Doris Duke
Doris Duke
Born on November 22, 1912, Doris Duke was the only child of James Buchanan (J.B.) Duke, a founder of the American Tobacco Company and Duke Energy Company and a benefactor of Duke University, and Nanaline Holt Duke. Inheriting a bulk of her father's estate in 1925, which included Duke Farms in New Jersey, Rough Point in Newport, R.I., and a mansion in New York City, Doris was soon dubbed by the press as "the richest girl in the world." Although Doris did her best to live a private life, she contributed to a number of public causes and was an active supporter of the arts, historic preservation, and the environment. Doris Duke died in October 1993 at the age of 80. In her will she left the majority of her estate to the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
Biographical History
J.B. Duke and his wife Nanaline legally transfer 33 tracts of land, over 20,000 shares of stock, live and domesticated animals, and designated furniture to Duke Farms Company in Somerville, NJ. The farm, which since 1893 had evolved from a 327 acre farm to a nearly 2,000 acre estate, will become one of Doris Duke's favorite residences. She will eventually transform it into a 2,700 acre estate dedicated to the stewardship of the natural environment.
Mr. J.B. (Nanaline) Duke hires Jenny Renaud as a governess to nine year old Doris, playing the dual role of a companion for Doris and to teach her French. Ms. Renaud lives with the Dukes until October 31, 1933. After leaving the employ of the Duke family, Doris Duke establishes a trust for the benefit of Jenny Renaud, which stays in place until her death in 1958.
James B. Duke purchases the Rough Point estate in Newport, R.I. from Mrs. William B. Leeds. The firm of Horace Trumbauer, architect for the Duke University campus as well as the Duke's stately mansion at 1 E. 78th Street from 1909 to 1912, is hired to transform the interiors of Rough Point and create additions to the house. Renovations are completed in 1924. Doris spends many summers at Rough Point participating and winning in activities such as the tango, tennis, mah-jongg, and sand building contests.
Doris Duke and her mother travel to Europe, which includes touring England and France. In July, J.B. Duke joins them, promising Doris in a letter to her that he will "do everything I can to give you the best time of your life." He also gives her the fatherly advice to "develop into the grandest lady in the world."
James B. Duke signs the indentures establishing The Duke Endowment and The Doris Duke Trust. He chooses to place a significant amount of the Duke Power Company stock in the Doris Duke Trust for the benefit of his daughter Doris and other close relatives.
James B. Duke dies in New York City at the age of 68. He leaves behind wife Nanaline and 12 year old daughter Doris. Intensely devoted to her father, Doris is overcome by grief at the loss of her father. His legacy to Doris Duke amounts to about $80,000,000, to be parceled out to her in three phases, beginning on her twenty-first birthday. Nanaline Duke is not bequeathed a specific amount of money, however, she is granted life tenancy in any of the estates and income from the estates.
A suit in equity, entitled "Doris Duke by her next friend v. George G. Allen, et als., Executors, et als." is filed in the Superior Court in the County of Newport. The suit asks that the executors and trustees of The Doris Duke Trust and The Duke Endowment be authorized and directed in conveying and releasing to her the real estate and lands known as Rough Point and all its fixture, improvements, and tangible personal property. On March 8, 1927 Rough Point is sold to Doris Duke for $1.00 and the deed is legally transferred to her.
Doris Duke attends a private boarding school, Fermata School for Girls, in Aiken, South Carolina, and graduates in 1930.
In order to manage the many requests for assistance addressed to her, Independent Aid, Inc., the first charitable foundation organized by Doris Duke incorporates in Delaware. The foundation's daily operations are administered largely by Marian Paschal, who serves as Secretary until her sudden death in 1946. The foundations disbursements reflect Doris Duke's persistent interests in the welfare of women and children, education, social work and mental health, and early family planning efforts. A 1935 $10,000 donation to the National Committee for Birth Control and a $15,000 donation to Margaret Sanger in early 1937 exemplify her dedication to these causes.
Doris Duke marries James H.R. "Jimmy" Cromwell at the 1 E. 78th Street mansion in New York City. On the same day, the newlyweds sail on the USS REX for a six month honeymoon tour of the world, traveling through a variety of countries including China, Japan, India, the Philippines, and Singapore. While in Agra, India, Doris falls "in love with the Taj Mahal and all the beautiful marble tile, with their lovely floral designs with some precious stones." She also commissions architect F.B. Blomfield to design an India-inspired bedroom and bathroom at Malmaison in Florida where she and her new husband are planning to live upon their return from their honeymoon.
Doris hires well-known architectural firm Wyeth and King to furnish plans for construction of a house for her in Hawaii. As part of the agreement, Wyeth and King confirms that the firm will send to Honolulu "a man qualified to represent the Owner as a Clerk of Works". Drewry Baker is later hired as the onsite architect for Shangri La.
Celebrates 25th birthday and her acquisition of the second one-third of her father's fortune.
Doris Duke, accompanied by her husband James Cromwell and five other companions, travels nearly six weeks throughout the Middle East to acquire works of art and furniture for their Hawaiian estate, Shangri La. Doris was fortunate to have made the acquaintance of Arthur Upham Pope, one of the most distinguished scholars and vigorous advocates of Persian art and culture of the time. Using his knowledge of the region and connections with Persian scholars and government officials, he performed an invaluable service by facilitating the Cromwell's travels. To learn more about the Cromwell's trip to the Middle East, see the interactive timeline.
The New Jersey property which is to be known as Lake Mashipacong is purchased by Doris Duke for $125,000. The land is almost immediately leased to Life Camp Mashipacong (later known as Trail Blazer Camp), a camping facility for underprivileged kids. Doris Duke invests nearly $165,000 into the camp during its first 2 years of operation and continues to financially support the camp well into the 1980s.
On December 1st, Marion Wyeth sends his final bill for work on Shangri La, and calls it "the most interesting and thrilling jobs ever to be handled by this office." On December 8th, he Cromwell's move into the "Play House", celebrating Christmas by occupying Shangri La for the first time.
Like her father, Doris Duke cultivates, hybridizes, and propagates orchids. The Phalaenopsis Doris, registered by Duke Farms in 1940, is a milestone in white Phalaenopsis breeding as it produces long, arching inflorescences on plants that are large and vigorous, thus making them ideal for cut-flower production. It becomes a major factor in the cut-flower industry of the 1940s and 1950s and on the development of Phalaenopsis orchids for the mass market.
Doris Duke gives birth to a premature baby in The Queen's Hospital in Honolulu. The little girl, Arden, lives just one day. Although James Cromwell in later years denies paternity, custody of the unborn child becomes one of the contested items in their separation discussions in 1940.
Doris Duke anonymously donates $50,000 to the British Ambassador to the United States, expressing a desire to make some contribution to the British cause and to promote British-American trade. She concludes that Great Britain would be in increasing need of receiving American supplies for the restoration of economic life after the war.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Doris Duke's 55-foot yacht in Hawaii, the Kailani LahiLahi ("Lahi Lahi" was also Doris Duke's nickname), is requisitioned by the War Shipping Administration (for a sum of $20,000) for purposes of the war effort. Doris is authorized to reacquire the vessel in August, 1949. It is ultimately sold in September, 1950.
On her thirtieth birthday, Doris Duke receives from the trustees the remaining one-third in the two trust funds created for her by her father. The extent of her wealth is unknown to the public, but it is reported that the amount payable to her at this point would exceed $17,000,000.
The United States military takes possession of Doris Duke's estate Shangri La and uses it as a recreational facility for officers.
In response to her husband filing a petition for a divorce in New Jersey in September, Doris Duke files for divorce from James Cromwell in Reno, Nevada citing "extreme cruelty". The divorce decree is issued on December 21, but Jimmy Cromwell contests the ruling in court in New Jersey asserting that Doris Duke is not a bona fide resident of Nevada.
Wishing to personally contribute to the war effort, Doris Duke applies for the United Seamen's Service, which was established to care for the needs of merchant seamen who have been shuttling vitally needed supplies to the invasion beachhead in France. She is accepted into the service on June 6th and begins her training in New Orleans "getting up on aspects of the work she has not had time to get into" before being sent overseas.
Doris Duke takes time out of her training for work in the United Seaman's Service in New Orleans to travel to Brunswick, Georgia. There, she not only christens the Liberty Ship, SS James B. Duke, named after her father, but also donates books to be place aboard. The ship, constructed at JA Jones Shipyards was built for the war effort.
Doris Duke sets sail for Africa then onto Alexandria, Egypt to begin her work as an assistant director of the American Seaman's Club operated by the United Seaman's Service, Inc. In this role she decorates the club, arranges its dances, plays piano for the visiting armed forces, and earns the nickname "Daisy Mae".
With Alexandria becoming less of a port for American shipping, Doris Duke transitions out of the U.S.S. and briefly works for the Office of Strategic Services in the recording department of Mediterranean Allied Air Forces. She eventually joins the International News Service and is primarily stationed in Italy. She writes dispatches from different parts of Italy. She continues working for the INS until early 1947.
Doris Duke joins the staff of Harper's Bazaar in Paris at a rate of about $50.00 a week. In July she gives the magazine the equivalent in dollars of 400,000 francs and instructs her lawyer to mail all the Harper's Bazaar to her in France since "we're like the shoemaker's children who never have shoes".
Doris Duke marries Porfirio Enrique Rubirosa in Paris surprising family members, friends and business partners. She confesses to her mother that while the wedding itself "was certainly a mess through no fault of either of us", she and "Rubi" are very happy. They are divorced less than one year later on October 27th.
After several years of disputing the petition and decree for a divorce issued in 1943, Doris Duke's divorce from James Cromwell is at last settled in court and granted. The decree becomes final on April 9th and James Cromwell is paid $350,000 for a complete and general release.
Officers of Independent Aid, Inc. vote to change the name of the foundation to the Doris Duke Foundation. At the time of this change, the foundation's interests are primarily in the fields of education and welfare. It does not operate directly, but makes grants to other organizations and institutions.
Walker P. "Skipper" Inman, Jr., son of Walker P. Inman and nephew of Doris Duke, is born in Florence, SC.
Doris Duke purchases Falcon Lair at 1436 Bella Drive, Beverly Hills, California. It is the former home of Rudolph Valentino, a movie star that Doris has been a fan of since she was a young girl. During the next several years she remodels and furnishes the house with architect Caspar Ehmcke and interior designer Tony Duquette.
Walker P. Inman, Sr., Doris Duke's half-brother and trustee of the Duke Endowment and Duke University dies at the age of sixty. He is survived by his widow, Georgia Polin Inman, and his son by that marriage, Walker P. "Skipper" Inman, Jr. After initial guardianship with another relative, Doris is briefly appointed Skipper's guardian in 1965.
Doris Duke develops a close friendship with Louis Bromfield (1896-1956), the Pulitzer winning author and renowned scientific farmer. It is Bromfield that most likely influences Doris Duke's passion for environmentalism. In May 1957, a little more than a year after Bromfield's death, Doris Duke donates $30,000 to Friends of the Land in order to continue Malabar Farm as an experimental and educational center. In recognition of her donation a wood lot on Malabar Farm is renamed Doris Duke woods.
Doris Duke travels to India and China with a stop in Thailand. It is the exploration of Bangkok and its art and architecture that inspires her to dream of creating a Thai Village in Hawaii with houses similar to those she sees.
The Family Part of the Supreme Court in New York County becomes permanent after two years' operation as an experiment. The judges assigned to the family court have expertise in family matters and are aided by expert case workers to address matters affecting families and children. During the initial trial operation, salaries of case workers were paid for by the Doris Duke Foundation.
Doris Duke and her mother Nanaline donate the mansion at 1 East 78th Street in New York to New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. Additionally, Doris and her mother make a gift of $100,000 to defray expenses during the renovation. The house, which was appraised at an estimated $1.6 million, is renamed The James B. Duke House.
The Duke Gardens Foundation is incorporated with the express purpose of "developing thereon agricultural, botanical and horticultural exhibits for the purpose of scientific experiments and of public inspection, instruction, education and enjoyment." Over the next six years, Doris Duke is personally involved in the physical design and construction of the Indoor Display Gardens, incorporating her interests in color, design, and fragrance.
In recognition of her "sense of humanity of being a kind woman, thoughtfulness woman, helpfulness woman, [and] sympathetic woman towards destitute people like the Rosebud Sioux Indian people", Doris Duke is enrolled as a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. She is given the name "Wa-cantki-ye-win" or "Princess Charity".
Doris Duke forms the Thai House Foundation, later to be named the Foundation for Southeast Asian Art and Culture Foundation (SEAAC) in June. Her vision is to recreate a Thai village that evokes the traditional life and culture of Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand and Burma. To realize the mission of the Foundation, over the next several years Doris Duke purchases art objects including Thai ceramics, Chinese porcelains, wood, stone, bronze and ivory sculptures, and complete Thai Houses.
Nanaline Holt Inman Duke, Doris's mother, dies in New York at the age of 90. She leaves an estate estimated at $40,000,000, and bequeaths $5,000,000 of the total to Duke University medical school and hospital. Mrs. Duke leaves the balance of her estate in trust for her 11-year-old grandson, Walker P. Inman Jr., of Brunson, S.C.
Following in the footsteps of her father, the Doris Duke Foundation begins to actively make grants to historically black colleges. Over the course of several years, the Foundation grants nearly $1.6 million to 15 colleges. Recipients include the North Carolina College for Negros at Durham ($50,000), Shaw University in Raleigh ($30,000), and Bennett College in Greensboro ($300,000).
Doris Duke donates $493,000 to the Somerset County Park Commission to improve Duke Island Park, a county recreation center that was developed on 500 acres of the Duke estate that was presented to the county by Miss Duke in 1959. The gift is seen as proof of her personal interest in Somerset County.
Following initiation of a lawsuit for divorce by Joe Castro of Los Angeles in January, Doris Duke obtains an order in Circuit Court in Honolulu. The order restrains Castro from saying that he was her husband.
Doris Duke commissions a life-size Thai pavilion for her still unrealized Thai Village in Hawaii. A replica of the Aphornphimok Pavilion at the Royal Palace grounds in Bangkok, Thailand, the pavilion will be 75 feet high and 46 feet long. The collection for the Thai village also includes 1,000 pieces of art, 14 Thai teak houses, 400,000 pieces of unglazed roof tiles, and 100,000 pieces of glazed roof tiles.
A report from the Duke Endowment's Committee on Hospitals and Orphanages recommends the recognition of the changing patterns in the field of Child Care. It further states that an Advisory Committee on Child Care Services be appointed to act in an advisory committee to the greater Committee. Due to her continuing special interest in children's issues Doris Duke agrees to chair the Advisory Committee. She is joined by Wilbur C. Davison and Anthony Drexel Duke.
Doris Duke purchases her Penthouse B apartment at 475 Park Avenue. At the time it is described as a "dream" apartment with seven rooms, 4 bathrooms, 13 closets and a wood-burning fireplace. The apartment was renovated several times including during the mid-1960s by architect Gerhard Karplus and designer Tony Duquette.
Moved by the plight of the American Indian, Doris Duke provides funds via the Doris Duke Foundation to develop an authentic and elaborate oral and cultural history of the Native American Indian. Universities receiving grants of roughly $50,000 for the American Indian Research Project (or American Indian Oral History Project) include the University of Arizona, University of Oklahoma, and the University of Illinois. Doris continues to support the American Indian cause through the 1980's.
Doris Duke transfers the stock and proprietary lease of her New York Apartment at 3 E. 84th Street to New York University. The house was purchased in 1952 and boasted 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2 master bedrooms, and a terrace surrounding the apartment with private hedges. New York University sells the property in 1968.
Concerned for the state deterioration of Newport, Rhode Island's historical architecture, Doris Duke establishes the Newport Restoration Foundation (NRF), with John Perkins Brown as Executive Director. Over the next 14 years, Doris Duke gives $21.9 million to the NRF, ultimately restoring eighty-three properties. The donation is the largest philanthropic gift made to a single organization during her lifetime.
To curb the growing suburban development of Somerset County, N.J., Doris Duke purchases four farm parcels equal to 385 acres that abut the western boundary of Duke Farms. After buying the land, she makes the old houses habitable, upgrades obsolete dairy barns, brings in cows, and makes the farms operable again.
The Near East Dance Foundation, Inc. incorporates with the express purpose of stimulating "interest in and raise to a higher level of art and understanding all forms of Near East Dance through research, teaching, publication and performing". Doris Duke is named President and Director, and Ibrahim Robert Farrah, a well-known performer and scholar of Middle Eastern dance, is hired as Executive Director. Farrah resigns in 1972 and the Foundation is dissolved in April, 1974.
Unable to identify and acquire the ideal plot of land on which to build the Thai village, Doris Duke ships the buildings and works of art to Duke Farms in Hillsborough, NJ. While this organization never created the museum she hoped for, Doris Duke opens an exhibit of the finer objects from the SEAAC collection in the Duke Farms' Coach Barn on December 9, 1972.
The Duke Business Office (DBO), the entity for managing the daily operations of Duke Farms, moves from New York City to Duke Farms.
To accommodate both her continuing love of travel and her desire for privacy, Doris Duke purchases a Boeing 737-300 and it is placed into service. As part of the airplane purchase from a Middle Eastern businessman, she also acquires two Bactrian camels, Baby and Princess, who reside at both the Rough Point and Duke Farms estates.
Doris Duke hires Bernard Lafferty as her butler at the Duke Farms estate. He remains in this position until Doris Duke's death in 1993, after which he becomes the executor and pivotal figure in the dispute over her will.
Doris Duke dies in her Beverly Hills home Falcon Lair, at the age of 80, with a net worth of nearly $1 billion. She states in her will that Rough Point is bequeathed to Newport Restoration Foundation, to be maintained according to professional standards for historic preservation. Bernard Lafferty is named as the executor of her estate and for a brief period of time he was President of the Doris Duke Foundation. After a lengthy trial disputing the provisions of the will, Bernard Lafferty surrenders his post as co-executor and membership in the foundation. He is replaced by a Board of Trustees who took control over Doris Duke's assets.
The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is established, supporting four national grant making programs and the three properties that were owned by Doris Duke in Hillsborough, New Jersey; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Newport, Rhode Island. The foundation is headquartered in New York and is governed by a board of 11 Trustees. Bernard Lafferty dies the same year and wills his estate to the Foundation. To learn more about the DDCF, see http://www.ddcf.org/.
The Duke Gardens Foundation is officially dissolved.
Some of the most important pieces of the collections Doris Duke amassed for the Thai Village are donated to The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, California and The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland by the Foundation for Southeast Asian Art and Culture.
Associated Collections
- The Doris Duke Papers, 1798-2003 and undated (bulk 1930-1999)
Personal papers generated by or about Doris Duke duringher lifetime. - The Duke Family Papers, 1885-1992 (bulk 1892-1927)
Personal papers generated by or about several Duke family members, including J.B. Duke and Nanaline Duke. - The Duke Family New York Apartments Collection, 1908-1997
Materials documenting Doris Duke's three residences in New York City. - The Duke Family papers on the Duke Farms residence, 1859-2004 and undated
Materials documenting Doris Duke's 2,700 acre estate in Somerville, New Jersey. - The James Buchanan Duke Papers, 1777-1990 and undated
Father of Doris Duke and benefactor of Duke University. - The Doris Duke Papers on the Rough Point Residence, 1922-1997
Materials documenting Doris Duke's estate in Newport, Rhode Island. - The Doris Duke Foundation records, 1934-2009 (bulk 1948-1982)
Successor to the charitable foundation Independent Aid, Inc. - The Doris Duke papers on the Duke Endowment, 1925-2001, bulk 1956-1993
Doris Duke was a trustee of the Duke Endowment from 1933 to 1993. - The Duke Endowment Archives, 1902-2008 and undated, bulk 1925-2006
The perpetual charitable trust established by James B. Duke in 1924. - The University Archives Photograph Collection, 1861-ongoing
Collection documenting Duke Universityhistory. Includes images of several Duke family members. - The Independent Aid, Inc. Records, 1934-1954
The first charitable foundation established by Doris Duke in 1934. - The Doris Duke papers on the Shangri La residence, 1932-2003 and undated
Materials documenting Doris Duke's estate inhonolulu,hawaii. - The Doris Duke Papers on the Falcon Lair Residence, 1937-1999
Materials documenting Doris Duke'shome in Beverlyhills, California. - The Foundation for Southeast Asian Art and Culture records, 1954-2002 and undated
Foundation established in 1961 to support the project of building a Thai Village inhawaii. - The Duke Gardens Foundation records, 1912-2002 and undated
Foundation established in 1958 with the purpose of developing display gardens at Duke Farms for public education and enjoyment. - The Harry W. Cox Papers, 1948-1977 (bulk 1962-1976)
Accountant to Duke Farms throughout the 1960s and 1970s. - The Newport Restoration Foundation Records, 1968-1999 (bulk 1968-1982)
Foundation established in 1968 with the express purpose of preserving architectural culture of Aquidneck Island (Newport, R.I.) - The Bernard Lafferty Papers, 1952-1999 (bulk 1993-1996)
Doris Duke's butler from 1987 to 1993. - The Doris Duke Photograph Collection, 1870-2006
Over 12,000 images related to Doris Duke. Includes photographs ofher travels, estates, foundations, and the Duke family. - The Doris Duke Memorabilia Collection, 1898-2011 and undated
Personal artifacts belonging to Doris Duke that reflect what was important toher including travel, philanthropy, growing orchids, and music. - The Doris Duke Oral History Collection, 1998-2009
Thirty-five oralhistories of staff at Duke Farms, Shangri La, and of close, personal friends of Doris Duke. - The Doris Duke Audiovisual Collection, 1919-2012 and undated
Film, phonodiscs, audiocassettes and associated manuscript materials related to Doris Duke's travels,her various estates, andher interests in jazz and gospel music, dance,history, and culture.