LibGuides: Student Activism at Duke University: Allen Building Study-In (1967)

The Allen Building Study-In, 1967

On November 13, 1967, African-American students organized the Allen Building Study-In to protest the use of segregated facilities, like country clubs, by Duke student organizations.

The Associated Students of Duke University (ASDU, precursor to today’s Duke Student Government) conducted a student-wide referendum in early November of that year on a proposed ban on the use of such facilities, but this motion was defeated. Frustrated with the lack of action by the student body and the administration, the students issued a statement and demands on November 10, and three days later entered President Douglas Knight’s office, staying for seven hours.

On November 17, just four days after the Study-In, Knight issued a statement in which he extended the existing policy to cover all student groups, in addition to faculty and staff groups.

The Allen Building Study-In: Getting Started

Campus Publications

The Duke Chronicle: Includes coverage of the campus referendum and the Study-In. Issues of the Chronicle from this time period may also be accessed online.

The Chanticleer: The 1968 edition of the Chanticleer (which has been digitized and is available online) includes some photographs of the Study-In (see pages 135-136)

Legacy, 1963-1993: Thirty Years of African-American Students at Duke University: This volume (also digitized and available online) provides helpful contextual information for understanding the Study-In. Note that it refers to the protest as the Hope Valley Study-In (as the segregated Hope Valley Country Club was a popular venue for student organization events).

Related Websites and Online Resources:

Several photos of the protest are available in the "Allen Building Study In" album on the Duke University Archives' Flickr site. (Originals of these photos can be found in the University Archives Photograph Collection, noted below.)

The Allen Building Study-In: Archival Collections

Black History at Duke reference collection, 1948-2001
The documents in this collection may be helpful in understanding the history of the student grievances and concerns expressed during the Study-In.
Associated Students of Duke University records, 1965-1991
The ASDU resolution prohibiting the use of segregated facilities by student groups can be found in the "Resolutions, 1967-1973" folder in box 53.
Douglas M. Knight records, 1949-1970
Douglas Knight was the president of Duke University at the time of the Study-In. The "Civil Rights, 1963-1968" folders in box 6 are an excellent source of documentation about the Study-In. In addition, box 20 contains a folder titled "Negro Sit-In, 1967 -- Letters Answered."

Photograph and Audio/Visual Collections