The Face of Duke's Institutional History

As of April 1, nobody knew the next month at Duke would be spent discussing race, but in the wake of publication of an anti-slavery reparations ad, students, faculty and administrators all started looking at Duke's history. The first place many people headed was to the University Archives.

On the student side, protesters went through files and reams of paper documenting previous protests and student demands and the administration response. When President Nannerl O. Keohane prepared a report on the topic, the heart of it included a chronology that came straight from archive documents.

The episode indicates the value of the decision 30 years ago to form an office for the storage and classification of everything related to the university's history, from photographs and memos to pamphlets, letters and videos.

"No matter how much people think they know the history, it's interesting that there is always something more," said assistant archivist Sarah Carr. "When the students came in wanting to know what had happened during previous protests, we were able to find protests that they didn't even know had happened."

If the archives has served as the center of Duke's institutional memory, since its beginning the face of that institutional memory has been that of university archivist William King. Now after 30 years, King is preparing to retire. In December he will take a six-month sabbatical, after which he will retire as university archivist at the end of June 2002.

For the many people who have called upon the archives, the match between King and the position has been a special fit. A professional historian with a Ph.D. in history from Duke, King also comes from a long line of Duke supporters. Both parents attended the university, as did his wife and son. In his immediate family, there are eight Duke degrees.

"He's had a long association with the university, which is valuable for an archivist, but he's also had the doctoral training to give him the academic experience to run the office," said Bob Durden, a Duke history professor who has written about the university. Durden served as chair of King's dissertation committee. "That combination of zeal for the university and a good solid scholarly background is a rare find for an archivist."

King says he's never believed the archives to be merely a storage area for papers, but rather an active participant in the life of the university community.

"I've always believed the archives has been important because university history has to have an active role and an accurate role in the decision making process here," King said in an interview. "The discussion on race last month is a good example of the kind of important debate that we are prepared to assist. Memories aren't always perfect, so you need a place where people can go to and find out the historical record on what was said, what was promised."

In a typical month, the office gets contacts from 150-200 people. The new executive director of the Robertson Scholars - the joint UNC-Duke scholarship program - wanted information about the history of cooperative efforts between the two institutions. A press office called for a photograph from the archives' extensive collection. Students regularly come in to research papers, and administrators call for help in writing speeches.

When he was hired in 1972 by President Terry Sanford, King found that the university papers existed in large amounts but in scattered places around campus. Some were stacked in mountainous piles of boxes in the basement of Duke Chapel. Others took up large amounts of the attic of Old Chemistry.

Three decades later, he says he's still being vigilant about adding to the archives' 8,000 linear feet of documents. "I was at a ceremony honoring Jean O'Barr (who's stepping down as director of women's studies). And I heard the word 'throw away' mentioned a few times. That always catches my attention. So I spend time doing personal contact to ensure that nothing valuable is lost.

"We are attuned to interests by questions that researchers ask when they come in. Early on, we knew the perennial questions would be alcohol, race, student living, residential life, etc. So we started a running chronological file that we keep on those big subjects. Then we also create specific files, and we are attuned to specific questions that we can answer them, questions like UNC-Duke cooperative projects."

In recent years, King started spending more time also promoting the archives and university history in general. "That's one thing I think he has brought to the job that wasn't considered initially," Durden said. "He has helped publicize the archives and its holdings, through speeches, through his columns, his book, If Gargoyles Could Talk. People now are more likely to know that something exists in the archives and is available to them."

King said part of that promotion is reaching out to new groups to fill in gaps in the archives. As minorities and women took on more active roles, the archives moved to document their roles, as well as to promote the history of past contributions.

Still there are gaps. King said one new initiative is to collect records from student organizations, from fraternities to multicultural student groups. "We get fraternity members coming in here trying to get information about their history, and we don't have anything because their records aren't being kept. We hope to change that. It's a never ending process."

In addition, part of that work is to correct the misperceptions of history. King says he still hears the myth about James B. Duke trying to buy Princeton or some other university at least once a month. But more importantly, there are large areas of forgotten university history that relate to the critical questions still facing the university, he said.

"For instance, everyone throws around words like interdisciplinary and internationalization, and a lot of times these are treated as brand new concepts," he said. "In fact, they have been part of the university from the very start. It's so easy for the university community to be caught up on the present and the future because there are so many deadlines and priorities. A university needs an active archives to balance that, to keep people on their toes."

One of King's new jobs is to help prepare the office for a transition when he leaves. One will be the challenge of e-mail and other electronic communication and Duke Web sites, which are becoming a widespread problem to document for archivists everywhere.

President Nannerl O. Keohane has formed a committee chaired by vice provost Judith Ruderman to conduct a national search for a new archivist. King said he looks forward to helping his successor.

"This is a personal decision," said King, who will be 63 when he retires. "After 30 years I just believe it's the right time. Duke is special to me, and it will still be a part of my life."