Duke University has celebrated anniversaries of two major founding events: the establishment of continuous education at Brown's Schoolhouse in Randolph County, N.C., in 1838, and the creation of the Duke Endowment, which transformed Trinity College into Duke University in 1924. As a result, the institution commemorated the 100th Anniversary of its beginnings in Randolph County in 1938/1939, the 50th Anniversary of the Duke Endowment and founding of Duke University in 1974/1975, the 150th Anniversary of its beginnings in Randolph County in 1988/1989, and the 75th Anniversary of the Duke Endowment and founding of Duke University in 1999/2000. The Duke University Anniversaries Collection includes correspondence, clippings, photographs, printed matter, programs, speeches, a sound recording, a diary, acknowledgements from other institutions, a time capsule, and other materials relating to events commemorating the beginnings and founding of Duke University. Major subjects include events planning, fund raising, Duke University, Trinity College (Randolph Co., N.C. and Durham, N.C.), Normal College (Randolph Co., N.C.), Union Institute (Randolph Co., N.C.), and Brown's Schoolhouse (Randolph Co., N.C.). English.
Duke admitted the first five African American undergraduates in September, 1963. In 2013, the University held a year-long celebration called Commemorating 50 Years of Black Students at Duke with a variety of academic, artistic, and service-oriented events. The collection includes programs, brochures, clippings, materials kept by Staff Director of the commemoration Keith Daniel, reflections written by alumni, and interviews with some of the first black undergraduate students recorded in 2012.
In 1979, Duke University held a series of events celebrating the life of Benjamin Newton Duke. The collection includes clippings, invitations, scrapbooks, and an audio recording.
Formed around 1950, the Duke University Arts Council planned music and art events on Duke's campus, such as concerts and exhibits. It also created a lending library of musical recordings and art reproductions, and it produced a radio program, "Arts Council on the Air." After a period of inactivity, the Arts Council dissolved in 1970. Collection includes correspondence, financial papers, membership information, event announcements, minutes, reports, and other administrative papers. Major subjects include Duke University Woman's College and Woman's College Library, art appreciation, and faculty spouses. Materials range in date from 1950 to 1970; the bulk of the materials date from 1950 to 1959. English.
In 2020, the Duke University Archives and Duke University Medical Center Archives requested submissions from members of the Duke community as part of the "Share Your COVID-19 Story" project to document life during the COVID-19 pandemic. The collection contains essays, photographs, and sound recordings submitted by Duke faculty, staff, and students.