Robert Taylor Cole was a professor in Duke's Political Science department, specializing in comparative politics, Europe and the British Commonwealth and served as Provost to the University from 1960-1969. The collection includes correspondence, student recommendations, and writings. The material ranges in date from 1933-1991.

Contains correspondence, student recommendations, writings, a photo identification card from Heidelberg University (1933), and a dust jacket from "The Recollections of R. Taylor Cole." At least one letter (in box 1, miscellaneous writings folder) is in German. Also included is a folder which holds a few reports related to Duke University. Box 3 contains two bound volumes of both handwritten and typed letters sent to Cole in 1975, upon his retirement. The material ranges in date from 1933-1991.