Business Papers, 1884-1941 (bulk 1910s-1920s)
- Scope and content:
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Partial documentation for businesses that James B. Duke owned or had investment interests in, including the American Tobacco Company, British-American Tobacco Company, Duke Farms Company, Orlando Water Power Corporation, Quebec Development Company, Southern Power Company, W. Duke, Sons and Company and other businesses. Contains correspondence; minutes and corporate records; financial records including ledger books, journals, cashbooks, voucher records, vouchers and cancelled checks; stock certificates; contracts; maps of power transmission lines; and financial worksheets.
The most complete records are for Duke Farms Company in Somerville, New Jersey (apparently a holding company), including documentation for Piedmont Electro-Chemical Company, Southern Power Company, Orlando Water Power Company, and other Duke-owned businesses. Also documented are negotiations between James B. Duke on behalf of W. Duke, Sons and Company and The American Tobacco Company, and representatives of the Bonsack Machine Company regarding the cigarette-rolling machinery that contributed to the dominance of Duke family's tobacco businesses.
For W. Duke, Sons and Company material dated after its merger with The American Tobacco Company, see The American Tobacco Company. Correspondence with The Bonsack Machine Company is filed with the W. Duke, Sons and Company correspondence and in The American Tobacco Company letterbook.
- Arrangement:
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Arranged by name of the business and type of material, then chronologically.
Contents
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- Collection restrictions:
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Collection is open for research.
Access note. Some fragile letterbooks and other volumes require consultation with staff regarding safe handling.
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The copyright interests in the papers of James Buchanan Duke have not been transferred to Duke University. For further information, see the section on copyright in the Regulations and Procedures of the Special Collections Department.
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