Samuel DuBois Cook papers, 1949-2015

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Summary

Creator:
Cook, Samuel DuBois, 1928-2017 and John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History and Culture
Abstract:
Dr. Samuel DuBois Cook (1928-2017) was a political scientist who became Duke University's first African American professor in 1966. He also served as president of Dillard University from 1975 to 1997. The Samuel DuBois Cook Papers contains Cook's speech files, drafts and copies of Cook's writings, and other assorted papers including correspondence and subject folders for his research and writings on Benjamin Elijah Mays. Acquired as part of the John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History and Culture.
Extent:
16.9 Linear Feet
Language:
Materials in English
Collection ID:
RL.11747

Background

Scope and content:

The Samuel DuBois Cook Papers contains Cook's speech files, drafts and copies of Cook's writings, and other assorted papers including correspondence and subject folders for his research and writings on Benjamin Elijah Mays. The correspondence is scattered but dates as early as 1949 and includes some exchanges between Cook and Duke University contacts and administration, written during his tenure as professor in the political science department. Later correspondence discusses Dillard University administration, as well as other personal and professional exchanges. Cook's research on Benjamin E. Mays includes files from his editing of the volume "Benjamin E. Mays: His Life, Contribution, and Legacy," published in 2009, as well as other drafts and files collected by Cook about Mays' writings and philosophy. Cook's other writings include drafts compiled for his Ford Foundation appointment researching desegregation and racism in the 1970s; writings and essays about Reinhold Niebuhr, Martin Luther King Jr., and historically black colleges; and his reflections on black power and the strategies of the civil rights movement. The bulk of the collection consists of Cook's speeches, filed into Dillard University and Professional Speeches subseries and arranged alphabetically by topic or title of the speech. Many of these are administrative, including many introductions of various Dillard speakers or other remarks delivered by Cook as Dillard University president.

Biographical / historical:

Dr. Samuel DuBois Cook (1928-2017) was a political scientist and professor who taught at Southern University, Atlanta University, the University of Illinois, UCLA, and Duke University, where in 1966, he became the first African American professor to hold a regular faculty appointment at a predominantly white college or university in the South. In 1975 he left Duke to became president of Dillard University, serving 22 years until his retirement in 1997. He also served as a member of the Duke University Board of Trustees from 1981 to 1993.

Additional information on the life of Samuel DuBois Cook can be found online at Duke University's Samuel DuBois Cook Center for Social Equity archived website.

Acquisition information:
The Samuel DuBois Cook Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 2018 and 2019.
Processing information:

Processed by Bethany Lynch, Meghan Lyon, June 2019

Addition processed by Jasmine Alexander-Greene and Alice Poffinberger, February 2020

Accessions described in this collection guide: 2018-0032, 2019-0131

Arrangement:

Collection is arranged into series: 1. General Papers. 2. Writings. 3. Speeches.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Samuel DuBois Cook Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Permalink:
https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m1mk7c