The Duke Vigil was a peaceful demonstration, sparked by the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that occurred at Duke University in April 1968. The Vigil involved students, faculty, and non-academic employees of the university and called for racial equality and improved wages for hourly workers. Barry Sharoff organized publicity for the Duke Vigil Strategy Committee. The collection includes fliers, newspapers, press releases, statements, notes, correspondence, and publicly distributed materials regarding the Duke Vigil gathered by Barry Sharoff in his role in charge of publicity for the Vigil, as well as materials related to the 20th anniversary of the Vigil in 1988.
The collection includes fliers, newspapers, press releases, statements, notes, correspondence, and publicly distributed materials regarding the Duke Vigil gathered by Barry Sharoff in his role in charge of publicity for the Vigil.
Included are a number of fliers for Vigil activities, particularly meetings and boycotts; statements and press releases, including statements from Board of Trustees Chair Wright Tisdale, the general faculty, and the Special Trustee-Administrative Committee, and press releases from campus radio WDBS and the Office of Information Services; Barry Sharoff's notes on publicity and organizing efforts; a list of Vigil participants; newspapers, especially the Chronicle, featuring articles on the Vigil; and materials related to the 20th anniversary of the Duke Vigil, celebrated during the 1988 20th reunion of the Class of 1968.