses ran empty as the protest stretched from a day to a week. Ultimately, the protest was unsuccessful and Duke Power maintained the fares. -
Climate Coalition "Divest" Poster
Different student organizations have pushed Duke to divest from fossil fuels since 2012. In 2022, nearly 2,500 students voted in support of the Divestment Referendum proposed by the Duke Climate Coalition (DCC). This poster was used in a protest on Bryan Center Plaza in November of the same year, pushing for Duke to adhere to the results of the referendum. In 2022, President Price announced the Climate Commitment, Duke’s initiative to combat climate change, though at this time the demands to divest from fossil fuels have not been met. -
AEOLUS, "Big Brother at Duke," March 29, 1978
The FBI kept close tabs on students and private citizens alike throughout the country during the tumultuous period of the late 1960s. Students were recruited as informers to spy on peers and relay information about student activism, including the Allen Building Takeover. This cover of “Aeolus” (the magazine associated with The Chronicle) outlines the paranoia of surveillance on Duke’s campus. -
Duke Graduate Students Union Brochure
Organized labor has had a place on Duke’s campus since the late 1960s, as staff and students campaigned for improved working conditions and wages. Among the unions that represent Duke staff are the American Federation of State, Council, and Municipal Employees Local 77 in the 1960s, the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 465 in the 1970s, and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1328 organized in the 1990s. Other unions have been established relatively recently, such as one for Duke University Press staff, another for non-regular rank faculty, and one for graduate students. As of August 2023, graduate students overwhelmingly voted in favor of unionization, following students and workers from Duke’s past. -
Local 77 Pin, 1968
Organized labor has had a place on Duke’s campus since the late 1960s, as staff and students campaigned for improved working conditions and wages. Among the unions that represent Duke staff are the American Federation of State, Council, and Municipal Employees Local 77 in the 1960s, the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 465 in the 1970s, and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1328 organized in the 1990s. Other unions have been established relatively recently, such as one for Duke University Press staff, another for non-regular rank faculty, and one for graduate students. As of August 2023, graduate students overwhelmingly voted in favor of unionization, following students and workers from Duke’s past. -
Allen Building takeover, original photographs
These are the only known photographs from inside the Allen Building on February 13, 1969. Some of the Black student protestors are depicted inside the Central Records Office. The students brought playing cards and food with them into the Allen Building, which they rechristened the “Malcolm X Liberation School.” -
Posters advertising South African apartheid divestment protests
In the 1980s, students protesting apartheid demanded that Duke divest from companies that did business in South Africa. In 1986, demonstrators constructed shanties and a makeshift “Apartheid Prison” in front of the Chapel. Six Duke students and one alumna were arrested and charged with trespassing. The charges were dropped, and the Board of Trustees eventually agreed to divest. Susan Cook (T’88) defended the protests in a Chronicle op-ed, arguing that her great-grand-uncle Julian Abele, primary designer of Duke’s campus, “was a victim of apartheid in this country.” This brought Abele, a Black man excluded from Duke’s history, into the community’s consciousness. -
“The Black Demands; as of Thursday Morning, 9am, from Allen Building.”
Written by the students inside the Allen Building, the Black Demands address the numerous issues Black students had been “negotiating with Duke administration and faculty … for 2-2 ½ years” with no meaningful results, having “exhausted the so-called ‘proper’ channels.” Notable demands that have since been met include the establishment of an African American Studies department and admissions based on high school merit. An example of a demand not yet met is increasing the percentage of Black students at Duke to match the percentage of Black citizens in Durham. -
Group label: DDA photos and headline
Responding to a 1996 complaint to the Justice Department, Duke became the first college or university to reach an agreement with the Justice Department to address widespread accessibility for people with disabilities in 2000. The Chronicle noted accessibility efforts such as widening doorways and providing accessible seating in venues. Although renovations were made following the suit, some facilities remain inaccessible, including dorms and academic buildings. The 2021 opening of the Disability Community Space in the Bryan Center was a further step towards recognition of the disability community. The Duke Disability Alliance continues to advocate for changes such as accessible infrastructure, the addition of a Disability Studies minor, and recognition of American Sign Language as an option for the Trinity College language course requirement. -
Protest poster against the Chronicle Holocaust ad controversy
After The Chronicle published an ad calling for “open debate” on the Holocaust in 1991, Duke’s campus erupted. Holocaust denier Bradley R. Smith created the ad, which ran alongside an editorial explaining The Chronicle's commitment to “supporting the advertiser’s rights.” Outraged students organized a rally to honor the millions lost in the Holocaust and decry The Chronicle’s actions. The rally coincided with the anniversary of Kristallnacht. -
Duke Doesn't Teach Me Photo Campaign
The “Duke Doesn’t Teach Me” photo campaign was produced by the Asian American Studies Working Group (AASWG) to draw attention to the lack of Asian American Studies on campus. While AASWG was founded in 2015-2016, Asian American students at Duke began teaching house courses on Asian American identity in 1982 and have been advocating for an Asian American Studies program since 2002. In 2018, Duke established the Asian American and Diaspora Studies Program and introduced a minor in 2022. -
Saturday Night vol. 2
Saturday Night was a student-run publication sharing narratives of sexual assault and relationship violence at Duke. In this second edition, anonymous quotes from students provide a powerful look into sexual violence on campus in the early 2000s.
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