The Athletic Director plans, administers, and directs intercollegiate athletic activities at Duke University including staff, publicity, promotion, ticket sales, and assures the University's adherence to appropriate rules, regulations, and guidelines. Collection contains records relating to the operations and activities of the Duke University Athletic Director, 1939-2007, bulk 1968-2007. A majority of the material was accumulated during Tom Butters' tenure as Athletic Director. Materials present include general correspondence, seven subject files arranged by accession, and contracts and schedules. Major subjects include National Collegiate Athletic Association, Atlantic Coast Conference, Duke University team sports, scholarships, fundraising, Iron Dukes, Athletic Council, and facilities and grounds.

Contains material pertaining to the daily activities of the Duke University Athletic Director. The collection is divided into nine series: general correspondence, contracts and schedules, and subject series arranged in accession order. A majority of the material was accumulated by Tom Butters as Assistant Director of Athletics (1972-1975), Associate Athletic Director (1976), and Athletic Director (1977-1998). However, a small amount of material was created by Butters' predecessors, Carl James (1972-1976) and Eddie Cameron (1942-1972).

General correspondence is divided into two subseries: alphabetical and chronological. Alphabetical correspondence documents communication with other university offices, faculty, staff, alumni, and students; colleagues at other educational institutions and professional organizations; and various fundraising and promotional campaigns and events. Chronological correspondence contains primarily outgoing correspondence concerning similar topics.

Subject files contain material relating to Butters' work with the University and various regional and national athletics organizations. Prominent subjects throughout include the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). NCAA material includes correspondence, memoranda, and minutes concerning rules and regulations; annual conventions and special meetings; various committees including Division I Basketball Committee and Television Committee; and printed material. ACC material includes correspondence, memoranda, and minutes concerning annual meetings, workshops, and clinics; news and press releases; tournaments and bowl games; legislative proposals; and several committees including Television Committee and Restructuring Committee. Also present are materials relating to Butters' fundraising activities; work with the Iron Dukes and Alumni Association; Duke University Sports Hall of Fame nominees, inductees, and speeches; Athletics Council minutes and memoranda; and athletic facilities maintenance and upgrade projects including several made to Wallace Wade Stadium and Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Other material relating directly to Duke University athletics are sports files and scholarship athletes. Sports files contain rosters, stats, and contest reports for numerous men's and women's revenue and non-revenue sports. Scholarship material contains letters of intent, and correspondence concerning scholarship renewal and terms and conditions of acceptance. Additional noteworthy subjects include Title IX, College Football Association (CFA), Raycom, North Carolina Amateur Sports, National Association of College Athletic Directors (NACAD), and National Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (NAIAW).

The Contracts and Schedules series contains contracts and agreements between Duke University and other colleges, universities, and academies, travel itineraries for road contests, game schedules, and lists of lettering athletes for several revenue and nonrevenue sports.

An addition (Accession UA2019-0087) contains correspondence and subject files, mostly dated 1996 to 2007.

The Football Game Film Collection includes films of Duke football games from the 1930s through the 1990s created by Duke Athletics for use by coaches.

The Football Game Films collection contains recordings of Duke football games created by Duke Athletics for the use of coaches and departmental staff. Recordings made before 1990 are largely on 16mm cellulose acetate film, black and white and with no audio; exceptions of color film or with included audio are noted in this guide where known. Recordings are grouped by individual game, titled by opponent, and include information on the game's outcome, score, and location, where known. Reference copies in other formats are included for a given game where they exist. Recordings made after 1989 are largely on video formats including VHS, BetaCam, and DVCam.

Also included are some compilations of games, highlights for certain players, and some recordings made from broadcast television.

Not every game played by Duke Football is included in this collection. Most games were recorded on several film reels, and some are missing. Many films have likely been edited. Additional information on location or game events may be included on the containers of individual recordings, or in the recordings themselves.

Basketball was first played at Trinity College in 1906, introduced by then-Athletic Director Wilbur Wade Card. Since then, men's basketball has been played each year at Trinity College and later Duke University, appearing in the NCAA Tournaments, and winning national championships. The Men's Basketball Game Film collection contains recordings of Duke Blue Devils men's basketball games created by Duke Athletics for the use of coaches and departmental staff.

The Men's Basketball Game Film collection contains recordings of Duke Blue Devils men's basketball games created by Duke Athletics for the use of coaches and departmental staff. Recordings made before 1990 are largely on 16mm cellulose acetate film, and may be black and white or color and with or without audio; indications of color film or with included audio are noted in this guide where known. Recordings are grouped by individual game, titled by opponent, and include information on the game's outcome, score, and location, where known. Reference copies in other formats are included for a given game where they exist. Recordings made after 1989 are largely on video formats including VHS, BetaCam, and DVCam.

Also included are some compilations of games, highlights for certain players, and some recordings made from broadcast television. Not every game played by Duke Men's Basketball is included in this collection. Most games were recorded on several film reels, and some are missing. Many films have likely been edited. Documents related to the films are also included.

Additional information on location or game events may be included on the containers of individual recordings, or in the recordings themselves.