Traveling through many Muslim countries and parts of India during her honeymoon, Doris Duke was fascinated by Islamic cultural traditions, art and architecture. A visit to the Taj Mahal inspired Duke to eventually commission plans for the house she built in Hawaii. Duke engaged the architectural firm of Wyeth and King to design her Hawaiian home, and architects Marion Sims Wyeth and H. Drewry Baker worked closely with Duke to design the home, with Duke providing sketches and photographs of buildings and architectural details she had seen during her travels. Throughout her life, Doris Duke enthusiastically designed and redesigned her home and gardens, and in 1965 made a codicil in her will directing her executors to organize a foundation to manage and maintain Shangri La for the study and understanding of Middle Eastern art and culture. The collection tells the story of Shangri La, the most intimate of Doris Duke's residences. While the collection spans the years 1932 to 2003, the materials primarily begin in 1936, with correspondence relating to early discussions of architects to design Shangri La in what was then the U.S. Territory of Hawaii, and end in the mid to late 1990s with materials related to the handling of the Estate of Doris Duke after her death in 1993. The materials primarily detail the design, construction, decoration, and furnishing of Shangri La and the routine business matters of its daily operation.

The Doris Duke papers on the Shangri La residence (formerly SL.2 and SL.2.8) are part of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Historical Archives which were donated to the Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The collection tells the story of Shangri La, the most intimate of Doris Duke's residences. While the collection spans the years 1932 to 2003, the materials primarily begin in 1936, with correspondence relating to early discussions of architects to design Shangri La in what was then the U.S. Territory of Hawaii, and end in the mid to late 1990s with materials related to the handling of the Estate of Doris Duke after her death in 1993. The collection is arranged into three series: Correspondence, Administrative Records, and Architectural Records. Nearly half of the correspondence specifically pertains to the design, construction, decoration, and furnishing of Shangri La. The remaining materials in the series detail the activities of Shangri La and include correspondence and memoranda documenting the routine business matters of its daily operation. The materials included in the Administrative Records series primarily document the expenses and daily operations of running and maintaining the Hawaiian residence. Included in this series are invoices and receipts for repairs and renovations to the residence, expenses and expenditures, and inventories of furniture, fixtures, and other household items. Also included in this series are weekly security reports, location diaries of Doris Duke's whereabouts, and recipes for a variety of meals that were presumably prepared at Shangri La. A majority of the architectural records in this collection are related to the design and construction of Shangri La. The materials in this collection are arranged loosely in chronological order.

Collection is a set of postcards and photographs from late 19th and early 20th century Turkey, depicting scenes and people in the Üsküdar neighborhood of Istanbul, Turkey, and in other unidentified areas of Istanbul. Materials in the Üsküdar series have been individually numbered and described in English and Turkish. Materials in the Ottoman period postcard series have been translated from French and described in English.

Collection consists of individual postcards and photographs of Istanbul, may in the Üsküdar area of the city, dating from the late 1800s through the 1930s. Some postcards are blank; others have been mailed and contain correspondence. Images depicted vary but include markets, mosques, streets and houses, schools, palaces, harbor scenes, piers, and other geographic landmarks. There are images of both people and methods of transportation. Most people are anonymous, but there are some depictions (illustrations) of Florence Nightingale. Photographs are silver gelatin or photomechanical prints. Some postcards are illustrations, at times hand-colored. Items are described individually.