Historical Collections

American Dance Festival Archives

Perkins and Lilly Libraries on Duke University Campus
(919) 684-6402
Archival materials available year-round for the general public, as well as choreographers, dancers, teachers, critics, and scholars. Available at Perkins and Lilly libraries on Duke University's West and East Campuses.
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Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University

1317 W Pettigrew St
(919) 660-3663
Independent, non-profit organization dedicated to a new vision of documentary arts and process to education and community life. The center supports documentary work through courses, exhibitions, publishing, fieldwork, community programs, and awards.
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Digital Durham

On the Web only
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A unique collection of historical images and teacher resources documenting life in post-Civil War Durham.
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Duke University Perkins Library

Science and Research Drives
(919) 684-3009
America's seventh-largest private university library. Houses several thousand rare and unique materials in its Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, including maps, photographs, films, broadsides, and Confederate prints. Holdings of ancient clay tablets, manuscripts, and books printed prior to 1501.
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Forest History Society

701 William Vickers Ave
(919) 682-9319
Extensive library and archives of materials related to forest and conservation history including books, periodicals, maps, news clippings, photographs, and searchable databases.
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History of Medicine Collections

103 Seeley G. Mudd Bldg, Duke University Medical Center Library
(919) 660-1100
Vintage medical equipment including the nation's largest collection of miniature ivory mannequins and 20,000 books and manuscripts in Greek, Latin, and English.
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James E. Shepard Memorial Library

1801 Fayetteville St
(919) 530-6475
N.C. Central University's main library, which serves as a repository for federal documents, maps, and microfilm. The library's Treasure Room preserves many primary materials on African-American life and culture.
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Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture

West Union Building, Duke University West Campus
(919) 684-3814
Named after the “great lady of Jazz,” pianist, composer, and teacher Mary Lou Williams, who was artist-in-residence at Duke University from 1977–81. The purpose of the Center for Black Culture, which opened in 1983, is to preserve and enhance black culture, promote interracial understanding, and sponsor programs and events on black art, history, and literature.
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North Carolina Collection at Durham County Library

300 N Roxboro St, Durham County Library, Downtown Durham
(919) 560-0171
Collection of stories of Durham's and North Carolina's past through historical documents, maps, records, and photographic archives.
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North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company

411 W Chapel Hill St, Downtown Durham
(919) 682-9201
The nation's oldest (1898) and largest African-American-owned financial institution, founded by John Merrick and Aaron Moore. The Heritage Room, located on the top floor, explores the company's first 100 years through a 33-panel visual display. Call for guided tours in advance.
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Patterson's Mill Country Store, Inc.

5109 Farrington Rd, between NC Hwy 54 & Old Chapel Hill Rd
(919) 493-8149
Preserved, turn-of-the-nineteenth-century country store and doctor's office/pharmacy. Features displays of mercantile and pharmaceutical Americana, tobacco marketing memorabilia, antiques, and collectibles.
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Selena Warren Wheeler Collection at Stanford L. Warren Library

1201 Fayetteville St, at Umstead St
(919) 560-0270
Collection of African-American culture, history, and literature named for Warren’s daughter. The second African-American library established in North Carolina, originally in the basement of the old White Rock Baptist Church, in 1913.
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The Eddy Collection of Music Instruments

Lobby, Mary Duke Biddle Music Building, Duke East Campus
(919) 660-3320
Unique collection of over 500 rare musical instruments found nowhere else in the Southeast, dating from the late 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries with particular depth in woodwinds, brass, and early pianos.
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The End of Tobacco Road Exhibit

On the Web only
(919) 560-0171
With Laura Drey's photographs, the Durham County Library depicts a historic time, Liggett & Myers's last year in Durham, and the complicated process of manufacturing cigarettes--an industry vital to Durham's history--in a web exhibit that chronicles the end of an era.
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The Tuba Exchange, Inc.

1825 Chapel Hill Rd
(919) 493-2200
Nation’s only store dealing exclusively in tubas, euphoniums, and sousaphones. Includes 200-plus piece historic low brass musical instrument collection. Open M-F, 9am-5pm; Sa-Su, by appointment.
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