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Roy Lightner was an advertising and marketing executive, primarily with N.W. Ayer & Son agency, from which he retired in 1980, and with Carden & Cherry Advertising of Nashville, Tenn. The Roy Lightner Collection of Antique Advertisements spans the years 1871-2009 and includes primarily print advertisements clipped from U.S. magazines. Also present are proofs of print advertisements and 16mm reels of television commercials, much of which was produced by the N.W. Ayer & Son agency during Lightner's career there. Advertisements predominantly focus on automobiles, railroads, insurance companies and manufacturers of brand name consumer goods. Over 300 companies are represented in the collection, including AT&T, Buick, Cadillac, Campbell's, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Coca-Cola, Dodge, Du Pont, Kodak, Ford, General Electric, General Mills, General Motors, Lincoln-Mercury, Metropolitan Life, Oldsmobile, Packard, Plymouth, Pontiac, RCA, and Studebaker.Acquired as part of the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History.

Founded in 1864, the J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT) was one of the oldest and largest advertising agencies in the United States. It was headquartered in New York. In 2023 the agency was absorbed into marketing and communications firm VML. The domestic advertisements collection consists of print advertisements created by the U.S. offices of the J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT), in a variety of formats: magazine, newspaper, color, black-and-white, proofs, tearsheets, negative transfers, clippings, and small number of sketches for outdoor advertising installations. Some advertisements are accompanied by insertion schedules that provide the dates and names of the magazines or newspapers in which the advertisement appeared. Advertisements sometimes feature work from artists including Charles Schulz and Norman Rockwell, and photographers like Edward Steichen, Irving Penn, and Baron De Meyer. Acquired as part of the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History.

John Hope Franklin was an African American historian specializing in Southern and African American history. The papers document his entire career as well as his personal life and political interests: his prolific writings on African American and Southern history; his role as a mentor and colleague, including his time as professor at Duke University; his role in associations such as Phi Beta Kappa, the American Historical Association, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, and others; his participation in the civil rights movement, including his work with the NAACP Legal and Educational Defense Fund, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and Justice Thurgood Marshall; and his engagement with numerous civic, community, and educational organizations such as the Board of Foreign Scholarships and Fisk University's Board of Trustees. There is also a significant amount of material from Franklin's work on President Clinton's Advisory Board for the President's Initiative on Race in 1997 and 1998. Items in the collection include files of correspondence in original order; research sources and notes; writings by and about Franklin; materials relating to family history; papers and diaries of other family members, including his father, and wife, Aurelia; printed material; event folders; many informal and publicity photographs; video and sound recordings; and awards and other memorabilia.

Duke University Retirees Outreach was founded in 1997 to provide volunteer opportunities to Duke retirees and their partners and operated until 2021. DURO members developed volunteer programs like the Backpack Program and the Lakewood Garden project at Lakewood Elementary School. The collection, spanning 1997 to 2021, consists of administrative and financial records, correspondence, and materials related to projects and events.

Merchant and manufacturer of Falmouth, Virginia. Correspondence, ledgers, daybooks, account books, and other business records (chiefly 1822-1875) of Green and his various associates, illustrating activities such as retailing, grain milling and merchandising, and cotton cloth manufacturing. The bulk of the collection is in the form of bound manuscript volumes. Firms represented include the Bellmont and Eagle flour mills, the Falmouth Manufacturing Company, and the Elm Cotton Factory. The papers also reflect the emergence of Fredericksburg, Va., as a business center, and the decline of Falmouth.

Documentary photographer and writer based in western North Carolina. Collection contains 16 gelatin silver prints from Amberg's Sodom Laurel Album book that the Center for Documentary Studies turned into a traveling exhibit. Also includes 32 prints displayed in the Allen Building exhibition. Acquired as part of the Archive for Documentary Arts.

Douglas M. Knight, born in 1921, served as president of Duke University from 1963 to 1969. Knight was educated at Yale and served as president of Lawrence University prior to becoming president of Duke. After leaving Duke in 1969, he worked as an industry executive at several firms. Records include correspondence, memoranda, proposals, surveys, reports, writings and speeches, minutes, audio-visual media, honorary citations, clippings, and printed matter. Major subjects include the administration of Duke University, the planning of a new art museum, university development, Duke's Fifth Decade Campaign and fundraising, the Duke Board of Trustees, Knight's inauguration, the School of Engineering, the School of Law, the School of Forestry, the Graduate School of Business, student protest, African-American students at Duke, the takeover of the Allen Building by members of the Afro-American Society, and student rights. Major correspondents include R. Taylor Cole, E.R. Latty, Lath Meriam, Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans, R. Philip Hanes, Nancy Hanks, R. Patrick Ransom, George V. Allen, Charles B. Wade, Henry Rauch, Edwin L. Jones, Wright Tisdale, Les Brown, Ellen Huckabee Gobbel, Mark Pinsky, Graddon Rowlands, and Floyd B. McKissick.

Consumer Reports is a product testing and consumer advocacy nonprofit organization based in Yonkers, N.Y., founded in 1936. Paul Kern served as Legal Counsel and a member of the Board of Directors of Consumers Union in the 1940s-1950s. The Paul Kern papers include clippings, correspondence, legal documents, pamphlets and other printed materials that primarily document Kern's work as legal counsel for Consumers Union. Issues addressed include copyright infringement and fair use of Consumers Union intellectual property; Post Office censorship relating to Consumers Union's publication on contraception and sexual health; labor relations and union negotiations; libel complaints over reviews published in Consumer Reports magazine; management and employee pension programs; and property issues relating to the Mount Vernon offices of Consumers Union. Correspondents include John J. Carson (Federal Trade Commission) and Frank Walker, Postmaster General. Acquired as part of the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History.

Collection contains a wide variety of material documenting different medical topics, specialties, institutions, education, and people throughout history, and it is largely but not entirely focused on Western, Euro-centric medicine as practiced by white men. Women, people with physical and mental disabilities, and non-Western medical practices are represented in select materials. The collection consists mostly of publications (article reprints, theses, dissertations, and journal issues), speeches, histories, and profiles of medical professionals and organizations, as well as a large amount of material advertising patent medicines and devices. Acquired as part of the History of Medicine Collection at Duke University.