Alvin T. Parnell was a commercial photographer based in Durham, N.C. Collection chiefly consists of 167 black-and-white photographs of the city and people of Durham, North Carolina. The majority, chiefly taken by Parnell from 1920 through the 1950s, are views of downtown streets, commercial and industrial buildings, churches, and infrastructure, especially transportation. Many sites are related to the tobacco manufacturing businesses based in Durham. A few are of African American tobacco workers posed in the field and female factory workers ending their shift. Other images range widely and include a Trinity College (later Duke University) reunion, war veterans at gatherings, a minstrel band, a cart advertising Bull Durham tobacco, and tobacco fields with posed workers, white and African American. In addition, there are portraits of prominent Durham individuals and families. Formats include 85 vintage and modern gelatin silver prints, chiefly 8x10 inches, 82 contact prints, and 12 safety negatives. Includes an information folder with 1986 obituary and collection information.

Collection comprises 167 early to mid-20th century black-and-white photographs of the city and people of Durham, North Carolina. The majority of the images were taken by Alvin T. Parnell, a commercial photographer with a studio in downtown Durham, from about 1920 to 1950; prints from 1898 to 1919 likely were from the Cole-Holladay studio, which Parnell took over around 1920. Formats include a few vintage mounted albumen and gelatin silver prints, unmounted vintage and modern gelatin silver prints, and small contact prints made from original nitrate negatives. There are also twelve safety film negatives present, from which some copy prints were made. Includes an information folder with Parnell's 1986 obituary and collection information.

The largest group of photographs, taken from the late 1910s through the early 1950s, features views of Durham's growing downtown, often commissioned by Parnell's business and City Hall clients. In the background of the many street scenes one can see the progression of small storefront businesses that made up life on Main Street in a 20th century Southern Piedmont city. Given Durham's role as a birthplace for the post-Civil War tobacco manufacturing industry, it is not surprising that there are numerous photographs of buildings and industrial sites belonging to American Tobacco, Blackwell Tobacco, and Liggett Myers. Parnell also photographed buses, trolleys, and other scenes for an early Durham power and transportation company, Durham Public Services.

Other images focus on people, and range widely in subject matter: men posed at a Trinity College (later Duke University) reunion, war veterans at gatherings, fraternities, children on a playground, and a minstrel band. A few are of African American tobacco workers posed in the field and female factory workers ending their shift. There are also portraits of prominent individuals and families: an elderly Bennehan Cameron with family members; John Ruffin Green (one of Durham's earliest tobacco entrepreneurs); Washington Duke and sons with associates at a barbeque; the Rosenstein family (optometrists from New York who came to Durham in 1904); William Umstead (U.S. Senator from northern Durham County); and various police chiefs and businessmen. There are also a few portraits of women, some with captions and some unidentified.

There are also twelve safety film negatives in the collection, sized 8x10 and 4x5 inches, from which a selection of copy prints were made after the collection was acquired. A few have no existing prints – these are noted in the collection guide.

In addition to photographs in this collection, some if not most of the earlier images of Durham in the Durham Chamber of Commerce collection in the Rubenstein Library are likely to have been taken by Parnell. His work is also likely to be found in other collections related to Durham residents containing photographs.

Collection comprises 63 exhibit-quality black-and-white photographic portraits of Durham, North Carolina citizens of all races, ages, genders, and sexual orientations, taken from 1989 to 1992 for a Center for Documentary Studies project. Subjects include activists, writers, older people, working class men, friends, couples, and families. Many of the individuals were alumni of Duke University. Also includes several prints and a brochure from an exhibit entitled "Home Ground," featuring Vaughan's family and landscapes from two family farms, 1977-1987. Formats include gelatin silver, Polaroids (some in color), and four palladium/plantinotype prints, along with a hand-pigmented, textured print. The photographs range in size from about 8 3/8 x 10 3/4 inches to 11x14 inches and are all matted, captioned, and signed. Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.

Collection chiefly comprises 63 exhibit-quality black-and-white photographic portraits of Durham, North Carolina citizens of all races, ages, genders, and sexual orientations, taken by Durham photographer Caroline Vaughan from 1989 to 1992 for a Center for Documentary Studies project. Subjects include activists, writers, older people, working class men, gay and straight couples, friends, and families, Many of the individuals were alumni of Duke University who were involved in sixties activism and remained in the area.

There are several photographers featured in the portraits whose work is also in the Rubenstein Library collections: Peter Goin, Alex Harris, Jeeva Rajgopaul, and Margaret Sartor.

Also includes a smaller series of black-and-white palladium/platinotype prints and a bifold brochure from a Duke University exhibit entitled "Home Ground." These prints feature Vaughan's family members posed in the studio and at two family farms in Oxford, N.C. and News Ferry, Virginia, taken from 1977 to 1987 and printed in 1992 and 1993.

The photographs were taken with large-format cameras and an instant camera (Polaroid), and printed and toned by Vaughan chiefly from 1990 to 1993. Formats include gelatin silver, Polaroids (some in color), and palladium/plantinotype prints, along with one hand-pigmented, textured print. The prints range in size from about 8 3/8 x 10 3/4 inches to 11 x 14 inches and are printed on a variety of papers. Some of the palladium prints feature a circular image format. With a few exceptions, the prints are signed, dated, and matted. Titles were taken from original captions inscribed by the photographer on the prints or mats. Some titles for some uncaptioned prints were taken from the photographer's online gallery. Many prints have data on exposure times, shutter, speed, and other data marked on the back.

Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.

The photographs of Cedric N. Chatterley span the years 1983-2013, and were created throughout his career as a documentary photographer, beginning with his MFA thesis project on religious experience in the U.S. The photographs are primarily black-and-white prints ranging in size from 8x10 to 18x24 inches. The most prominent themes in Chatterley's work are labor, community, and religious expression. He has photographed chicken slaughterhouse workers in Maine; Cambodian immigrants in North Carolina; David "Honeyboy" Edwards and other Southern blues musicians in Mississippi and on tour; a substance abusers' rehabilitation community in Durham, N.C.; tornado survivors in South Dakota; an abandoned religious theme park in Connecticut; and sheep rancher Judith Fae "Pachy" Burns in Montana. Some of his documentary work also includes oral history interviews. There are also several recordings of interviews with Chatterley, where he speaks about his work as a documentary photographer, and a book by Barbara Lau containing his photographs of Cambodian immigrants. Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.

The photographs of Cedric N. Chatterley span the years 1983-2013, and were created throughout his career as a documentary photographer, beginning with his Master in Fine Arts thesis project, "Ambivalent Ecstasies/Converging Energies," on American religious experience. The photographs are primarily black-and-white gelatin silver prints ranging in size from 8x10 to 18x24 inches.

The most prominent themes in Chatterley's work are labor, community, and religious expression. He has photographed chicken slaughterhouse workers in Maine; Cambodian immigrants in North Carolina, a project undertaken with Barbara Lau of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University; David "Honeyboy" Edwards and other Southern blues musicians in Mississippi and on tour; a substance abusers' rehabilitation community in Durham, N.C., also with Barbara Lau; tornado survivors in South Dakota who rebuilt their town over a period of ten years; Holy Land USA, an abandoned religious theme park in Connecticut; and a woman sheep rancher's work during lambing season in Montana. Some of the images were taken with Chatterley's hand-built cameras.

A final series consists of materials relating to Barbara Lau's book, From Cambodia to Greensboro, documenting Cambodian immigrants in North Carolina, that includes images taken by Chatterley, and a set of recorded interviews from 2008 in which Chatterley speaks about his career as a documentary photographer. The cassettes have been converted to digital files and use copies are available for access. Original recordings are closed to use.

Series are arranged in chronological order; prints are numbered and captioned by the photographer.

Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.

The Neighborhoods Project was created as part of the Community Programs department within Duke's Center for Documentary Studies. According to the CDS website, it offered North Carolina elementary school teachers an innovative and effective way to meet social studies goals outlined in the state's standard course of study. The project provided a way to engage students in their own communities, focusing on their individual lives and stories through photographs, narrative writing, and storytelling. It provided a series of experiential learning activities that encouraged the use of photography, oral history, and narrative writing in an exploration of community and citizenship. Collection includes black-and-white photographs, negatives, and slides from projects created by students at Durham's E.K. Powe and W.G. Pearson elementary schools between 1997 and 2004. The images document the social life and the built environment in Durham, N.C., in city neighborhoods where the students live; they feature children, pets, houses and places of business, groups of adults, and other neighborhood scenes where whites, African Americans, and Spanish-seeking citizens live. Some materials are in Spanish. Also includes some student booklets and publications highlighting their projects as part of the program. Acquired as part of the Archive for Documentary Arts.

Collection includes black-and-white photographs (a few are hand-colored), negatives, and slides from projects created by students at Durham's E.K. Powe and W.G. Pearson elementary schools between 1997 and 2004. The images document the social life and the built environment in Durham, N.C., in city neighborhoods where the students live; they feature children, pets, houses and places of business, groups of adults, and other neighborhood scenes. Also includes some student booklets and publications highlighting their projects as part of the program. Materials are sorted by school, with miscellaneous or unidentified materials in the last series. Also contains electronic and audiovisual recordings that require reformatting before use.

Acquired by the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.

Collection comprises 40 color inkjet photographs taken from 2005 to 2016 in Durham, North Carolina by photographer Justin Cook. The images examine the intertwined effects of violence, gangs, homicide, incarceration, poverty and urban renewal in Durham. Their subjects include African American families and their experiences of death, loss and grieving; felons' struggles post-prison; police officers and religious leaders; and gatherings of both predominantly Caucasian and African American communities. There are also several views of the city of Durham that highlight its varied and changing architecture. Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.

Collection comprises 40 color inkjet photographs taken from 2005 to 2016 in Durham, North Carolina by photographer Justin Cook. The images are a decade-long photographic look at the intertwined effects of violence, gangs, homicide, incarceration, poverty and urban renewal in Durham. In Cook's own words, "the intimate personal narratives reveal two Durhams and two Americas... While young professionals flock to one Durham and developers remake it in their image, another Durham, scarred by segregation, fights for the right to exist, and struggles to keep its young people alive." Cook's photographs have as their subjects African American families and their experiences of death, loss and grieving; felons' struggles post-prison; police officers and religious leaders; and gatherings of both predominantly Caucasian and African American communities. There are also several views of the city of Durham that highlight its varied and changing architecture.

The signed and numbered prints are arranged in a narrative order created by the photographer and are accompanied by original captions. The first 37 are from the Made in Durham zine; three extra images have been included by the photographer at the end of the collection. The prints are all 13x19 inches in size, and were printed on Epson matte photo paper.

Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.

Collection comprises 85 13x19 inch photographic prints and other documents related to the exhibit, "Phone Home Durham, 2015." The images were all taken by 50 residents of Durham County, North Carolina, chiefly with mobile phones but also with handheld cameras, and are mostly color digital prints, with a few black-and-white prints. The photographers focused on urban settings, although there are a few rural images taken in Durham County. The images reflect society and customs in 21st century Durham, with subject content including protests relating to race issues, street scenes, graffiti, abandoned houses, local shops and businesses, industrial buildings, and a few landscapes with trees and sunsets. The exhibit prints are accompanied by exhibit guides and other publicity related to the 2015 exhibition, several photographers' statements, and the original exhibit proposal by Duke University professor and photographer Tom Rankin. The exhibit was co-curated by Aaron Canipe, Alexa Dilworth, Jeremy Lange, and Jim Lee. Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.

The collection comprises 85 13x19 inch inkjet prints of photographs, chiefly in color, taken by 50 photographers from Durham County, North Carolina. The images were selected from submissions to the Center for Documentary Studies in response to a call for "images of Durham County [N.C.] taken with mobile phone cameras or other hand held devices." The size of the actual image on the 13x19 print varies and can be as small as 4x6 inches.

The photographers focused on urban settings, although there are a few rural images taken in Durham County. The images reflect society and customs in 21st century Durham, with subject content including protests relating to race issues, street scenes, graffiti, abandoned houses, local shops and businesses, industrial buildings, and a few landscapes with trees and sunsets. Locations include the Durham History Hub, Museum of Life and Science, Duke University, Liberty Cafe, Taqueria Gonzales, Geer Street, Eno River State Park, Ellerbee Creek bridge, Pelican Snoballs, Catsburg Store, the beaver pond off of Avondale Drive, Compare Foods, Durham Central Park, Cocoa Cinnamon coffee shop, Durham County Detention Facility, West Chapel Hill Street bridge, Beyu Cafe, the Durham Bulls ballpark, the 40th Centerfest, El Vaquero Western Wear Shop, 21c Museum Hotel, and the Scrap Exchange.

The exhibit was guest curated by Aaron Canipe, Alexa Dilworth, Jeremy Lange and Jim Lee and displayed in different rotations at the Power Plant Gallery at the American Tobacco Campus from May 29, 2015 to August 22, 2015.

The photographic prints are accompanied by five exhibit guides arranged by dates of exhibition, with thumbnails of each image, the photographer's name, and captions or additional information. Other documents are a flyer explaining request for submissions, a Durham County Library program flyer, and photographers' statements about their images. Also located here is the proposal for the exhibit written by Tom Rankin, documentary photographer and Director of the Master of Fine Arts Program at Duke University.

The following photographers are represented in the collection: D.L. Anderson, Kristina Baker, Daniele Berman, Eric Boven, Michaela Brooks, Aaron Canipe, Mario Chen, Christina Chia, Ira Christmas, Olisa Corcoran, Diane Davis, Wilfred Drath, B.J. Fusaro, Roman Gabriel, Alexa Gerend, Cynthia Gurganus, Izzy (Isaac) Hart, Jim Haverkamp, Warren Hicks, Juliet Jensen, Jim Kellough, Frank Konhaus, Stephanie Leathers, Ryan Mason, Mark Maya, Eleanor Mills, Jesse Moore, John Moses, Callistus Ndemo, Michael Palko, Bill Pope, Courtney Reid-Eaton, Julie Rhodes, Jacqueline Rimmler, Emily Rush, Katherine Scott, Adelle Smith, Amanda Smith, Daniel Smith, Lisa Sorg, Jennifer Stratton, Gina Streaty, Amanda Stricklett, Dawn Surratt, Lynda-Marie Taurasi, Aiyana Torres, Cait Ushpol, Ross Wade, Carin Walsh, and Josh Zaslow.

Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.

The papers in this collection include Duke history professor Sydney Nathans' documentation on the Richard Nixon Presidential Library debate, including his participation in Academic Council resolutions regarding the location of the library on Duke's campus; the Greensboro Massacre (1979), when the Ku Klux Klan murdered several people during a shoot-out at an Anti-KKK demonstration planned by the Communist Workers' Party; Nathans' copies of negatives and contact sheets from the Durham bicentennial photography project (1981 and undated); and materials used in the writing of his book A Mind to Stay, including original interviews, transcripts, and other research materials.

The Nixon Library papers contain correspondence (including that of Terry Sanford, and of the creator of the collection, Sydney Nathans); newspaper and magazine clippings as well as scholarly articles; text from speeches; official statements from groups opposing the Nixon Library; and Sydney Nathan's handwritten notes from a variety of meetings. Documents also include Nathan's research on existing presidential libraries.

The Greensboro Massacre papers contain flyers and other mailings and newsletters from the Communist Workers Party and other socialist organizations; mailings from Greensboro Justice Fund and other sympathetic groups following the massacre; media and press coverage of the massacre and the subsequent trials; a police report from Greensboro's police chief; academic and other literature researching the history of violence between the Communist and Klan organizations; and other miscellaneous materials.

The Durham Bicenntenial photography project relates to a project now held in the Durham Arts Council and consists of negatives and contact sheets for a photographic history of Durham assembled in 1981.

The A Mind to Stay Interviews and Transcripts contain materials used by Sydney Nathans in writing his book A Mind to Stay: White Plantation, Black Homeland, on the descendants of enslaved families forced to migrate from North Carolina to plantations in Greensboro, Alabama, and Tunica, Mississippi, in 1844, and the communities those families formed in the following years. Materials include recordings of interviews with residents of the two towns, Nathans' transcripts and extensive notes of those interviews, photos of interviewees and local landmarks, background material and research, the text of speeches and eulogies, and Nathans' personal correspondence with historians, editors, and Greensboro, Alabama, residents.

Youth Document Durham and Durham Works were programs sponsored by Duke University and the Center for Documentary Studies that brought together young people ages 12–16 from diverse Durham communities to document their lives, local history, and contemporary social issues through photography, oral history, and narrative writing. The Youth Document Durham and Durham Works project records span the years 1995-2008 and document the process of training young people in Durham, North Carolina schools to use photography and other arts, oral histories, and writing to record the history and members of their communities and the local issues affecting the students' lives. Many of the students are African American or Hispanic and their topics often highlight social conditions and race relations in African American and Hispanic communities in Durham neighborhoods and in a few other locations, including South Carolina. Topics explored by participants, both interviewers and interviewees, include crime, food cultures, jobs and education, music, racism, technology, teen violence, work cultures, and tobacco cultivation and its social context. The bulk of the collection is made up of hundreds of oral interviews conducted by junior high and high school students with community members, documented through audiocassette recordings, photographs, writings, and some transcripts, but there are also many program publications, project curricula, and administrative records for the program from its beginnings through 2008. There is also a database created by Center for Documentary Studies staff that records the complete information for each interview, including descriptive notes on certain interviews. This data also contains restricted information. For access to this database, please consult with a reference archivist. Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.

The Youth Document Durham and Durham Works program records span the years 1995-2008 and document the process of training young people in Durham, North Carolina schools to use photography and other arts, oral histories, and writing to record the histories and members of their communities and the local issues affecting the students' lives. Although the vast majority of the projects focus on Durham, there is also one project based in South Carolina. Topics explored by participants, both interviewers and interviewees, include crime, food cultures, jobs and education, music, racism, technology, teen violence, work cultures, and tobacco cultivation and its social context. The collection is divided into four series: Interviews, Photographic Material, Project Files, and Additions.

The bulk of the collection is made up of hundreds of interviews conducted by junior high and high school students with community members, but there are also many program publications, project curricula, and administrative records for those years. The contents of each series is described in full below. There is also a Community Stories database that houses the complete information for each interview, including descriptive notes on certain interviews, and restricted information. For access to this database, please consult with a reference archivist.

The Interviews Series forms the bulk of the collection, and houses the materials generated by the student projects. Each session was organized around a topic which usually would be repeated in subsequent years, such as "Durham Works" or "Old Five Points." Folders usually house one set of interviews conducted by one or more students, and contents typically consist of one or more cassette tapes of the oral interviews, consent forms and other documentation about the interviewees, and writings by the students that came out of their experiences as interviewers. Some interviews have been transcribed. Original audiovisual materials are closed to use; viewing or listening copies need to be made before contents can be accessed. Folders are arranged in number order as assigned by Center for Documentary Studies Staff; they are not in chronological order. An alternate listing at the end of this collection inventory groups boxes by project title rather than folder number order.

In addition to oral histories and writings, the students also produced many images of their subjects and their communities. Photographic prints and negatives of their work are housed in the Photographic Materials Series. Students also produced poems and drawings, and these are chiefly found in the Project Files Series.

Supporting program materials - curriculum guides, notes on staff meetings, staff guidelines, assessments of outcomes - are found in the Project Files Series. Also housed here are additional photographic images, mostly of the project students and staff, CDs with final projects, and the many publications that came out of the Center for Documentary Studies program. These booklets contain mostly interview transcriptions but also include photographs, drawings, annotations, and poetry. Also included is a retrospective collection of Youth Document Durham participant photos and essays, edited by Hong-An Truong and published in 2005.

Later accessions to the collections are found in the Additions Series. These items consist of audiovisual materials, photographs, and some printed materials. In addition to the Youth Document Durham project, related projects included in the Additions series are the Youth Treatment Court, which seems to have been a division of Youth Document Durham, and the Connect Program, which included projects from Old Five Points as well as special group projects for youth.

Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.