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.

The Bassett Affair is a celebrated case that helped establish the concept of academic freedom in higher education in the United States and is a benchmark incident in race relations in the South. John Spencer Bassett, a Trinity College professor, published a series of articles in the South Atlantic Quarterly (1903) that praised the accomplishments of African Americans and offered views on how to improve race relations. A campaign to remove Bassett from the faculty was thwarted by a vote of support for Bassett from the University's Board of Trustees on Dec. 2, 1903. The collection contains essays, articles, clippings, correspondence, reminiscences, and other published and unpublished matter including Bassett's article, Stirring Up the Fires of Race Antipathy (1903); a scrapbook, 1903-1904, kept by Trinity College officials with newspaper clippings documenting national coverage the case received; copies of letters by Theodore Roosevelt to Owen Wister (1906) commenting on the case and on Trinity; manuscripts of My Recollections of the Bassett Trial, by Robert Lee Durham (1936), The Bassett Affair: A Play in Six Acts, by Baird Straughan (1975), and Crisis at Trinity a play by John Merritt (1989); lists of related materials in other collections; various shorter articles and speeches including comments by Richard L. Watson and an address to the Academic Council by Terry Sanford; and materials from the centennial celebration of the Bassett Affair, collected by University Archives staff. English.

The collection contains essays, articles, clippings, correspondence, reminiscences, and other published and unpublished matter including Bassett's article, "Stirring Up the Fires of Race Antipathy" (1903); a scrapbook, 1903-1904, kept by Trinity College officials with newspaper clippings documenting national coverage the case received; copies of letters by Theodore Roosevelt to Owen Wister (1906) commenting on the case and on Trinity; manuscripts of "My Recollections of the Bassett Trial," by Robert Lee Durham (1936), "The Bassett Affair: A Play in Six Acts," by Baird Straughan (1975), and "Crisis at Trinity" a play by John Merritt (1989); lists of related materials in other collections; various shorter articles and speeches including comments by Richard L. Watson and an address to the Academic Council by Terry Sanford; and materials from the centennial celebration of the Bassett Affair, collected by University Archives staff.

Benjamin Newton Duke (1855-1929) was a tobacco manufacturer, industrialist, and philanthropist of Durham, NC and New York, NY and a trustee and major benefactor of Trinity College (later Duke University). He was the son of Washington Duke, older brother of James B. Duke, husband of Sarah Pearson Angier Duke, and father of Angier Buchanan Duke and Mary Duke Biddle. The materials in this collection document the business, financial, philanthropic, and personal interests of Benjamin N. Duke and his family, especially Duke's involvement in the tobacco, textile, banking, and hydroelectric industries in North Carolina and New York and the Duke family's financial support of a variety of institutions, including educational institutions for African Americans and women, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and individual churches, orphanages, hospitals, and community organizations. The Richard B. Arrington series and Alexander H. Sands, Jr., series document the personal and financial interests of Benjamin N. Duke's private secretaries in New York, NY.

The papers of Benjamin Newton Duke have been collected from various sources over time and span the years 1834 to 1969, although the bulk of the material dates from 1890 to 1929. The materials in the collection document the business, financial, philanthropic, and personal interests of Benjamin N. Duke and his family in Durham, NC and New York, NY, especially Duke's involvement in the tobacco, textile, banking, and hydroelectric industries and the Duke family's financial support of a variety of institutions, including educational institutions for African Americans and women, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and individual churches, orphanages, hospitals, and community organizations. Types of material in the collection include correspondence, financial statements and ledgers, bills and receipts, architectural blueprints and drawings, land plats, deeds, photographs, photograph albums, scrapbooks, and a diary.

Family members represented include Sarah P. Duke, Angier Buchanan Duke, Mary Duke Biddle, Washington Duke, James B. Duke, Brodie L. Duke, Lida Duke Angier, and Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Jr. Other individuals represented include Julian S. Carr, William A. Erwin, John C. Kilgo, William P. Few, Daniel Lindsay Russell, James E. Shepard, and George W. Watts.

The Richard B. Arrington series and Alexander H. Sands, Jr. series document the personal and financial interests of Benjamin N. Duke's private secretaries in New York, NY.

The Columbian Literary Society was founded in 1846. The Hesperian Literary Society was founded in 1851. Records of both the Columbian Literary Society and Hesperian Literary Society documenting their activities. Included are numerous minute books, roll books, treasurer's books, book lists, constitutions and bylaws as well as some correspondence and programs for events co-hosted by the societies.

Contains correspondence, reports, financial information, roll books, record books, and minute books of the Columbian and Hesperian Literary Societies. The two societies conducted many joint debates so their papers are in one collection. Most of the collection is in oversize boxes. The collection ranges in date from 1848-1942.

The Craven-Pegram Family Papers span the period 1785 to 1966, with the bulk dating from 1892 to 1958. The collection chiefly consists of correspondence among various family members and friends, and photographs. Included are legal and financial papers, writings and speeches, genealogical material, newsclippings, and printed material. While the principal focus of the collection is Sallie Kate Craven (Kate) and her sister, Emma L. (Craven) Pegram and her family, information about earlier generations of the Craven, Pegram, and Leach families is included in the legal and genealogical material.

The major strength of the collection is the information on the descendents of the first president of Trinity College, Braxton Craven. The letters document the lifestyles and roles of young girls and women in the late 19th and early 20th century and the socialization process of girls. Additionally, single career women, married women who raised a family at home, and a widow supporting a family are represented in the collection.

Other topics in the Correspondence Series include: the impact of Trinity College on the development of a community and the effects of the loss of the institution, Columbia University's Physics Department, the economic depression of the 1930s and how it impacted upon Pegram family members, high school and college education in North Carolina, and the process by which young men obtained jobs and established themselves in their occupation. Some of George B. Pegram's letters describe his attendance at the New York World's Fair in 1939 and describe social occasions he went to that were attended by Dwight David Eisenhower (1949, Jan. 30 and Dec. 31), then president of Columbia. Annie M. Pegram's letters home (1904-1948) recount her many activities at Greensboro College and her involvement in community life in Greensboro. A few letters dating from the turn of the century into the 1940s provide a glimpse at hiring domestic help, particularly cooks. Through the collection, one is able to study the functions of the family both as an economic and social unit.

Of particular interest to those studying the history of Trinity College are the weekly letters of Kate Craven to Emma L. Pegram (1892- 1903) after she and her family moved to Durham in 1892. In addition to news about family and friends in Trinity, N.C., Kate also discussed her bitterness over the movement of Trinity College to Durham and its effect upon the Trinity community. The correspondence series also contains an unsigned, undated letter (probably written in the 1880s), relating to a contract Braxton Craven had signed with the U.S. government about the education of Cherokee boys at the Cherokee Industrial School.

Emma Pegram's letters, written chiefly to her son George from the mid-1890s to 1903, contain many comments about the administrators and faculty of Trinity College and Trinity Park School in Durham. Scattered references are made to John Carlisle Kilgo, president of Trinity College, and his family. There is also a letter from George, dated November 24, 1902 that describes a Columbia University student who was possibly gender nonconforming and/or transgender.

A letterbook primarily containing letters which Nannie (Bulla) Craven wrote to her son, Harvey Bernard Craven, details the financial hardships faced by the widowed parent of five sons. She wrote the majority of the letters, 1893 and 1896, from Trinity, N.C. while Harvey was a student at Trinity College. Her letters also provide a glimpse of the Trinity community after Trinity College moved to Durham. There are scattered references to Trinity High School, a tuition based school in Trinity that remained after the college was relocated, and its faculty. The narrow parameters within which women of the period lived are clearly illustrated.

Correspondents other than family members include: M. H. Lockwood (1897), who taught in the Department of Physics at Trinity College; Thomas Arthur Smoot (1898-1900), who was the headmaster at Trinity (N.C.) High School, 1895-1896, professor of physics and chemistry at Greensboro (N.C.) Female College, 1898-1900, and later a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South; and Jerome Dowd (1941-1945) who wrote a book about Braxton Craven, entitled The Life of Braxton Craven.

Duke University has celebrated anniversaries of two major founding events: the establishment of continuous education at Brown's Schoolhouse in Randolph County, N.C., in 1838, and the creation of the Duke Endowment, which transformed Trinity College into Duke University in 1924. As a result, the institution commemorated the 100th Anniversary of its beginnings in Randolph County in 1938/1939, the 50th Anniversary of the Duke Endowment and founding of Duke University in 1974/1975, the 150th Anniversary of its beginnings in Randolph County in 1988/1989, and the 75th Anniversary of the Duke Endowment and founding of Duke University in 1999/2000. The Duke University Anniversaries Collection includes correspondence, clippings, photographs, printed matter, programs, speeches, a sound recording, a diary, acknowledgements from other institutions, a time capsule, and other materials relating to events commemorating the beginnings and founding of Duke University. Major subjects include events planning, fund raising, Duke University, Trinity College (Randolph Co., N.C. and Durham, N.C.), Normal College (Randolph Co., N.C.), Union Institute (Randolph Co., N.C.), and Brown's Schoolhouse (Randolph Co., N.C.). English.

The Duke University Anniversaries Collection is divided into four series, arranged by anniversary. 50th Anniversary (1924-1974) of the founding of Duke University series includes correspondence, planning materials, programs, meeting minutes, financial statements, printed matter, and clippings created by the 50th Anniversary Steering and Advisory Committees. Materials range in date from 1973 to 1975. The 75th Anniversary (1924-1999) of the founding of Duke University series includes logos, a commemorative mailing cancellation stamp, a press release, and a sound recording of a speech given by John Koskinen on the Y2K conversion. Materials range in date from 1999 to 2000.

The 100th Anniversary (1838-1938) of the beginnings of Duke University series includes printed materials, correspondence, Centennial Fund records, a diary, publications, invitation lists, congratulations from other institutions, and several complete packets of centennial celebration materials. Also included is a time capsule, labeled: "1939-2039. A collection of items presented to the President of Duke University at the Centennial Celebration, April 22, 1939; not to be opened until the occasion of the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the institution." Materials range in date from 1937 to 1939. Finally, the 150th Anniversary (1838-1988) of the beginnings of Duke University series includes articles, printed matter, correspondence, clippings, subject files, photographs, programs, and financial materials. Major subjects include Sesquicentennial Celebration planning and events, the historical marker for Brown's Schoolhouse, and the plaque and maintenance of the Trinity College Memorial Gazebo in Randolph County. Materials range in date from 1988 to 2000 (bulk 1988-1989). The collection also includes a program from the Centennial Celebration of the relocation of Trinity College to Durham, 1992.

This collection consists of original and copy negatives taken by various sources over several decades. Most of the negatives were produced by the Office of News and Communication's News Bureau in the early years of Duke University and later by University Photography (upon its establishment).

Contains negatives and some matching prints of University-related subjects, including people (i.e. faculty, trustees, students, etc.), buildings, construction, schools and departments. While dates range from 1855-1995, it is necessary to note that the majority of the negatives are copy negatives, rather than originals. While a good number of original negatives are included in this collection, the user should be aware that some of the corresponding dates refer to when the copy negative was made, not when the original picture was taken. In most cases, it is noted on the negative sleeve if the negative is a copy or an original. Furthermore, users should be aware that some negatives are of published material. For instance, several pages from the Chanticleer and the Chronicle were photographed and the negatives were kept. On some of the sleeves, users will find notes presumably made by the photographer regarding print quality.

An attempt was made to bring a cohesiveness to the negative collection for easier patron and staff access. The negatives are arranged in the following series: Subject Negatives, General Negatives, Building Negatives, Construction Negatives, Faculty Negatives, Medical Center Negatives, and Numbered Negatives. The Numbered Negatives are copy negatives pulled from the larger University Archives Photograph Collection. Any future additions to the negative collection will follow the numbering format.

John Spencer Bassett, a professor in the History Department of Trinity College from 1893-1906, was a renowned educator and advocate of freedom of expression. A native of North Carolina, Bassett received his A.B. from Trinity College in 1888 and his doctorate at Johns Hopkins University in 1894. He returned to Trinity College to teach and was active in teaching, writing and collecting southern Americana. Bassett began publication of an annual series of Historical Papers of the Trinity College Historical Society; founded the honorary society 9019, a precursor to Phi Beta Kappa; founded and edited the scholarly journal, the South Atlantic Quarterly; and encouraged his students to publish and fostered their interests in Southern history. In 1903, Bassett published an article, Stirring Up the Fires of Race Antipathy in the South Atlantic Quarterly, that praised the accomplishments of African Americans and offered views on how to improve race relations. Bassett's views brought on a controversy that became known as the Bassett Affair that helped to establish the concept of academic freedom in higher education in the United States. The collection contains personal and professional papers related to the life and work of John Spencer Bassett. Materials range in date from 1802 to 1998 (bulk 1893-1911) and include biographical information, correspondence, printed material, newspaper clippings, manuscripts, and souvenirs. English.

The collection contains personal and professional papers related to the life and work of John Spencer Bassett. Materials range in date from 1802 to 1998 (bulk 1893-1911) and include biographical information, correspondence, printed material, newspaper clippings, manuscripts, and souvenirs. The correspondence (1893-1917) includes a copy of a 1911 letter to Charles Frances Adams in which Bassett gives his account of the Bassett Affair. Other correspondents include Oswald G. Villard, William Kenneth Boyd, Edwin Mims, and William E. Dodd. Much of the original correspondence concerns affairs of the Roanoke Colony Memorial Association. Clippings ([1802]-1896) include articles about North Carolina politics, Civil War history, the Bassett Affair, Trinity College matters, race relations, the media, and education. The manuscripts include the autobiography of Jessie Lewellin Bassett, wife of John Spencer Bassett, in which she describes her life from 1866 until her marriage to Bassett in 1892; a copy of the paper, "How to Collect and Preserve Historical Material," that Bassett presented to the State Historical Association on Oct. 23, 1900; and John L. Woodward's Ph.B. thesis, "Causes and Progress of the Revolutionary Movement in North Carolina," (1894).

The bulk of John Spencer Bassett's personal papers can be found in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress.

College administrator and educator. Served as president of Greensboro College (1936-1952) and Lambuth College (1952-1962), as well as Conference Superintendent of the Sunday School Board of the N.C. Conference (1920's) and Director of Church Relations at California Western University at San Diego for three years. Correspondence, printed material, financial papers, certificates, writings, and photographs relating mostly to Dr. Gobbel's career. Topics include: biographical information about Gobbel and Mrs. Gobbel (d. 1966); college education; education and the church; Methodist Episcopal Church, including the Sunday School Board of the N.C. Conference; East-West Expressway controversy in Durham, 1970s; education in China, 1937; Protestant churches in Czechoslovakia, 1961; financial papers of Robert A. Gobbel of Rowan Co., N.C., 1870s-1890s; inauguration of Gobbel as president of Greensboro College; his term as president of Lambuth College; a description of a trip taken by Dr. and Mrs. Gobbel through eight Latin American countries, New Orleans, and Atlanta in 1965; and Gobbel's service in World War I. Includes family and professional photographs (some of Methodist Church personnel); Trinity College scrapbook, 1913-1918; and two personal scrapbooks of Dr. Gobbel relating his career.

Correspondence, printed material, financial papers, certificates, writings, and photographs relating mostly to Dr. Gobbel's career. Topics include: biographical information about Gobbel and Mrs. Gobbel (d. 1966); college education; education and the church; Methodist Episcopal Church, including the Sunday School Board of the N.C. Conference; East-West Expressway controversy in Durham, 1970s; education in China, 1937; Protestant churches in Czechoslovakia, 1961; financial papers of Robert A. Gobbel of Rowan Co., N.C., 1870s-1890s; inauguration of Gobbel as president of Greensboro College; his term as president of Lambuth College; a description of a trip taken by Dr. and Mrs. Gobbel through eight Latin American countries, New Orleans, and Atlanta in 1965; and Gobbel's service in World War I. Includes family and professional photographs (some of Methodist Church personnel); Trinity College scrapbook, 1913-1918; and two personal scrapbooks of Dr. Gobbel relating his career.

Susannah Gregory Michaels (1887-1973) graduated from Trinity College in 1907. Margaret Blackwell Michaels (1905-1997) graduated from Trinity College in 1928. The collection includes materials related to the history of Trinity College.

The Michaels Family Papers include materials related to the history of Trinity College. The collection is mostly comprised of invitations for such events as graduating exercises, orations, luncheons, and commencements. Also included are two booklets on Trinity College (1907) and the Chapel (1937). The collection has 4 photographs with Trinity College graduates (classes of 1907 and 1910). Also included are Susannah Gregory Michaels' head pin with the seal of Trinity College (class 1910) and Margaret Blackwell Michaels' graduation ring (class 1928) with a red stone (possibly garnet).