Activating History for Justice at Duke
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A Collection of Forgotten Stories

These stories represent little known or unexamined parts of Duke and Durham's history that we feel add value to our collective memory. We assembled this database to guide the Duke community’s discussion about future memorials, as well as for the benefit of national public education. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list;​ it is merely a starting point for continued research.  Countless stories that have gone unmarked have yet to be unearthed in their entirety.

To explore memorial propositions from some of these stories, click here. 

story bank index

ACTIVISM: DEMANDS FOR A NEW STATUS QUO (6)
The Allen Building Study-In
Greensboro Ku Klux Klan Murders
Gay Marriage at the Chapel
Local 77 in the Silent Vigil of 1968
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Speeches
Take Back the Night March
BACKBONE: FOUNDATIONS OF LABOR (4)
Caroline, Isam, and Malinda
The Rigsbee Cemetery
The Walls of Duke University
Workers in Durham's Tobacco Industry
SPACEMAKERS: ARCHITECTS OF COMMUNITY (7)
Alice M. Baldwin, Dean of the Women's College
Divinity School for Desegregation
Harambee Publication
Lillian Griggs, Librarian Leader
The Malcolm X Liberation University in Durham
Race and Space on Central Campus
The Secret Game of 1944
FIRSTS: FORGING PATHS FOR SUCCESSORS (14)
The Bassett Affair and Freedom of Expression
Brenda Armstrong, Black Woman Pioneer in Medicine & Activist
Charles J. Soong, First International Student of Trinity College
Duke's First Black Undergraduate Students
Duke's First Black Graduate Students
Duke's Earliest Native American Students
Duke's First Women Engineers
The Giles Sisters, First Women with Trinity College Degrees
Howard Lee, First Black Mayor of Chapel Hill
Ida Stephens Owens, First Black Woman with a Duke Ph.D.
Katherine Everett Gilbert, First Full Woman Professor at Duke
Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans, Philanthropist
Reginald "Reggie" Howard, First Black President of the Duke Student Body
Samuel Dubois Cook, First Tenured Black Professor at Duke
Note: We recognize that stories cannot be classified exclusively into certain categories -- that history is multifaceted, interactive, and inherently resists taxonomy. However, for the purpose of organization, we have decided to use the four categories above, with a consciousness that future stories may change or transcend them.

memory bandits alternative campus tour

Our team has created an alternative campus tour that highlights some of the stories we have listed above. In our research process, we realized that the official Duke University prospective student tour does very little to address the institution's history and monuments, if at all.

To see our virtual tour, click here.
Note: This is still a work in progress, as the information presented needs final verification for accuracy.

DO YOU KNOW A STORY WE DON'T?
Please share with us, so that we can continue to grow this database.
tell us the story
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  • HOME
  • ABOUT US
    • Our Team
    • Outreach >
      • Press Release
    • Methods
    • Acknowledgements
  • REPORT
    • Executive Summary
    • Recommendations
    • Proposed sites
    • Bibliography
  • RESEARCH
    • Existing Memorials
    • Photo Gallery
  • Story Bank
    • Activism
    • Backbone
    • Spacemakers
    • Firsts
  • CONNECTIONS
    • Duke: Student Voices
    • Duke: The Institution
    • Durham
    • Other Universities
    • Non-University
  • CONTACT
    • Submissions
    • Social Media