Aleph Number:
Patrons must sign the Acknowledgement 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 University Archives to use this collection.
Collection is open for research.
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], Dorothy Newsom Rankin Papers, University Archives, Duke University.
The Dorothy Newsom Rankin Papers were received by the University Archives as a gift in 2007, 2012.
Processed by Kimberly Sims, August 2012
Encoded by Kimberly Sims, August 2012
Accessions UA2008-0021 and UA2012-0015 were merged into one collection, described in this finding aid.
Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory:
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
Dorothy Newsom Rankin was the daughter of D. W. (Dallas Walton) Newsom (Trinity Class of 1899) and Tempie Battle. She graduated summa cum laude from Duke University in 1933. While a student, she was elected Phi Beta Kappa, served as senior class president of the Woman's College as well as May Day Queen her senior year, and was a member of the Kappa Delta sorority and White Duchy. Dorothy married Professor Robert Rankin shortly after her graduation in 1933. She was actively involved in University life until her death in 2002. She has the distinction of being not only a Duke alumnae, but also a faculty wife, and the daughter, mother, and grandmother of Duke alumni.
Rankin's father, D. W. Newsom attended Trinity College from 1895-1899. While a student, he worked as the personal secretary for President John Kilgo. He also edited the literary magazine
The collection includes family papers accumulated by Dorothy Newsom Rankin (1911-2002), and her father, D. W. (Dallas Walton) Newsom (1873-1949). It includes correspondence, notes, a student diary by Newsom, clippings, photographs, objects, and other materials relating to Trinity College, Duke University, Kappa Delta sorority, and Phi Kappa Psi. Newsom learned shorthand prior to entering Trinity College. Newsome's diary is written in shorthand but has been translated, a copy of which accompanies the original diary. There are also files about "Marse Jack," the old Trinity College bell on East Campus and the controversy regarding the desire of some to have it moved to West Campus. Dorothy Newsom Rankin lead the charge to keep it on East Campus, the original site of Trinity College.
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.