looking forward

As important as an examination of the memorials that currently exist is a discussion about the memorials that can exist -- in the future. This call-for-imagination is a crucial piece of our initiative, the first step to changing the physical appearance of the Duke University campus. As our collective values evolve with time, the memorials that reflect such values must also change.  Below are a few ideas that our student researchers conceived. If you have an idea you would like to share, please click on the button below.

the first five

by Hadeel Abdelhy
Picture
Image courtesy of the Duke University Archives
Statues of each of the first five African American undergraduate students admitted to Duke University after desegregation.

separate pieces come together

by Catherine Farmer
Mosaic celebrating the history of Duke's staff labor union, AFSCME Local 77, and suggesting future possibilities for labor organizing.

speaker's circle

by Robin Kirk
A Speaker's Circle surrounded by a circular bench to front the Allen Building. The Circle is made of Lapis lazuli, a dark blue metaphoric rock similar in color to Duke Blue.

faces of women in engineering

by Catherine Farmer
Plaque embossed with the faces of Mary Foote Reel and Muriel Theodorsen Williams, the first women to graduate as engineers from Duke University. Along with an explanation of the plaque is this quote by British suffragette Christabel Pankhurst.

pillars of female empowerment

by Mary Aline Fertin
Three Georgian pillars like the ones pictured left, in the quad between Marketplace and Lilly Library, for Mary, Persis, and Theresa Giles, respectively-- the first women to study in and graduate from Trinity College.

labor and leaves behind the duke family

by Robin Kirk
Statue of Caroline facing James B. Duke from across the quad, and a sidewalk etched into the shape of tobacco leaves adjacent to the Allen Building.

from farm to fork

by Natalia Espinosa
Bulletin board exhibit in the Brodhead Center for Campus Life, of archival documents and photos relating to the lettuce boycotts and farmworker solidarity movements.

a world of unity & dissenSion

by Christine Kinyua
Sculpture of a hand holding a distorted globe, representing the collectivity of the student body, as well as the diverse and often dissenting opinions within it.

WE WANT YOUR IDEAS!