Mary Duke Biddle papers, 1894-1960

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This collection is currently being reprocessed to incorporate additional material before it becomes fully open to researchers in January 2027. This work is being funded by a grant from The Duke Endowment. For more information, please contact the Rubenstein Library.

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Restrictions:
Access to this material will be consistent with the 1991 agreement between Duke University Library, James H. Semans, and Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans. Access to any correspondence, legal papers,...
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Summary

Creator:
Biddle, Mary Duke, 1887-1960
Abstract:
Mary Lillian Duke Biddle (1887-1960) was the only daughter of Sarah P. and Benjamin N. Duke and one of the heirs of the Duke family fortune. This collection documents her personal and family life in New York, NY and Durham, NC as a wealthy socialite and philanthropist in the first half of the 20th century. Her philanthropy included notable contributions to Duke University related to the Duke Homestead, Sarah P. Duke Gardens, and Duke University Libraries, and she established the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation to carry on this work after her death.
Extent:
2.3 Linear Feet (Four document boxes and three half document boxes.)
Language:
Material in English.
Collection ID:
RL.13054

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains correspondence, legal and financial records, scrapbooks and photographs, address books, wedding memorabilia, and other material that documents Biddle's personal, social, and family life in New York, NY and Durham, NC, including her philanthropy. Family members represented include Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Jr., Nicholas Benjamin Duke Biddle, Angier Buchanan Duke, Benjamin Newton Duke, Sarah Pearson Angier Duke, and Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans. Other individuals represented include Karl Bock, Mary Few, William Preston Few, Frederic Moir Hanes, and Ellen Shipman. Subjects include the Duke Homestead, Elon College, Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Trinity College/Duke University, and the Duke University Women's College.

Biographical / historical:

Mary Lillian Duke Biddle was born on November 26, 1887, in Durham, NC to Sarah Pearson Angier Duke (1856-1936) and Benjamin Newton Duke (1855-1929). She was the second Duke to graduate from Trinity College in 1907, after her older brother Angier Buchanan Duke in 1905, and she was presented at the Court of St. James circa 1914. She married Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Jr. (1897-1961) in 1915 and they had two children: Mary Duke Biddle (1920-2012) and Nicholas Benjamin Duke Biddle (1921-2004). They divorced in 1931 and she legally changed Nicholas's name from Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle III in 1933 (his father later reused this name on another son). She had a serious, multi-year depressive episode after this divorce, during which she was treated by Frederic M. Hanes of Duke University at her request, and she dealt with bouts of depression for the rest of her life. Her primary residences were 1009 5th Avenue in New York, NY (after 1919), "Linden Court" in Irvington, NY during the summers (after 1921), and "Pinecrest" in Durham (after 1935).

A trained singer and opera lover, Biddle became a patron of the arts and continued her family's legacy of philanthropy, especially to Trinity College/Duke University. In particular, she purchased then transferred the title to her grandfather Washington Duke's homestead in 1931 (which is now owned and operated by the state as a historic site), supported the gardens that would be named after her mother in 1939, gave $1.5 million to expand the main library in 1946, and left $1 million in her will (which had to be reduced to $420,000 in effort to honor all her bequests). She also donated to North Carolina College and Lincoln Community Hospital in Durham, two institutions created to serve the local African American community due to segregation. She established the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation in 1956 to carry on her philanthropy after her death, and their offices were originally located in Pinecrest. The music building and an exhibition space in the special collections library at Duke University are named in her honor.

Biddle died on June 14, 1960, in Durham and is buried in Maplewood Cemetary.

Acquisition information:
The Mary Duke Biddle papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library as gifts from James H. and Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans between 1969-1990. They were formerly part of the Semans family papers before being separated into a distinct collection in 2024.
Processing information:

This collection was originally a series in the former Semans family papers, which were processed by Madeleine Bagwell Perez and Donna Longo DiMichele, April 1991; encoded by Alvin Pollock; and updated by staff, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2017, Paula Jeannet, 2018, and Leah Tams, December 2021.

The Semans family papers were separated by series into four collections by Zachary Tumlin, February 2024, as part of a project funded by The Duke Endowment.

Material described in the Semans family papers collection guide came from almost two dozen accessions from 1969-1990. Almost three dozen additional accessions to the Semans family papers were received between 1992-2021. This collection guide could describe material from any of those accessions.

Arrangement:

The Mary Duke Biddle papers are arranged into five series: Correspondence, Financial, Legal, Visual Material, and Personal.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Access to this material will be consistent with the 1991 agreement between Duke University Library, James H. Semans, and Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans. Access to any correspondence, legal papers, and financial papers is restricted and will be permitted only with prior written permission, which should be sought from the chair of the board of the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation. This restriction shall be in place until 1 January 2027, after which all material shall be considered open for research.

Access note. Some materials in this collection are fragile photographic formats and may require extra assistance from staff. Use of digital access copies is preferred. Contact Research Services for access.

This collection is currently being reprocessed to incorporate additional material before it becomes fully open to researchers in January 2027. This work is being funded by a grant from The Duke Endowment. For more information, please contact the Rubenstein Library.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the Rubenstein Library's Citations, Permissions, and Copyright guide.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Mary Duke Biddle papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Permalink:
https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m1hn0g