The Department of Aesthetics, Art & Music was established at Duke University in 1942. In 1960, the Department of Music was recognized as an independent department and Dr. Allen H. Bone was appointed the first Chair. The department moved into the Mary Duke Biddle Music Building when it was completed in the 1970's. The bulk of the Dept. of Music records consist of publicity documents including programs, press releases, and calendars, for various Dept. of Music events. There are also documents regarding the renovation of the facilities, clippings, posters and general records for the department.
In 1942, Duke University created the Department of Aesthetics, Art and Music. In 1960, the Department of Music formed as a separate department. Allan H. Bone, Duke professor from 1940 to 1983 and conductor of the Duke Symphony, was instrumental in the formation of the department. British composer Iain Hamilton was a faculty member for seventeen years. The Dept. of Music audiovisual materials collection contains audio and video resources made between 1951 and 1996, primarily on open reel audio and video tape, of the Duke Symphony Orchestra, the Duke Wind Symphony, the Duke Glee Club, the Ciompi Quartet, and the Duke Collegium Musicum, as well as other recordings related to the faculty and students of the Duke University Department of Music. There are also audiocassettes and a few videotapes. Faculty members represented include Jane Hawkins, Penelope Jensen, Randall Love, Robert Parkins, Fred Raimi, Claudia Warburg, Mary Lou Williams, and Ruth Friedburg. Other featured musicians are Milton Babbitt, Barbara Lister-Sink, Claudia Bloom, Boaz Sharon, and Bruce Berg. English.