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The Beginning
Duke University in Durham, North Carolina traces its origins to 1838 when Methodist and Quaker Families in rural Randolph County employed Brantley York as a permanent teacher for their subscription school. Under his leadership the infrequently used Brown's Schoolhouse became Union Institute. -
Turning Point
A most significant turning point occurred in 1887, when the youthful, Northern-born, Yale-trained John F. Crowell became Trinity's president. Committed to the German university model which emphasized research over recitation, Crowell directed a major revision in the curriculum, established the first campus-wide research library, and most important, persuaded the trustees that the college's future development lay in an urban setting where it would be far easier to attract student, faculty, and fi -
Opened in Durham, NC
In 1892 after a spirited competition among piedmont cities, Trinity opened in Durham, largely because of the generosity of Washington Duke and Julian S. Carr, influential and respected Methodists grown prosperous in the tobacco industry. -
The Duke Family
John C. Kilgo, a dynamic administrator and spellbinding Methodist preacher, later to be elected Bishop, became president in 1894 and he greatly increased the interest of the Duke family in Trinity. Washington Duke offered three gifts of $100,000 each for endowment, one of which was contingent upon the college admitting women "on equal footing with men." -
John Bassett
Trinity College had developed by World War I into one of the leading liberal arts colleges in the South. In 1903, the name of John S. Bassett, Professor of History, and Trinity became forever associated with the history of academic freedom. -
Re-name to Duke University
In December 1924, James B. Duke formalized the family's historic pattern of philanthropy with the establishment of The Duke Endowment, a forty million dollar trust fund, the annual income of which was to be distributed in the Carolinas among hospitals, orphanages, the Methodist Church, three colleges, and a university built around Trinity College. To accomplish this last task in Durham nineteen million dollars was made available for the rebuilding of the old and for the creation of a new campus -
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Different Types of Schools formed
etamorphosis of a small college into a complex university as the School of Religion and Graduate School opened in 1926, the Medical School and hospital in 1930, the School of Nursing in 1931, and the School of Forestry in 1938. In 1930 the original Durham site became the coordinate Woman's College which was merged back into Trinity as the liberal arts college for both men and women in 1972. -
Rose Bowl
1942 -- Duke University and Durham host the only Rose Bowl game ever played away from Pasadena. -
Medical Building
1957 -- First use of the term "Duke University Medical Center" to designate the combined facilities for medical and nursing instruction, treatment and research. -
Equality
1961 -- Admissions policy amended to affirm equality of opportunity regardless of race, creed, or national origin. This was accomplished in a two-step process with graduate and professional schools first and the undergraduate colleges following in 1962. -
Martin Luther King
1964 -- On November 13, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave a speech in Page Auditorium on the progress of the civil rights movement. There was standing room only, and the overflow crowd heard the speech on loudspeakers placed outside the auditorium. -
NCAA Championship
1986 -- Men's soccer team wins Duke's first NCAA championship.