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[Identification of item], Department of History Records, University Archives, Duke University.
The Department of History Records were received by the University Archives as a transfer between 1961 and 2002.
Processed by Joshua Larkin Rowley, January 2009
Encoded by Joshua Larkin Rowley, January 2009
Accessions A61-279, A67-74, A70-62, A73-68, A74-50, A74-116, A77-82, A78-123, A80-227, A82-43, A82-52, A82-64, A81-69, A81-82, A84-84, A85-46, A87-56, A88-58, A90-25, A90-75, A91-55, A91-59, A91-61, A92-15, A92-42, A92-50, A92-60, A94-20, A96-10, A96-13, A96-23, A2002-28 were merged into one collection, described in this finding aid.
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This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
The study of history emerged as a separate field of study at Trinity College in the late nineteenth-century supported by a change in popular attitudes, interests, and the ongoing professionalization of the field of historical inquiry. In 1891, Trinity College became the first southern educational institution to establish a distinct chair of history. In 1896, Stephen B. Weeks founded the Trinity College Historical Society which gave further impetus to strengthening the Department of History and supported a gradual shift from local to world history topics. By 1923, when Trinity College was ready to transition into Duke University, six semester hours of history course work was required for graduation. William K. Boyd and William T. Laprade formed the foundation of the History Department at Duke University, with Boyd's focus in American History with a concentration on Southern history and Laprade's focus on British history. In 1923, E. Malcolm Carroll joined the history faculty and shifted his research from American to continental European history to suit a void in research focus within the department. Between 1925 and 1939 the Department of History grew from six members to eighteen.
The transition from Trinity College to Duke University also included not only a change in name but also a shift from a small liberal arts college to a research university and consequently the emphasis of the Department of History. Under the direction of Boyd and President William Preston Few, the University sought to expand its collection of books and primary source material in the library to facilitate a new faculty concentration on original research and substantive contributions to historical understanding through scholarly publication. By the end of the 1930s, the Department of History had added five new faculty members that would spend their entire careers at Duke University: historian of British and Commonwealth history, William B. Hamilton; military historian Theodore Ropp; Harold T. Parker, historian of Revolutionary and Napoleonic France; English Rennaisance specialist Arthur B. Ferguson; and Richard L. Watson, Jr., historian of the Progressive Era and early twentieth-century United States.
Other noteworthy faculty joined Duke in the decades following the Second World War including Emeriti Professors Joel Colton in European history in 1947, Anne F. Scott in Women's History, military historian I.B. Holley, Peter H. Wood and Robert F. Durden, historian of the 19th century U.S. South, the Duke family, and author of
Currently the Department of History operates with a Chair and Directors of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies. The chairman is appointed by the Provost on the basis of the department's recommendations and in consultation with the Dean of Arts and Sciences and the Dean of the Graduate School. The chairman is appointed to a three-year term and will normally serve no more than two consecutive terms. The chairman is the principal point of contact between the department and central administration and is responsible for proposing appointees for the director of graduate and undergraduate studies; departmental committees; arrangement of the schedule of courses and teaching assignments; budget preparation, proposals, and departmental spending. Also, the chairman is to insure excellence in the faculty and to take the initiative in determining departmental needs and faculty prospects. However, the chair must cultivate the active cooperation and consent of his colleagues in order to maintain the collegial integrity of the department.
Portions of this Historical Note were adopted from Robert F. Durden,
The records of the Department of History contain material pertaining to the operation and activity of the Department and various faculty members. The material ranges in date from 1932-2002, bulk 1951-1985. The records are divided into seven series: course papers, subject files, administrative files, inactive faculty files, Nixon Library files, external review, and Oral History Transcripts.
The Course Papers series is composed of I.B. Holley's History 195/196, "The Concept of a University," miscellaneous, and Richard Watson course papers. I.B. Holley's History 195/196 course papers deal with topics relevant to the history and development of Trinity College and Duke University. A majority of the Watson course papers consist of oral history projects in which students interviewed family members about their personal experiences during the Great Depression, the New Deal, and the Second World War. Course papers range in date from 1954-2003, bulk 1966-1992. Subject files contain a sampling of various departmental material including directories, handbooks, minutes and memoranda, and newsletters.
Administrative files (1932-1985) include material pertaining to the activities of the Office of the Chair and Directors of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies. Material present in Office of the Chair includes correspondence and memoranda. Also present are minutes and notes from various committees including Committee on Courses and Curriculum. Among the Chairs included are William T. Laprade (1937-1952), Charles Sydnor (1952-1954), E. Malcolm Carroll (1954-1957), John R. Alden (1957-1960), Richard Watson (1960-1967), Joel Colton (1967-1970), and Anne F. Scott. Director of Graduate Studies includes correspondence, memoranda, communication with the Graduate School, and notes and minutes from various graduate committees. Among the Directors included in the series are William T. Laprade, Robert H. Woody, Robert F. Durden, Charles R. Young, and Anne F. Scott. Director of Undergraduate Studies consists of correspondence, memoranda, and material from various undergraduate committees. A majority of the material was accumulated during the long tenure of Frederic B.M. Hollyday; but also includes material accumulated by Joel Colton, Robert Durden, Theodore Ropp, and Stephen A. Young. Major subjects throughout include American Historical Association and Review, Southern Historical Association, Trinity College Historical Society, and the Humanities and Russian Cooperative with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Four small series conclude the collection: Inactive faculty, Nixon Library, external review files, and Oral History Techniques. Inactive faculty files consist of alphabetically arranged name files of faculty: full professors, assistant and associate professors, and visiting instructors. Files for long-term faculty include obituaries and funeral programs. Nixon Library files contain correspondence, memoranda, and clippings from various periodicals, both local and national, pertaining to faculty reaction to the proposed location of the Nixon Library and Archives on the campus of Duke University. External Review files contain material accumulated by Professor John Cell during an external departmental review in 1999/2000 and include reports prepared by various departmental officers for the review team, a copy of the final report and responses, and files from a 1994 Departmental review. The final series contains papers and transcripts of oral history interviews held by students of History 279: Oral History Techniques with faculty, staff, and students concerning contemporary race relations at Duke University.
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.
Contains student papers from various history courses offered at Duke. Professor I.B. Holley's History 195/196, "The Concept of a University," papers deal with topics relevant to the history and development of Trinity College and Duke University. Miscellaneous course papers include a bound volume from Prof. Laura F. Edwards "Women Making History in the Nineteenth-Century South," along with teacher evaluations from Prof. I.B. Holley's History 312. In addition to general topics in twentieth century American history, a majority of the Watson course papers consist of oral history projects in which students interviewed family members about their personal experiences during the Great Depression, the New Deal, and the Second World War.
Papers composed for Professor I.B. Holley's History 195/196, "The Concept of a University," which deal with topics related to the history and development of Trinity College and Duke University.
Papers from various courses offered by Professor Watson dealing primarily with topics in early twentieth-century American history.
Subject files contain a sampling of various departmental material. Subjects include directories, handbooks, minutes and memoranda, and newsletters. Also present is a small publication, "Historical Background of the World Today," a brief history of the modern world published by Duke University Press, and Research Notes in which departmental faculty discuss their general research interests as well as current research and work.
Administrative Records of the Department of History document the daily operations of the Department and faculty members. The records are divided into four subseries: Office of the Chair, Director of Graduate Study, Director of Undergraduate Study, and Search Committee records. The records are arranged alphabetically and in the order in which they were accessioned.
This subseries contains material created and accumulated by the departmental Office of the Chair. In addition to the Chair, some of the material was accumulated by the administrative assistant to the chairman and therefore encompasses the tenures of several individual departmemtal Chairs. Material present includes correspondence and intra-office memoranda concerning job applicants and faculty appointments, course evaluations, conferences and seminars, recommendations and promotions, departmental budget material, and correspondence with various University Presidents and Deans. Also present are minutes and notes from various committees including American Committee for the Study of War Documents, Committee on Courses, Curriculum and Long-Range Planning, and Committee on Honors and Graduate Placement. Major subjects include American Historical Association and Review, Southern Historical Association, Commonwealth Studies Center, Inter-university Consortium for Political Research (ICPR), Social Sciences Council, Trinity College Historical Society, the Humanities and Russian Cooperative with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and National Defense Education Act. Chairmanships in this subseries include William T. Laprade (1937-1952), Charles Sydnor (1952-1954), E. Malcolm Carroll (1954-1957), John R. Alden (1957-1960), Richard L. Watson (1960-1967, acting Chair 1971-), Joel Colton (1967-1970), and Anne F. Scott.
This subseries contains material created and accumulated by the History Department's Director of Graduate Studies. Material present includes correspondence and intra-office memoranda concerning graduate applicants and admissions; awards, fellowships, and grants; assistantships and readerships; graduate courses and requirements; job openings; and communications with the Graduate School. Prominent subjects include Danforth Foundation, National Defense Education Act Fellowship, Master of Arts in Teaching, Cooperative Program in the Humanities, and admitted students affected by the Selective Service (draft). Among the Directors included in the subseries are William T. Laprade, Robert H. Woody, Robert F. Durden, Charles R. Young, and Anne F. Scott.
Contains material created and accumulated by the departmental Director of Undergraduate Studies and consists of correspondence and memoranda concerning topics such as courses, curriculum, registration and scheduling of courses, honors and independent study, and material collected for undergraduate bulletins. Also present are minutes from various committees such as Committee on Courses, History Undergraduate Majors, Curriculum Committee, and the Executive Committee. A majority of the material was accumulated during the long tenure of Frederic B.M. Hollyday; but also includes material accumulated by Joel Colton, Robert Durden, Theodore Ropp, and Stephen A. Young.
Name files that contain correspondence, memos, and various other communication with faculty members concerning sabbatical leave, current research projects, departmental promotions, nominations for various research grants, fellowships, and awards, recommendations for teaching positions as well as curriculum vitae and professional biographies. Files of long-term faculty also contain obituaries and funeral service programs. Files are arranged alphabetically by name.
Contains material relating to the department of history's activities surrounding the possible location of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library at Duke University. The material consists of faculty and alumni correspondence, correspondence with President Terry Sanford, university memoranda, meeting minutes, and various clippings from newspapers and periodicals, both local and national. The Nixon Archives and Library was to be situated adjacent to campus on land provided by Duke University. The building was to be the property of the U.S. government, administered and directed by the National Archives Referral Service, and house the Nixon presidential papers and tapes. Material is arranged chronologically and spans a brief period from August 1981 through March 1982.
Contains correspondence, memoranda, reports and other materials created during an external review of the Department carried out in 1999-2000. The files include reports prepared by various departmental officers for the review team, a copy of the final report and responses, and files from a 1994 Departmental review.
Transcripts from twenty-six oral history interviews held by students with faculty, staff, and students concerning contemporary race relations at Duke University from History 279: Oral History Techniques taught by Dr. Larry Goodwyn. Interviews without release forms are restricted; they may be consulted for information only. Copying, citation, quotation, or publication of the restricted interviews is prohibited without the written permission of the interview subject. Unless otherwise noted all interviews were conducted in 1974.