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.

Calla Raynor began her career at Duke in the Physical Education department in 1962 and served as the women’s varsity tennis coach from 1967 to 1973. Raynor was instrumental in co-founding Duke University's women's basketball program. This collection contains correspondence, teaching materials, materials related to Ms. Raynor’s education at the Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina (now UNC-Greensboro), UNC-Chapel Hill, and Duke University. The collection also includes sporting event materials, student athlete records, tournament materials, newspaper clippings, audiovisual materials, collegiate sports institutions and organizations for women, and other records from Raynor’s career at Duke.

This collection contains correspondence, teaching materials, materials related to Ms. Raynor’s undergraduate coursework at the Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina (now UNC-Greensboro) and graduate coursework at UNC-Chapel Hill, sporting event materials, student athlete records, tournament materials, newspaper clippings, photographs, and other records. Materials are related to Duke University’s sports program, as well as materials from other universities and colleges. The collection includes articles and publications related to physical education instruction, primarily from outside sources. Although Raynor's teaching files are included, such as quizzes and exams, most of the published articles were authored by individuals outside of Duke University.

Sports association materials include materials from the early 1970s to the early 1980s -- these materials include records from the Division of Girls’ and Women’s Sports (DGWS), which became the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women in 1971.

Charles E. Jordan (1901-1974) served Duke as Assistant Secretary from 1925 to 1941, as Secretary from 1941 to 1957, as Chairman of the Athletic council from 1949 to 1963, and as Vice President for University Relations from 1946 to 1966. He was also active in community organizations, including the Durham County and North Carolina Boards of Education and various Methodist Church organizations. Jordan retired from Duke in 1966. The collection includes correspondence, subject files, audiotape, and other records relating to administrative and athletic matters at Duke University. Major subjects include scholarships, public relations, intercollegiate athletics (NCAA, ACC, Southern Conference, Duke Athletic Council, and Duke Athletic Association), the Angier B. Duke Memorial Scholarship Program, the Woman's College, and university publications. There are also materials relating to the proceedings of the North Carolina Conference of the Methodist Church and to educational matters in Durham and North Carolina. English.

The collection includes correspondence, subject files, audiotape, and other records relating to administrative and athletic matters at Duke University. Major subjects include scholarships, public relations, intercollegiate athletics (NCAA, ACC, Southern Conference, Duke Athletic Council, and Duke Athletic Association), the Angier B. Duke Memorial Scholarship Program, the Woman's College, and university publications. There are also materials relating to the proceedings of the North Carolina Conference of the Methodist Church and to educational matters in Durham and North Carolina.

Dean Wright played football for the Duke University Blue Devils from 1958 to 1961. During this time, the Duke football team earned two consecutive ACC Championships (1960 and 1961) and won the Cotton Bowl (1961). Dean Wright received many honors as an outstanding player, including the Team MVP Award and invitations to play in the honorary North-South Game (1961) and in the All-America Game (1962). The Dean S. Wright Collection consists of clippings, correspondence, awards, memorabilia, photographs, game programs, and a textbook, which document Dean Wright's student life and football career, Head Football Coach Bill Murray, and the Duke University football team from 1958 to 1962. English.

The Dean S. Wright Collection features awards, correspondence, memorabilia, photographs, game programs, and a textbook, but the bulk of the collection is made up of clippings. These clippings consist of newspaper and magazine articles collected by Dean Wright, his family, and friends from a variety of sources. These include local papers, such as the Duke Chronicle, the Durham Morning Herald, the Raleigh News and Observer, and the Charlotte Times, as well as regional and national press, such as the New York Times, the Miami Herald, the Dallas Morning News, and the Buffalo Evening News. These clippings and other materials document Dean Wright's student life and football career, Head Football Coach Bill Murray, and the Duke University football team from 1958 to 1962.

The Athletic Director plans, administers, and directs intercollegiate athletic activities at Duke University including staff, publicity, promotion, ticket sales, and assures the University's adherence to appropriate rules, regulations, and guidelines. Collection contains records relating to the operations and activities of the Duke University Athletic Director, 1939-2007, bulk 1968-2007. A majority of the material was accumulated during Tom Butters' tenure as Athletic Director. Materials present include general correspondence, seven subject files arranged by accession, and contracts and schedules. Major subjects include National Collegiate Athletic Association, Atlantic Coast Conference, Duke University team sports, scholarships, fundraising, Iron Dukes, Athletic Council, and facilities and grounds.

Contains material pertaining to the daily activities of the Duke University Athletic Director. The collection is divided into nine series: general correspondence, contracts and schedules, and subject series arranged in accession order. A majority of the material was accumulated by Tom Butters as Assistant Director of Athletics (1972-1975), Associate Athletic Director (1976), and Athletic Director (1977-1998). However, a small amount of material was created by Butters' predecessors, Carl James (1972-1976) and Eddie Cameron (1942-1972).

General correspondence is divided into two subseries: alphabetical and chronological. Alphabetical correspondence documents communication with other university offices, faculty, staff, alumni, and students; colleagues at other educational institutions and professional organizations; and various fundraising and promotional campaigns and events. Chronological correspondence contains primarily outgoing correspondence concerning similar topics.

Subject files contain material relating to Butters' work with the University and various regional and national athletics organizations. Prominent subjects throughout include the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). NCAA material includes correspondence, memoranda, and minutes concerning rules and regulations; annual conventions and special meetings; various committees including Division I Basketball Committee and Television Committee; and printed material. ACC material includes correspondence, memoranda, and minutes concerning annual meetings, workshops, and clinics; news and press releases; tournaments and bowl games; legislative proposals; and several committees including Television Committee and Restructuring Committee. Also present are materials relating to Butters' fundraising activities; work with the Iron Dukes and Alumni Association; Duke University Sports Hall of Fame nominees, inductees, and speeches; Athletics Council minutes and memoranda; and athletic facilities maintenance and upgrade projects including several made to Wallace Wade Stadium and Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Other material relating directly to Duke University athletics are sports files and scholarship athletes. Sports files contain rosters, stats, and contest reports for numerous men's and women's revenue and non-revenue sports. Scholarship material contains letters of intent, and correspondence concerning scholarship renewal and terms and conditions of acceptance. Additional noteworthy subjects include Title IX, College Football Association (CFA), Raycom, North Carolina Amateur Sports, National Association of College Athletic Directors (NACAD), and National Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (NAIAW).

The Contracts and Schedules series contains contracts and agreements between Duke University and other colleges, universities, and academies, travel itineraries for road contests, game schedules, and lists of lettering athletes for several revenue and nonrevenue sports.

An addition (Accession UA2019-0087) contains correspondence and subject files, mostly dated 1996 to 2007.

Edmund "Eddie" McCullough Cameron (1902-1988) served as head basketball coach, head football coach, and Athletic Director during his 46 year career at Duke University. He was known for enhancing Duke athletics and the Department of Physical Education by improving and adding facilities and expanding athletic programs. The Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke was named in his honor. The Cameron papers include correspondence, reports, memoranda, scrapbooks, and other printed materials. Among the major subjects of the collection are the Duke basketball and football teams, the Duke athletic department, the Duke Department of Physical Education, collegiate athletics, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and the Atlantic Coast Conference. English.

The collection includes correspondence, reports, memoranda, scrapbooks, and other materials related to Cameron's career at Duke University. The first series, Subject Files, consists of office files, primarily correspondence, from the 1950s to the early 1970s, during Cameron's term as Athletic Director. The second series, Correspondence, also consists of some professional correspondence, but includes a number of personal letters and dates from the 1940s to the 1970s. The Clippings series is a brief collection of articles saved by Cameron. The Manuals and Printed Materials series includes reports and guides published by the NCAA and the ACC during the 1950s through the 1970s. The Scrapbooks series consists of three disassembled scrapbooks dating from the 1920s through the 1970s. These books include correspondence, photographs, newspaper and magazine clippings, game programs, and tickets and other memorabilia.