The Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture was established in 1983 to share information about Africana and African-American culture with both the Duke and Durham communities. The collection contains materials regarding the general origins, development, and oversight of the Mary Lou Williams Center, as well as files related to programming hosted by, or sponsored by the Center. There are also a small number of files, mostly course materials, related to Leon Latimer Dunkley, Jr., who was the director of the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture from 1999-2005.