Aleph Number:
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Cassette reference copies are available for consultation in the Reading Room. Interviews without release form are available for information use only. Copying or other uses will require permission from the interviewee.
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], Woman's College Oral History Project records, 2003-2006, University Archives, Duke University.
The Woman's College Oral History Project records were received by the University Archives as a gift in 2003-2004.
Processed by Tim Pyatt, October 2004; updated June 2006
Encoded by Sherrie Bowser, January 2007
Accessions A2003-29, A2003-45, A2004-6; UA2006-35 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.
The Duke University Woman's College opened in the fall of 1930 as part of the expansion of Trinity College into Duke University. In 1924 James B. Duke established the Duke Endowment and gave funds to transform a small liberal arts college into a major university. From 1925 to 1927 the existing Trinity Campus (now Duke's East Campus) was rebuilt and transformed to become a residential campus for undergraduate women. From 1928 to 1930 Duke's new gothic West Campus and residential campus for undergraduate male students was constructed and known as Trinity College for Men. In 1972, the Men's and Women's colleges were merged to form Trinity College of Arts and Sciences.
In the Fall of 2002, the Woman's College marked the 30th anniversary of its merger with the Trinity College for Men with a reunion. Carolyn Murray Happer, Class of 1960, curated an exhibition on the history of Woman's College and decided to start an oral history interview project with alumnae for use in a proposed history of Woman's College.
Carolyn Murray Happer interviewed nine alumnae who graduated from the period of 1931 to 1947. Her goal was to document the experiences and perceptions of women who attended Duke University during this period. In particular she wanted to know why they selected and how the Woman’s College figured into that decision. She also explored her subject’s position and negative experiences at Duke. Her interviewees include several class leaders, a member of the Duke family, and others who have had long established ties to the school after graduation.
In addition to the interviews listed below, life history forms, and some interview summaries are available for some interviews and maintained in the collection control file. Reference cassette copies are available for all interviews.
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.