Brochure from the 1990s entitled "Disabled Students at Duke University" that lists accommodation services from "Students with Disabilities, 1994-ongoing" folder in the Student Life Reference Collection.
at the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
The links below will take you to the collection guide for each collection. A collection guide is an inventory of the folders of materials in a collection, assembled and written by an archivist (also called a "finding aid").
Note that this may not be an exhaustive list of all the collections you might use in your research—it's simply a list of the collections that might be most relevant.
Searching the Duke Libraries catalog and the Rubenstein Library's collection guide database on keywords, names, organizations, etc. will help you discover additional relevant collections that aren't represented here.
In addition to the records of the student groups listed here, you may also want to review the records of Duke's two main undergraduate student governments: the Associated Students of Duke University (1967-1993) and Duke Student Government (1993-present). ASDU and DSG would have worked with the groups below on chartering, SOFC funding, and discussion of campus issues. For groups and students at Duke's graduate and professional schools, the Graduate and Professional Student Council is the governing body.
There is one folder entitled "Handicapped Students Committee, 1978," that discusses the purpose of the group and their representation on the administration's task force to address accessibility on campus.
The Duke Disability Alliance is a student organization dedicated to making Duke more inclusive and accessible and focused on Disability justice. The DDA Records include materials from a 2017 exhibit for Disability Pride Week on NeuroDIVERSITY and Inclusion, created by students in a Writing 101 class, as well as the DDA's blog.
This collection contains flyers, newspaper clippings, brochures, and other ephemera related to Student Life. Several folders relate to Disability history including: "Student Mental Health Service, 1973-1977"; "Students with Disabilities, 1994-ongoing"; "Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)".
Along with links to archived versions of the websites of campus offices and Duke academic programs, this collection also includes links to archived versions of the websites for the Duke Disability Alliance.
The Counseling Center offered general psychological counseling to students, faculty, staff, and the Durham community, particularly in the areas of career planning and education, and personal and social development. While most of the materials relate to counseling regarding career and education, there are annual reports that list number of students who sought psychological counseling throughout Box 1. In 1977, the Counseling Center merged with Student Mental Health Services to form Counseling and Psychological Services, or CAPS
OSAF was an office within Student Affairs that helped student groups with chartering, receiving and spending their funding, and other organizational matters. Box 23 has a folder on the student group "PUSH (People Understanding the Severely Handicapped), 1985-1991" that contains records related to events, public programming, membership, and fundraising. Also, look particularly at the folders on the the American with Disabilities Act (located in Box 37) for previous training/workshops for employees, past accommodation forms, and more. Note that these are restricted until 2025 but you can request special permission to access them. Just reach out to us!
The Vice President of Administration role was established after the Vice President of Human Resources' responsibilities expanded to include Disability management. This collection contains two ADA accessible maps of campus and previous Duke Policy Manuals.
In addition to browsing/searching through the Chronicle for relevant articles (see the "Duke Publications" page in this research guide), a good way to understand the evolution of these fields--particularly how they are taught--is to browse or search through Duke's annual course bulletins. Note that the bulletins will list faculty (and sometimes graduate students) in these programs/fields, which can provide you with more names to research!
Marion Quirici was a Lecturing Fellow of the Thompson Writing Program from 2016-2022 and is an advocate for Disability rights. She served as co-director for the Duke faculty working group, Disability and Access Initiative, and was the faculty advisor for the student organization, Duke Disability Alliance.
Katharine May Banham (1897-1995) served as a professor in the Department of Psychology at Duke University from 1946 to 1967, specializing in child psychology and development. Some of her work focused on physical and mental disabilities of children.
Administrative records are an effective way to trace the evolution of accessibility and understanding of disability rights at Duke University. This is not an exhaustive list and some collections may require more research in the records. But it's a good place to start to trace the history of how Duke's policies and procedures helped or hindered students and employees with disabilities.
The Office of Continuing Studies has one folder, entitled "Blind Services" regarding a workshop they conducted outside of Duke to help Blind adults prepare resumes and job materials.
The Office for Institutional Equity records have information regarding the hiring of people with disabilities. In particular, see folders "Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 / Handicapped Survey, 1976" and "Affirmative Action Plan for Veterans & Persons with Disabilities, 2001." This collection also contains Duke University's Affirmative Action plans from 1970-2001.
See folder "EEO Affirmative Action - Handicapped, 1976-1978" for information regarding "Coordinator for Handicapped Students" and the "Task Force on Regulations Regarding Handicapped Persons."
Particular folders of interest:
Two folders entitled "Handicapped Committee, 1972-1991" has correspondence between multiple Duke administrative offices regarding accommodation, building updates, and response to federal regulations regarding accessibility. There is also a 1975 study published by Duke entitled "Study on the Needs of the Handicapped."
Two folders relating to mental health services give insight into how the Women's College assisted students in regards to their mental health. One folder, "Mental Health Service, 1961-1968," is available online.
