Duke University. All rights reserved.
Aleph Number:
1997 Duke University. All rights reserved.
Collection is open for research.
However, patrons must sign the Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.
Also, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.
Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.
The copyright interests in these papers have not been transferred to Duke University.
[Identification of item], Washington Duke Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
The papers of Washington Duke, tobacco manufacturer and philanthropist, were initially assembled in 1951 from the former Trinity College Papers and the papers of his son, Benjamin Newton Duke. Over the years additional transfers were made from the papers of his sons, James Buchanan Duke and Benjamin Newton Duke, as well as from the W. Duke, Sons and Company Records. Gifts to the collection came from Mrs. James H. Semans (Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans) in 1969; Wachovia Bank and Trust Company in 1959; and the Duke Homestead in 1972.
Processed by Madeleine Bagwell Perez
Completed February 14, 1990
Encoded by Alvin Pollock
The Washington Duke Papers were processed with support from The Duke Endowment.
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
The bulk of the papers of Washington Duke, a tobacco manufacturer and philanthropist, date from 1890 to 1905, but the papers include items as early as 1764 and as late as 1987. The collection is a created one; materials from several sources have been brought together to form the Washington Duke Papers. The collection relates primarily to the financial and philanthropic interests of Washington Duke after his retirement from W. Duke, Sons and Company in 1880. There are five series: Correspondence, Financial Papers, Genealogical Papers, Legal Papers, and Miscellaneous Papers.
The Correspondence Series begins with two letters (photocopies)
written by Washington Duke in 1863, when he was preparing to enter the
Confederate Army. After the war Mr. Duke began establishing his
tobacco business. This series contains no correspondence for the period
1865-1889. The bulk of the correspondence covers the period
1890-1905, after Mr. Duke had retired from the tobacco business. These
letters reveal his financial and philanthropic interests after retirement.
Letters come from the following sources:
The letters in the Correspondence Series dated 1975-1976 are concerned with Washington Duke's dealings with the J. W. Scott and Company in Greensboro, N.C. (1871) and the nomination of St. Joseph's A.M.E Church in Durham to the National Register of Historic Places. This series does not include any original letters written by Washington Duke.
The Financial Papers Series consists of records of Washington Duke's business interests and philanthropy. The oldest volume is a ledger (1873-1877), kept at the time Washington Duke and his sons moved their factory from the farm to Durham. Duke tobacco products were being shipped to markets from Maine to California, including locations in frontier Montana. An account book for the Durham Warehouse covers the period 1876-1884 and gives an interesting glimpse of the beginnings of Duke tobacco organization. Records were kept of purchases of tobacco, promotion trips to Europe and Australia (1883-1884), and the entry of George Washington Watts into the firm (1878).
A summary of the personal finances of Washington Duke is noted in financial papers dating from 1893 until the time of his death in 1905. These records include a journal, ledger, cashbook, and check stubs. They are parallel in content and supplement each other; they appear to have been the work of his private secretary, James E. Stagg.
The journal (1893-1905) indicates gifts to family, relatives, and individuals, as well as transactions with institutions such as the White Rock Baptist Church, St. Joseph's AME Church, Louisburg Female College, and the Durham Conservatory of Music. Businesses noted include the American Tobacco Company, the Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company, Cary Lumber Company, together with a number of cotton mills, railroads, and banks.
The cashbook (1893-1905) lists, in more detail, dividends from investments as well as donations to individuals and institutions over a period of a decade or more. Washington Duke was consistently generous to his immediate family and his many nieces and nephews. His tithing to the church covered gifts to the Main Street Methodist Church, ministers, Negro churches, orphanages and schools. With the coming of Trinity College to Durham, he made generous contributions to its finances, including small gifts to the baseball team and to the library for book stacks. The check stubs cover the period 1899 to 1905. The final entry refers to the balance transferred to his sons after Washington Duke's death.
The ledger (1893-1904) contains accounts listing mills, railroads, and other property. Also included are notations concerning rents, personal expenses, tithes and repairs. Many names of Durham citizens appear here.
The Genealogical Papers Series contains the Washington Duke family Bible (1861) as well as family trees and correspondence regarding lineage and descendants of Duke family members. The bulk of the material is photocopies from the James B. Duke Papers, including copies of letters which detail what Washington Duke remembered about his family.
The Legal Papers Series includes copies of court, marriage, and property records pertaining to the Duke family and its settlement in Orange County, in the vicinity of present-day Durham, N.C. Other papers include a copy of Washington Duke's last will and testament (1900) and the indenture establishing the Doris Duke Trust (1925).
The Miscellaneous Papers Series is composed of pictures, clippings, and general materials. The pictures are primarily photographs of homes, people, and tobacco factories. They have no dates and many are copies of originals on permanent loan to the Duke Homestead, a National Historic site. The homes include those of Taylor Duke (presumed) and Washington Duke, as well as interior views of rooms at the Duke Homestead. There are pictures of Washington Duke and of his statue and of three buildings on the Duke Farm used as tobacco factories prior to the move to Durham.
Clippings are family and business related dating from 1890-1987. A Memorial Album of notices on the death of Washington Duke (1905) is arranged alphabetically by city.
General materials relate to the Duke Homestead and include a variety of other printed and manuscript items. Among them are a Tribute to Bishop Marvin, ca. 1877 (photocopy); Resolution of Thanks and Appreciation, St. Joseph's AME to Washington Duke, 1902; a Resolution by the Board of Directors of the Fidelity Bank in memory of Washington Duke (1905); and a manuscript list of persons sending condolences/flowers on the death of Washington Duke, 1905. Photostats of two records in the C.S.A. Archives in the National Archives are concerned with the Civil War career of Washington Duke. One, dated April 4, 1864, is a report for Co. A of the Camp Guard by Captain George B. Baker, Assistant Quartermaster at Camp Holmes, Raleigh. The second item is a list of men who signed up for three years service in the Confederate Navy. Washington Duke's signature appears on both of these documents.
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.