Construction of Duke University, 1924-1932

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Studio portrait of Duke University architect, Horace Trumbauer, in front of Duke Chapel, ca. 1932.

Duke University was designed by the firm of Horace Trumbauer, Architect, of Philadelphia, and built between 1925 and 1932. The construction of the university cost over 21 million dollars, and at the time was the largest construction project ever undertaken in the South.

This collection contains records produced during the design and construction of Duke University from 1924 to 1932. The materials include memoranda, correspondence, speeches, photographs, invoices, contracts, payroll sheets, brochures, news stories, a scrapbook and an extract from a memoir. Major subjects include the building of Duke University's East (Woman's College) and West campuses, the project's impact on Durham, campus architecture and design, and construction practices in the 1920s. Organizations represented include Duke University, the Duke Construction Company, and The Duke Endowment. Durham business firms and organizations including the Nello Teer Company, the Durham Lumber Company, and Durham Rotary Club are also represented. Individuals prominent in the collection include Horace Trumbauer, Julian F. Abele, Frank Clyde Brown, B.M. Hall, William Preston Few, Alice M. Baldwin, Robert Lee Flowers, and Doris Duke. Major events represented include a tour by W.P. Few and F.C. Brown of college and university campuses and the setting of the University's cornerstone.

The trowels pictured in the collection logo belonged to Pete Ferettino (ca. 1911-1983), a stonemason who worked on the Duke Chapel, and were a gift of the family.

Copyright Notice

The materials in this collection are made available for use in research, teaching and private study. Texts and images from this collection may not be used for any commercial purpose without prior permission from Duke University.

Although these texts and images are made publicly accessible for the limited uses described above, they are not all in the public domain. Where copyright persists in this material, that right is owned either by Duke University or by the creators of the object or their descendents. When use is made of these texts and images, it is the responsibility of the user to secure any necessary permissions and to observe the stated access policy, the laws of copyright and the educational fair use guidelines.