The Duke Family and Duke University

Free tuition?

There are persistent rumors about certain classes of people being able to attend Duke University without having to pay tuition. It is said that descendants of James B. Duke or his close relatives can attend for free, or that descendants of people who sold or gave land to the University are similarly privileged. We have never found any documentation to confirm these stories. In his will, James B. Duke made gifts of money to many of his relatives. And for many years the University provided full or partial remission of tuition to children of Methodist clergy. This was done in recognition of the Duke family's tradition of support for the Methodist Church and the institution's long relationship with Methodisim in North Carolina. Perhaps these two stories have been jumbled together. The only students who attend Duke without paying tuition are on full scholarships.

An incomplete Duke Family history/genealogy as it relates to the University

Washington Duke, 1820-1905 For whom the University is named. Statue on East Campus
- married, 1st, Mary Caroline Clinton, 1825-1847. Children:
  - Sidney Taylor Duke, 1844-1858
  - Brodie Leonidas Duke 1846-1919
- married, 2nd, Artelia Roney, 1829-1858. The Roney Fountain in front of East Duke Building is named for her sister. Children:
  - Mary Elizabeth Duke Lyon, 1853-1893
  - Benjamin Newton Duke, 1855-1929 B. N. Duke Memorial Organ, B. N. Duke Scholarship. Statue on East Campus
    - married Sarah Pearson Angier, 1856-1936. Sarah P. Duke Gardens. Children:
      - Angier B. Duke, 1884-1923 A. B. Duke Scholarships. Children:
        
        Angier Biddle Duke, 1915-1995
        
        Anthony Drexel Duke, 1918 -
      - Mary Lillian Duke Biddle, 1887-1960 Mary Duke Biddle Music Building.
        
        Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans, 1920- . Trustee, 1961-1981; Chair of the Duke Endowment.
        
        married (1) Josiah Charles Trent. Trent Drive, Trent Hall, Trent Collection
        
        married (2) James H. Semans
  - James B. Duke, 1856-1925 Gave Library, 1903; Duke Endowment, 1924.
    - married Nanaline H. Inman, 1871-1962 Medical Sciences Research Building named for her. Child:
      - Doris Duke, 1912-1993 AIDS research, and other gifts. Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, 1997. Doris Duke Chair in Conservation Ecology
        Doris Duke's visits to the University

Washington Duke's major donations to Trinity College

$ 85,000, March 20, 1890 (For move of college to Durham)
$100,000, December 5, 1896
$100,000, June 6, 1898
$100,000, 1900

Selected events, 1901-

Benefactors' Day (now Founders' Day) begun October 3, 1901. Approved in June, 1901, by Board of Trustees in honor of gifts of Washington Duke.
Donation of Stagg Pavilion, also known as the East Campus Gazebo, 1902. Named for James Edward Stagg, husband of Mary Lyon who was daughter of Mary Elizabeth Duke Lyon, sister of James and Benjamin Duke.
Anne Roney Fountain. The fountain in front of East Duke building was gift of Anne Roney in 1901. Miss Roney was the sister of Artelia Roney, Washington Duke's second wife. Anne helped Duke raise his young family upon Artelia's death, and later was housekeeper at Fairview, his estate in Durham.
James B. Duke makes his first gift: a new library building plus $10,000 for books. Dedication ceremony, February 23, 1903.
Dedication of Washington Duke Statue, June 10, 1908.
Signing of Indenture of The Duke Endowment, December 11, 1924. The Trustees of Trinity College accepted the offer made in the indenture, and on December 29, 1924 the corporation changed its name from Trinity College to Duke University.
Angier B. Duke Memorial Scholarship Fund established, 1925.
Dedication of James B. Duke Statue, June 3, 1935.
Presentation and acceptance of Duke Homestead to the University, June 3, 1935.
Dedication of The Sarah P. Duke Gardens, April 21, 1939.
Formal opening of the Rare Book Room, located in what is now a portion of the Deryl Hart Reading Room, April 12, 1943. The impetus for the beginning of a Rare Book Collection was the gift of the Walt Whitman Collection by Josiah and Mary Trent in honor of their three young daughters, Mary Duke, Sarah Elizabeth, and Rebecca Grey Trent.
Formal opening of the redesigned and enlarged Rare Book Room and greatly expanded library facilities, gift of Mary Duke Biddle, October 21, 1949.
Announcement of The James B. Duke Professorships, September 26, 1953.
Dedication of the Josiah Charles Trent Collection of the History of Medicine, 1956.
Establishment of the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, 1956.
James B. Duke Fellowships established, December 11, 1956 The Fellowships, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth of the University's chief benefactor, are for the purpose of "attracting and developing outstanding scholars and encouraging the development of college teachers through the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences."
Announcement of Benjamin N. Duke Professorship in Art, 1961
Announcement of Mary Duke Biddle Professorship in Music, 1961
Announcement of James B. Duke Chair of Russian Affairs, 1961; established by Doris Duke in honor of her father.
Naming of Trent Drive and Trent Drive Hall, 1972.
Dedication of Mary Duke Biddle Music Building, October 19, 1974.
Dedication of Benjamin N. Duke Memorial Organ, made by Flentrop, 1976, December 12-13, 1976.
Establishment of the Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation, 1977.
Announcement of the Benjamin N. Duke Leadership Fund, October 31, 1985. The fund, contributed by The Duke Endowment, supports the Benjamin N. Duke Scholarship and grant program for students from North and South Carolina.
Beth Gotham Semans Drama Scholarship established, 1985.
The Mary Trent Jones - Sarah Trent Harris - Rebecca Trent Kirkland Endowment for the Arts, 1985.
Duke University hosted the first reunion of the Duke Family Association at the Washington Duke Inn, September 30-October 1, 1989. The event was planned by Angier Biddle Duke and Newton Duke Angier.
The University hosted a second reunion of the Washington Duke and Julian Carr Families at the Washington Duke Inn, September 26-27, 1992. The week-end marked the Centennial of Trinity College's move to Durham. During the week-end, the North Carolina Transportation History Corporation dedicated the "Doris," the private railway car used by James B. Duke.
The Annual Ambassador Biddle Lecture was inaugurated in November, 1992 by Mary Semans in honor of her father, Anthony J. Drexel Biddle Jr.
In October, 1999, the University hosted ceremonies marking the 75th Anniversary of the founding of the Duke Endowment and of Duke University. Members of The Duke Family Association held a third reunion, and a statue of Benjamin N. Duke was unveiled on East Campus.

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