The Duke Family

• Washington Duke and his sons, James B. and Benjamin N.
  
• Washington Duke and the education of women: the story of an endowment
  
• The Duke Family and Duke University: a chronology of events
  
• A Washington Duke genealogy (pdf chart)
  
• A Washington Duke genealogy (text)
  
• Sources for Duke Family genealogy: a bibliography

The Duke name is often associated with wealth from the tobacco business. After serving in the Civil War Washington Duke returned to his North Carolina farm, now The Duke Homestead in Durham, and began growing tobacco for market. His firm, W. Duke, Sons, and Company, became known for the quality of its product and became a major producer of tobacco goods. Smart entrepreneurs, the Dukes quickly branched out into other businesses, notably textiles and hydroelectric power.

James Buchanan Duke was the most financially successful member of the family. He made two fortunes, the first in tobacco, and the second in hydroelectric power.  In 1904, he and his associates founded what has become the Duke Power Company. Now a part of Duke Energy, the power company provides electricity to families and businesses in North and South Carolina. Part of the money it makes is given back to the people of the Carolinas through The Duke Endowment, the charitable trust that James B. Duke created in 1924.

The Duke Endowment is distinct from Duke University, and is not Duke University's endowment. The Duke Endowment's office is in Charlotte, North Carolina. Since 1925, it has given over a billion dollars to the people of North and South Carolina. The Endowment makes gifts to support child care, hospitals, churches, and higher education in those states. Duke University, named for the family, is one of four schools that receive funds from the Duke Endowment. The others are Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, Davidson College, in Davidson, North Carolina, and Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.

In establishing The Duke Endowment, James B. Duke was following a family tradition of giving back to the community. His father, Washington Duke had been a supporter of education and religion. His older brother, Benjamin N. Duke, had looked after the family's charitable interests for years. Doris Duke, James B. Duke's only child, continued the tradition by setting up the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. This supports the arts, the environment, medical research and child care. Another family philanthropy is the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation in Durham.

Other resources:
The Duke family papers are housed in The Rare Book, Manuscript and Special Collections Library at Duke University.

There are two websites about the Duke Homestead, Washington Duke's farm in Durham:

• The Duke Homestead at North Carolina Historic Sites has information about the family and tobacco business.
• The Duke Homestead at ibiblio.org has an online tour and a history of the tobacco museum.

Some Duke family pictures

Washington Duke	With his grand-daughter, Mary	Ben Duke as a young man	Ben Duke and his family with Trinity faculty members	James B. Duke about 1872	Angier Buchanan Duke, 1900	Doris Duke, 1944