Correspondence, 1863, 1887-1905, 1975-1976
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The bulk of this series dates from 1890-1905 and shows Duke's financial and philanthropic interests after retirement. Letters come from the following sources:
Relatives seeking aid or sending thanks for gifts.
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, members and ministers seeking assistance for church buildings, furnishings, orphans, widows, and missionaries.
Schools and colleges asking for aid or expressing appreciation for aid given. This includes Louisburg Female College, Rutherford College, Trinity College, Kittrell College, and the orphanage in Oxford. Many students, both black and white, sought financial assistance from him in the way of scholarships or loans.
Business associates or would-be partners seeking financial assistance or employment. These letters are largely concerned with textiles and tobacco. For example, there are letters reflecting his encouragement of black capitalism in the founding of Coleman Manufacturing Company in Concord.
People who were ill or unlucky, many of them in extreme poverty.
The letters dated 1975-1976 are concerned with his dealings with the J. W. Scott and Company in Greensboro (1871) and the nomination of St. Joseph's AME Church in Durham to the National Register of Historic Places.
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