Correspondence, 1871-1941, bulk 1893-1923

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Access note. Some materials are fragile and may require extra assistance from staff. Letterbooks are fragile bound volumes and there is one scroll from Japan. Contact Research Services for access.

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Scope and content:

Letters, memoranda, telegrams, invoices, receipts, printed reports and other items which document the financial, philanthropic, and personal interests of Benjamin and his family. Includes Duke family members: Sarah P. Duke, Washington Duke, Angier Buchanan Duke, Mary Duke Biddle, Lida Duke Angier, Brodie L. Duke, James B. Duke, and Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr. Other correspondents include: John C. Angier, John S. Bassett, Warren A. Candler, Julian S. Carr, John F. Crowell, J. B. Cobb, Warren C. Coleman, Ceasar Cone, William A. Erwin, William P. Few, Robert L. Flowers, C. P. H. Gilbert, Jonathan R. Hawkins, L. L. Hobbs, Charles C. Hook, N. M. Jurney, J. C. Kilgo, W. S. Lee, John Merrick, Solomon Pool, Jeter C. Pritchard, Daniel Lindsay Russell, Thomas Settle, James E. Shepard, James H. Southgate, Andrew P. Tyer, and George W. Watts. Many of the letters were addressed to or written by Benjamin's personal secretaries and business agents in Durham and NY, including James E. Stagg, Richard B. Arrington, Elizabeth A. Childs, and Alexander H. Sands, Jr.

This series provides a particularly rich history of Benjamin's relationship with Trinity College, documenting his role on the Board of Trustees, Executive Committee, and Building Committee, as well as his financial support during and after the institution's relocation to Durham from Randolph County. There are letters to and from trustees, faculty, students, and representatives of the Methodist Church regarding the administration and financial support of the college; letters from students or their parents requesting financial assistance to attend; exchanges with architects and contractors regarding the design and construction of campus buildings; teaching applications; and correspondence with faculty on non-college topics, such as loans, investments, property transactions, and personal matters.

This series also documents Benjamin and the Duke family's other philanthropic activities, including their support of educational institutions for African Americans and women; the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and individual churches; and social welfare agencies and community organizations, including orphanages and hospitals. Institutions include: Elon College, Greensboro Female College, Granbery College, Guilford College, Kittrell College, Lincoln Memorial University, Louisburg Female College, the National Religious Training School and Chautauqua for the Colored Race, the New Bern Industrial and Collegiate Institute, the NC College for Negroes (later NC Central University), Rutherford College, Southern Conservatory of Music, Trinity College, Bingham School, and Durham Graded Schools; Main Street Methodist Church, Duke Memorial Methodist Church, Trinity Methodist Church, and West Durham Methodist Church; and the NC Children's Home, Oxford Orphan Asylum, Lincoln Hospital, Watts Hospital, YMCA and YWCA of Durham, and the Salvation Army.

Major industries include: tobacco, cotton and textiles, hydroelectric power, banking, mining, railroads, and real estate. Much of the business-related correspondence concerns financial matters, such as notices of dividend payments and requests for stockholder subscriptions. Companies include: the American Tobacco Company, W. Duke, Sons, and Company, Asheville Cotton Mills, Cannon Manufacturing Company, Coleman Manufacturing Company, Commonwealth Cotton Manufacturing Company, Durham Cotton Manufacturing Company, Erwin Cotton Mills, Leaksville Cotton Mills, Locke Cotton Mills, Odell Manufacturing Company, Proximity Manufacturing Company, Kerr Bag Manufacturing Company, Roxboro Cotton Mills, Spray Water and Power Company, Durham Electric Lighting Company, Southern Power Company (later Duke Power Company then Duke Energy Corporation), Fidelity Bank of Durham, Citizen's National Bank of Durham, Durham and Southern Railway, Cape Fear and Northern Railway, Cary Lumber Company, Alaska Power and Dredging Company, Jim Butler Tonopah Mining Company, Seward Dredging Company, Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company, Durham Realty Corporation, Trinity Land Company, and the National Drama Corporation.

Correspondence related to the tobacco industry includes letters from executives and directors of the American Tobacco Company and its subsidiaries, including W. Duke, Sons, and Company. Also included are letters from department and branch managers, legal counsel, leaf brokers and dealers, investors, merchants and salespeople, and job seekers. There is extensive correspondence between 1892-1902 regarding the state of the tobacco market in NC and VA, as well as purchases of tobacco, cutters, wrappers, and other supplies. Correspondence related to official American Tobacco Company business consists mainly of meeting arrangements for the Board of Directors and details of investment made on behalf of the company and its executives. Also included are general updates from W. W. Fuller on legal suits faced by the company and arrangements for the conversion of American Tobacco Company stock after the dissolution of the trust.

Correspondence related to the textile and hydroelectric power industries include extensive correspondence with William A. Erwin regarding the establishment, funding, operations, and expansion of Erwin Cotton Mills. Also present are letters related to the surveying of water power sites in NC and SC and purchases of properties and water rights prior to the establishment of the Southern Power Company.

Arrangement:

Arranged into two subseries by format: Letters and Letterbooks.

Related material:

Correspondence with financial brokers is in the Financial series, Investments subseries.

Correspondence between Benjamin and others regarding his efforts to identify and financially assist extended family members is in the James Buchanan Duke papers, Correspondence series.

An Excel workbook with a list of items that relate to Trinity College, as well as outstanding general correspondence, exists in the collection control file and can be shared upon request from Research Services.

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