The William Preston Few Records and Papers contain correspondence from Few's office files as President of Trinity College and Duke University, reports, clippings, copies of speeches and manuscripts, memorandum books, bound volumes, index cards that catalog Few's office files, and other types of printed material. The files are arranged in six series. They include: Correspondence, Subject Files, Bound Volumes, Oversize Materials, Index Cards to Few Papers, and Additions.
Major subjects include education; philanthropy; the development of Trinity College, from its beginning in Randolph County, N.C., to Duke University; the development of the Duke Endowment; Trinity and Duke departmental operations; the school's relationship with the Methodist Church; and business of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
The Correspondence makes up a large part of the collection. The bulk of this correspondence is from Few's office files as President of Trinity College and Duke University. The correspondence includes incoming letters to Few's office, copies of outgoing letters, reports, minutes, telegrams, newsletters, and other materials generated or received by the President's office. Among the correspondents are: William Hayes Ackland, Alice Mary Baldwin, John Spencer Bassett, Julian S. Carr, Robert D.W. Conner, Angier Buchanan Duke, Benjamin Newton Duke, James Buchanan Duke, John Carlisle Kilgo, and Edward R. Murrow. There is also some personal correspondence dating from 1885.
The Subject Files include a wide variety of materials collected by Few's office. They include correspondence, reports, clippings and other types of printed material. Major subjects include education; philanthropy; the development of Trinity College from its beginning in Randolph County, N.C., to Duke University; the development of the Duke Endowment; Trinity and Duke departmental operations; the school's relationship with the Methodist Church; and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Included are Few's speeches made at university functions, to community groups, and at funerals. There are a number of speeches that give Few's opinions about education and the development of Duke University while he was President.
The Bound Volumes include a manuscript arithmetic primer, dated 1814, written by Alston W. Kendrick, Few's grandfather; a trigonometry textbook used by Few; a Bible; class records, 1913-1929 and undated; an incomplete set of Few's memoranda books for the years 1922-1933; and several alumni reviews.
The Index Cards to Few's Papers were apparently created by Few's office and catalog the holdings in the office files. However, not all of the materials or names referenced on the index cards can be found in the William Preston Few Records and Papers.
The Oversize Materials include folders removed from the subject files, diplomas, and a bound volume. The Additions include some correspondence, and obituaries for Mrs. William Preston Few (Mary Reamey Thomas Few), that were incorporated into the collection after it was transferred to University Archives.
Born in Greenville, S.C. on December 29, 1867, the son of Benjamin Franklin and Rachel Kendrick Few, William Preston Few attended Wofford College, Spartanburg S.C. (A.B., 1889), and Harvard University (A.M., 1893; Ph.D., 1896). Few came to Durham in 1896 as Professor of English at Trinity College. He was named Dean of the College in 1902, and President in 1910, succeeding John C. Kilgo. Few was President of Trinity College from 1910-1924.
On August 17, 1911, Few married Mary Reamey Thomas of Martinsville, West Virginia. They had five sons: William, Lyne Starling, Kendrick Sheffield, Randolph Reamey, and Yancey Preston.
Few worked with James Buchanan Duke to establish the Duke Endowment. In 1924, Few directed Trinity College's transition to Duke University and remained as President of Duke University until his death on October 16, 1940. In his thirty years as President of Trinity and Duke, Few oversaw the transformation of Trinity College into Duke University and assisted in the fulfillment of the concept behind the Duke Endowment.
An active layman in the Methodist Church, Few was often a delegate to the Church's General Conferences. Other activities included membership on a committee of the Harvard Board of Overseers (1911), President of the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association (1913), Trustee of the Negro Rural School Fund (1918), and President of the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools (1932).
