The Duke University Athletic Council began in 1907 as the Trinity College Athletic Council. Since that time, it has offered advice and recommendations on the administration of athletics at Duke. The collection includes correspondence, reports, memoranda, minutes, athletic contracts, schedules, statistics, handbooks, newsletters, financial information, and other materials. Major topics include athletics at Duke University, especially football and basketball; Duke's relationship to intercollegiate athletics associations like the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference), NCAA (National Collegiate Athletics Association), AIAW (Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women), and CFA (College Football Association); the financing of college athletics; the management of college athletics; college athletes; and Title IX. English.

The collection includes correspondence, reports, memoranda, minutes, athletic contracts, schedules, statistics, handbooks, newsletters, financial information, and other materials related to the Athletic Council. The first series, Trinity College Athletic Council, contains materials related to the earliest form of the organization. The other materials in the collection derive from the later Duke University Athletic Council. The second series, Duke Athletic Council, contains meetings, minutes, and general files of the Duke Athletic Council. The sixth series, Restricted, contains restricted materials such as student information and Board of Trustee materials. The third series, ACC contains material related to intercollegiate athletics in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The fourth series, NCAA contains minutes, convention proceedings, correspondence, reports and other materials related to intercollegiate athletics in the National Collegiate Athletics Association. The sixth series AIAW contains information about intercollegiate athletics for women. The last series, Oversized Material, contains one folder from the Duke Athletic Council Series.