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The Duke University Oral History Program Collection contains approximately 153 oral history interviews recorded to audiocassette by project participants in the years 1973-1978 and 1992. The majority of the oral history interviews deal with the civil rights movement in North Carolina, especially Durham, Chapel Hill, and Greensboro. Additionally, thirteen interviews deal with the Tulsa Race Riots, and fourteen interviews cover miscellaneous North Carolina topics. The collection also includes transcripts and research files related to the civil rights movement in North Carolina.

The collection contains printed matter including brochures, bulletins, hymns, etc. as well as correspondence and subject files on Trinity College (Durham, N.C.). The provenance for most the material is unknown and was put together in this collection by Archives staff for research and reference use. The material ranges in date from 1889-1992.

The Wyatt T. Dixon Papers span the 1850s to 1987, although the bulk of the material dates from 1918 to the 1960s. The collection consists of diaries, vintage photographs, photomechanical prints, postcards, clippings, correspondence, speeches, scrapbooks, printed materials, forms, military records, leaflets, and maps. The Photographs Series comprises the largest portion of the collection. The collection documents the history of Durham, N.C., the Dixon family, activities of the United States Army, American Expeditionary Forces, 30th Division, 113th Field Artillery Unit, Battery C, from 1917 to 1919; Durham, North Carolina; and Dixon's career as a journalist.

The E. F. Craven Company Records document the development of a North Carolina road machinery dealership from a small family business into a multi-million dollar corporation. The material spans the years from 1793 to 1991; the bulk of the collection is dated 1907-1965.

The Papers of Granger Tripp span the years 1958-1984. They chiefly consist of presentations and speeches, but also include correspondence, memoranda, publications, and clippings, as well as a manuscript score for the Kodak song "The Times of Your Life," photographs, and audiovisual material.

The Charles S. Sydnor Papers roughly span the period 1729-1978, the bulk dated 1923 to 1954. They include correspondence, research notes, writings, printed materials, and clippings, chiefly relating to Sydnor's teaching career at Duke University, as well as at Harvard and Queen's College, Oxford. The collection also includes information about his involvement with various historical associations and committees, including the American Historical Association, Southern Historical Association, North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, and the Advisory Committee of the Office of the Chief of Military History for the United States Army. There is background information pertaining to his various writings, including The Development of Southern Sectionalism (Volume V of the work A History of the South) (Baton Rouge, La., 1948), Gentleman Freeholders: Political Practices in Washington's Virginia (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1952), A Gentleman of the Old Natchez Region: Benjamin L. C. Wailes (Durham, N.C., 1938), Mississippi History (New York, N.Y., 1930), and Slavery in Mississippi (New York, N.Y., 1933). The papers contain notes and examinations for various history courses taught by Sydnor, student roll books, grade books, and papers. Additionally, there are a few notebooks and papers of Sydnor's while he was a student.

The Songs and Cheers Reference Collection was compiled from a variety of sources by the University Archives for use in reference and research. It includes songs, cheers, and yells from Trinity College (Duke's predecessor) and Duke University as well as clippings and papers regarding copyright and the history of Duke's alma mater and fight song.