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Inventory of the Sarah P. Duke Gardens records, 1932-2002

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Descriptive Summary

Repository
University Archives, Duke University
Creator
Sarah P. Duke Gardens.
Title
Sarah P. Duke Gardens records, 1932-2002
Language of Material
Material in English
Extent
9 Linear Feet

1,350 Items
Abstract
The Gardens were a gift from Mary Duke Biddle in honor of her mother, Sarah P. Duke (Mrs. Benjamin N.). Construction began in 1932 and the site was open to the public in 1934. Ellen Shipman (1869-1950) designed the plans for both the construction and the plantings for the new gardens.
Collection contains materials pertaining to the origins and activities of the Sarah P. Duke Gardens including planting plans, calendars, correspondence, feasibility studies, and annual reports. Materials in the collection date from 1932-2002.
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Administrative Information

Access Restrictions
Patrons must sign the Acknowledgement of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.
For a period of twenty-five years from the origin of the material, permission in writing from the office of origin and the University Archivist is required for use. After twenty-five years, records that have been processed may be consulted with the permission of the University Archivist.
In off-site storage; 24 hours advance notice is required for use.
Copyright Notice
Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Sarah P. Duke Gardens records, University Archives, Duke University.
Provenance
The Sarah P. Duke Gardens records were received by the University Archives as a transfer in 1974, 1997, 1999.
Processing Information
Processed by Sherrie Bowser, November 2006
Encoded by Sherrie Bowser, January 2007
Updated by Sherrie Bowser, June 2007
Accessions 76-182, A97-67, A99-1, A99-18 were merged into one collection, described in this finding aid.
Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory: DACS, EAD, NCEAD guidelines, and our local Style Guide.
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
            

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Historical Note

taken from the Sarah P. Duke Garden website http://www.hr.duke.edu/dukegardens/history.htm

Much of the Gardens is located in a valley that the planners of Duke University in the early 1920s hoped to turn into a lake, but funds were short. For once, that problem was a blessing! Consequently, the idea of a lake with elegant fountains was abandoned and the first plants at this site were made in the early 1930s, a result of the vision and enthusiasm of Dr. Frederic M. Hanes, an early member of the original faculty of the Duke Medical School.

Dr. Hanes possessed a special love for gardening and was determined to convert the debris-filled ravine, by which he walked daily, into a garden of his favorite flower, the iris. He persuaded his friend, Sarah P. Duke, widow of one of the University's founders, Benjamin N. Duke, to give $20,000 to finance a garden that would bear her name.

In 1935, more than 100 flower beds (in the area which would become today's South Lawn) were in glorious bloom with 40,000 irises, 25,000 daffodils, 10,000 small bulbs, and assorted annuals, all of which were washed away in heavy summer rains and the flooding stream. By the time of Sarah P. Duke's death in 1936, the original gardens were destroyed. Dr. Hanes convinced her daughter, Mary Duke Biddle, to construct a new garden on higher ground, as a fitting memorial to her mother. Ellen Shipman (1869-1950), a pioneer in American landscape design, was selected to the plans for both the construction and the plantings for the new gardens.

Duke Gardens is considered Shipman's greatest work and a national architectural treasure, most of the some 650 other gardens she designed having long since disappeared.

The Sarah P. Duke Gardens today consists of four major parts: the original Terraces and their immediate surroundings, the H.L. Blomquist Garden of Native Plants (a representation of the flora of the southeastern United States), and the Culberson Asiatic Arboretum (devoted to plants of eastern Asia). There are five miles of allées, walks, and pathways throughout the Doris Duke Center and surrounding gardens.

Administratively, the Gardens are currently (2000) part of Facilities Management.

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Collection Overview

Collection contains materials pertaining to the origins and activities of the Sarah P. Duke Gardens including planting plans, calendars, correspondence, feasibility studies, and annual reports. Also in the collection is a VHS videocassette from 1996 "A Capital Campaign for the Center for the Duke Gardens," featuring Ted Koppel.
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Subject Headings

These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.
  • Albrecht, Edmund--Photographer.
  • Culberson, William Louis.
  • Durden, Robert Franklin.
  • Sarah P. Duke Gardens.
  • Sarah P. Duke Gardens--handbooks, manuals, etc.
  • Sarah P. Duke Gardens--photographs.
  • Sarah P. Duke Gardens--History.
  • Shipman, Ellen.
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Related Material

Sarah P. Duke Gardens Reference Collection.
University Archives, Duke University.

Kramer (Paul J.) Papers, 1856-1994 (bulk 1927-1974).
University Archives, Duke University.

Frederic Moir Hanes papers, 1927-1968.
Medical Center Library Archives, Duke University.

University Archives Photograph Collection, 1861-2006.
University Archives, Duke University.

List of Series in Collection
Container List,
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Detailed Description of Collection

Container List,

3 Boxes
Box 1
Anderson Street Parking Lot - Modifications, 1958
Annual Report, 2001-2002 c.1
Annual Report, 2001-2002 c.2
Asiatic Arboretum Pool Gazing Arbor, 1991
Asiatic Arboretum Pool Gazing Arbor Paving Plan, 1991
Blomquist Gate
Calendar, 1997
Calendar, 1999-2000
"A Capital Campaign for the Center for the Duke Gardens," with Ted Koppel, 1996 --VHS videocassette - [A99-1]
"Center for the Duke Gardens," Feasibility Study for the, Sept. 1995
Checklists of Plants, 1984-
Correspondence, 1976-1994
Daylilly Planting Plan, 1964
Duke Gardens Through the Years/ Robert T. Durden, 1997
Explanatory Notes in the I-40 extension location and storm draining study, 1975
Garden Water Course Report, Moriece and Gary Landscape Architects, 1961
Gohdes Scuppernong Grape Arbor, 1999 (A2000-67)
Lily Pool Planting Plan, 1964
Moriece and Gary - Status of Plant Materials Along the Watercourse Nursery Frame and Bed Plan, 1979
Plans, 1964-
Report of Sarah P. Duke Memorial Garden, 1934-1935
Box 2
Running Inventory and Planting Plan, 1958-1967 (9 folders)
Spray Pond Report by William S. Leong Incl. watercolor drawings, 1963
Stationery -- note cards [1999]
Terrace Planting Plan, 1980
Utility and Water Distribution, Report, Moriece and Gary, 1962
Oversize Container   3
Planting Plan for Proposed Water Garden, 1967
Doris Duke Center
Design drawing for Terrace-Pavilion, undated
Peony Planting Plan, 1985
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Separated Material

Newsletters Flora and The Dirt have been separated from the collection, and are listed as periodicals. Flora, a newsletter for the Friends of the Gardens, has been published since 1979. The Dirt, the volunteers' newsletter, has been published since 1992.
Accession A2001-93, a commemorative object representing the Doris Duke Center has been separated and is housed as an artifact.
Accessions A97-3, A2000-54, A2000-68 are oversized technical drawings and are stored in oversize storage.
In June 2007 items including event brochures and flyers, history of Duke Gardens, maps, magazine articles, and newspaper clippings were removed from the record collection and placed into the Sarah P. Duke Gardens Reference collection.