The establishment of the Duke Endowment in 1924 enabled the massive building campaign that gave us the Duke University we know today. That building history has been researched in its essential parts. However, two aspects remain under-investigated: how the building process itself developed from a series of plans that included competing concepts of landscape, social organization and place; and how that building process intersected with and impacted local individuals, communities and institutions.

This team examined how Durham and Duke's built and natural environments were shaped by and contributed to the development of social, economic and political conditions during Duke’s planning and construction. The team combined historical research, geospatial analysis and 3D modeling to explore several topics, including Duke's natural and built environments; relationships between Duke and Durham; Durham's cultural and physical expansions; and the projection of the university and the city's images nationally and globally.

Learn more about this team's work by reading their team profile.

Timing

Fall 2023 – Summer 2024

Team Outputs

Team website

Digital and physical exhibition at Duke Libraries (opening January 2025)

Mapping and Modeling Duke and Durham (Team profile; 2024 Fortin Foundation Bass Connections Virtual Showcase)

World Building at Duke in an Emerging Durham: 1924-1932 (Interactive display presented at Fortin Foundation Bass Connections Showcase, April 17, 2024)

ArcGIS StoryMaps

3-D models of Duke’s campus and building plans

This Team in the News

Digital Humanities on the Rise

Blueberrying and More: Expanding the History of Bennett Place

New Bass Connections Project: World Building at Duke in an Emerging Durham

New Project Teams Will Delve Into Duke’s History to Mark the Centennial

Image: West Campus Progress Picture #294, 1930, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0