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Athletics at Duke University

Reference Collections

Reference collections are prepared by Duke University Archives staff to provide brief overviews of popular topics in Duke University's history. You may want to begin your research by studying the materials in these collections as a way of orienting yourself to the topic.

The links below will take you to the collection guides for these reference collections. See the "Introduction" tab of this LibGuide for guidance on accessing these collections.

  • Athletics Reference Collection, 1888-ongoing: This collection provides an overview of the history of Duke athletics, from documentation about championship highlights and celebrated players to summaries of policies, traditions and historical trends related to Duke athletics.
  • Building Reference Collection, 1972-ongoing: Folders in this collection contain documentation about the construction and the continued use of Duke Athletics venues, particularly Cameron Indoor Stadium and Wallace Wade Stadium.

Athletics Administration Collections

The links below will take you to the collection guide for each collection. See the "Introduction" tab of this LibGuide for guidance on accessing these collections.

Please note that administrative office records are restricted for a period of twenty-five years from the origin of the material. To use these materials, permission must be obtained from the office of origin and the University Archivist.

  • Athletic Council Records, 1907-1993: This advisory board to the athletics department ensures compliance with NCAA and ACC regulations; advises the Athletic Director on finances, staffing, and the scheduling and adoption of new sports; recommends appropriate changes to the athletics program; and makes recommendations to the President and administrative and faculty bodies regarding the status of athletics at Duke.
  • Edmund M. Cameron Records, 1929-1972: Coach Cameron's records focus primarily on his tenure as Director of Athletics, although the correspondence series and scrapbooks document his coaching work with the football and men's basketball teams.
  • Wilbur Wade Card Papers, 1876-1943: Trinity College alum Wilbur Wade "Cap" Card served as director of physical education for Trinity College and Trinity Park School for 46 years. He introduced basketball to Trinity College!
  • Director of Athletics Records, 1939-1999: Administrative documentation about the athletics department. The collection contains documentation primarily from Tom Butters's tenure, although there is some documentation from predecessors Eddie Cameron and Carl James.
  • Addison "Add" Penfield Papers, 1985: This collection contain's Penfield's manuscript memoirs of his career as sports broadcaster, writer, and Director of Sports Information for Duke University. His memoir includes chapters on the 1942 Rose Bowl and the Duke Football Network.
  • Sports Information Office Records, 1932-ongoing: The Sports Information Office provides information about Duke athletics to the media. The materials in this collection tend to be about the general operations of the office; specific materials about each team have been separated into the team collections listed below. Please see the "Sports Photographs, Audio Recordings, and Film / Video" tab for information about accessing the football and men's basketball audio recordings in this collection.
  • William H. Wannamaker Papers, 1917-1948: Chair of the Athletic Council, Wannamaker's papers--largely correspondence--occasionally document athletics-related decisions, including the hiring of Coach Wallace Wade in 1931.

 

 

 

Sports Teams Collections

These collections, maintained by the Sports Information Office, are generally divided into two to three series:

  1. The Yearly Files contain clippings, box scores, press releases, and other publicity information about each team, organized by season.
  2. Where this series exists, the Game Programs Files contain game programs issued at most home and some away games.
  3. The Media Guides Files contains media guides issued annually for each team; the guides usually contain rosters, schedules, player and coach biographical information, previous season statistics, and occasionally team and individual player photos.

The links below will take you to the collection guide for each collection. See the "Introduction" tab of this LibGuide for guidance on accessing these collections.

For documentation about boxing, see box 1 of the the Sports Information Office records, 1932-ongoing.

Collections by or about Duke Athletes

The links below will take you to the collection guide for each collection. See the "Introduction" tab of this LibGuide for guidance on accessing these collections.