The Duke Family and Duke University

An incomplete Duke genealogy as it relates to the University

Washington Duke, 1820-1905 For whom the University is named.
married, 1st, Mary Caroline Clinton, 1825-1847
- Sidney Taylor Duke, 1844-1858
- Brodie Leonidas Duke 1846-1919
Washington Duke married, 2nd, Artelia Roney, 1829-1858. The Roney Fountain in front of East Duke Building is named for her sister.
- Mary Elizabeth Duke Lyon, 1853-1893
- Benjamin Newton Duke, 1855-1929 B.N. Duke Memorial Organ, B.N. Duke Scholarship.
married Sarah Pearson Angier, 1856-1936 Sarah P. Duke Gardens.
- -Angier B. Duke, 1884-1923 A.B. Duke Scholarships.
- - - 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
- - Doris Duke, 1912-1993 AIDS research, and other gifts.

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

Benefactors' Day (now Founders' Day) begun October 3, 1901.
Approved in June, 1901, by Board of Trustees in honor of benefactions of Washington Duke.

Donation of Stagg Pavilion, popularly 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, who helped Duke raise his young family upon Artelia's death. She later was housekeeper at Fairview, hi s estate in Durham, as well.

James B. Duke's first gift - 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.

Acceptance by Trinity College Trustees of Terms of The Duke Endowment, December 29, 1924. The corporation changes 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 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 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 James B. Duke 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 Gr aduate 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, 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.

Duke University hosted the first reunion of the Duke Family Association at the Washington Duke Inn, September 30-October 1, 1989. The event was Reunion 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 Trans portation History Corporation dedicated the "Doris," the refurbished 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.