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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.
[Identification of item], Robert Lee Flowers Records, University Archives, Duke University.
The Robert Lee Flowers Records were received by the University Archives as transfers in 1953 (A48-309), 1964 (A64-62), 1971 (A71-70), 1975 (A75-114), and 1982 (A82-133).
This collection is unprocessed: materials may not have been ordered and described beyond their original condition.
Encoded by Valerie Gillispie, June 18, 2003
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
Robert Lee Flowers was born at York Collegiate Institute, Alexander County, North Carolina, on November 6, 1870, the son of George Washington and Sarah Haynes Flowers. A graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy in 1891, Flowers was first employed as an instructor in mathematics and electrical engineering when Trinity was still in Randolph County. He moved with the college to Durham in 1892. As an engineer, one of his first responsibilities was to wire the new buildings in Durham for electricity.
He served as a professor from 1891 to 1924 and as vice-president of the business division of Duke University from 1925-1941. Following the death of President Few in 1941, Flowers was named president of Duke University. In 1948, he stepped down as president and served as chancellor until 1951. Dr. Flowers was a trustee of the Duke Endowment, a director of the Durham and Southern Railway Company, a director of the Fidelity Bank of Durham, and a trustee of Greensboro College, of the Oxford Orphanage, of Lincoln Hospital, and of the North Carolina College for Negroes (now North Carolina Central University).
He married Lily Virginia Parrish on June 22, 1905. They had two daughters, Virginia and Sybil Parrish. Mrs. Flowers died on May 22, 1948. Robert Flowers died on August 24, 1951. He is buried in Maplewood Cemetery in Durham.
Collection includes office files of the vice president and president of Duke University. The position of vice president included duties as secretary and treasurer. The official files consist of correspondence, memoranda, reports, printed matter and other materials received or generated by these offices. The first series, Correspondence is arranged chronologically, and the second series, Subject Files alphabetically. Besides University records, the subject files include material on higher education in America, the role of colleges and universities during World War II, the committee to assist displaced scholars, Methodist Church activities and administration, and records of the various organizations for which Flowers served as a trustee. Also included in the collection is a series of several Volumes focused on Flowers, and a series of Oversize Materials from the Subject Files.
These and related materials may be accessed under the following subject headings in the Duke University Libraries online catalog.
President Flowers has oversize material located in map cabinet 3 including a resolution in memoriam of his death and diplomas from the Naval Academy and Trinity College.