1938: Duke’s first Centennial

In honor of Duke’s Centennial, The Chronicle is highlighting pivotal figures and events throughout the University’s history. Here we take a look at Duke’s first Centennial in 1938 to honor the founding of Brown’s Schoolhouse. 

Although Duke is celebrating its Centennial this year to mark the 1924 transition from Trinity College to Duke University, the institution previously recognized 1938 as its Centennial, commemorating 100 years since the founding of Brown's Schoolhouse.

In 1838, Duke’s first president Brantley York founded Brown’s Schoolhouse, a private subscription school in Randolph County, North Carolina. Once a humble log cabin with a single room and a handful of students, the University has since changed in nearly every way.

In honor of its first Centennial celebration, the University reflected on its past while expressing aspirations for the next century. President Vincent Price similarly reflected on the 2024 Centennial as a “historic opportunity to recognize Duke’s extraordinary past, communicate the impact of the present and look toward the potential of Duke’s future.”

The opening ceremonies

The University kicked off its original Centennial year on Oct. 6, 1938, with a series of keynote addresses in Page Auditorium featuring President William Few, Gov. Clyde Hoey, Robert Flowers, vice president, secretary and treasury of the University, and A.S. Brower, executive secretary of the committee on the Centennial.

Delivering the ceremony’s opening remarks, Flowers traced the evolution of the University from “a little brown schoolhouse in Randolph to the University of today.”

This was followed by a speech by Brower, who spoke about Centennial events to come, and Hoey, who briefly discussed Duke’s importance in the state and lauded the four upcoming symposia.

In his address, Price remarked that the University represents an “improbable story of success,” having overcome challenges and achieved significant milestones in the last century. He also expressed gratitude to the many people who have made an impact on the University and the Duke community over the years.

“Our Centennial is a gift to us,” Price said. “It's a chance to pause and reflect on our past. It's an opportunity to appreciate the present and to plan for the future. And in doing so, we should be grounded by a sense of humanity, honesty [and] humility.”

As blue and white balloons and confetti fell from overhead, the celebration came to a close with performers and speakers celebrating on the court and the audience singing along to Duke’s unofficial anthem, “Everytime We Touch.”

Symposia

Durham made its mark on the national map when it brought in prominent world leaders across various disciplines for a series of four Centennial symposia from October 1938 to March 1939. Each symposium spanned two to three days and consisted of speeches, lectures and discussions led by experts in leading disciplines.

The four themes addressed in the symposia included “The Future of American Medicine,” “The New Economic Base of the South,” “Law in Modern Society” and “Women in Modern Society.”

For the first installment in the series, a crowded Page Auditorium heard debates on Oct. 13, 1938, over the future of medical service in America and the potential of professional groups to cooperate with government health agencies. The discussion for the remaining two days centered on then-modern diseases such as anemia, pellagra, amebiasis and malaria and featured notable physicians such as George Whipple, 1934 Nobel Prize in Medicine laureate. Few and his wife hosted a reception in the evening for symposium guests and their spouses.

Over 500 Southern physicians reportedly attended the sessions, which were “closely watched by medical authorities throughout the world.” 

The University welcomed a range of specialists from across the South, including economists, bankers, industrialists, chemists, sociologists and agriculturalists for its second symposium, which began Nov. 17, 1938. The talks focused on the changing economic landscape of the South, the region President Franklin D. Roosevelt identified as the nation's No. 1 economic problem.

In his speech, Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace discussed foreign demand for Southern products and the prospect of industrial expansion in the region. Another prominent political leader, former Belgian Prime Minister Paul van Zeeland, confronted the question of “whether we will be able to keep peace” against the backdrop of the Munich Conference, highlighting the United States’ rising global influence as a sign of hope.

The third Centennial symposium, titled “Law in Modern Society,” opened Dec. 2, 1938, to address contemporary law, government policies and democracy preservation. Speakers invited for the symposium included Harold Laski, professor of political science at the University of London and adviser to the Labor Party, Sen. Arthur Vandenburg, R-Mich., and newspaper columnist Walter Lippmann.

The last session of the symposia was held Mar. 31, 1939, and centered on women and leadership. The meeting featured remarks from Mary Emma Woolley, president emerita of Mount Holyoke College, Marion Park, president of Bryn Mawr College, and Judge Florence Allen of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, among others. The event concluded with a sermon in the Duke Chapel delivered by Georgia Harkness, the first woman theologian to preach there.

This year, Duke Centennial organized a series of lectures, symposia and discussions in partnership with academic departments and campus organizations, open to all members of the Duke community. Like its 1938-39 predecessor, this year’s Centennial programming tackled contemporary social and educational issues amid political uncertainty and tension.

In February, Maria Ressa — Filipino-American journalist and recipient of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize — highlighted the impact of big technology and social media on journalism and democracy at a Rubenstein Distinguished Lecture. Other guest speakers throughout the month included Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times Opinion columnist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who discussed the 2024 election, higher education and journalism, and Isabel Wilkerson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Humanities Medal who delved into the nation’s history of hierarchies and divisions.

In March, Kimberlé Crenshaw visited the University to talk about her theory of intersectionality and the need to address threats to education and democracy. This was followed in April by an event discussing the rise of populism in America and free speech on college campuses featuring Fareed Zakaria, CNN host and political commentator, and David Rubenstein, Trinity ‘70, former chairman of the Board of Trustees and co-founder and co-chairman of the Carlyle Group.

The 2024-25 academic year opened with a fireside chat between former Congresswoman Liz Cheney and Professor of Political Science Peter Feaver at Page Auditorium, during which the former Republican politician endorsed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris for the 2024 presidential election.

As part of the University’s Centennial Founder’s Day and Homecoming Celebration Weekend, the University’s current and former presidents will gather for a Sept. 26 discussion in Reynolds Theater.

The official ceremonies

The original Centennial program culminated in a formal ceremony at the north end of the University’s main quadrangle from April 21 to 23, 1939.

Platforms with seats of 200 were set up on all sides of the quad, and 4,000 chairs were placed on the lawn facing the central stage. An April 18 edition of The Chronicle lauded the event as “perhaps the greatest parade of culture and personalities of the century.”

The celebrations took place as the world grappled with rising tensions in Europe, with conflict between totalitarian regimes and democracy appearing inevitable. In a program that included former Czechoslovakian President Edvard Benes, Sir William Bragg, president of the Royal Society of London, John Finley, editor emeritus of The New York Times, Hoey and the presidents of Brown and Princeton University, each of the distinguished speakers framed their addresses within the context of ongoing global events.

While Benes predicted the fall of totalitarian regimes and expressed optimism for “a better, a more democratic, a moral and peaceful Europe,” Bragg called for the free exchange of ideas and warned of the consequences of ignorance. In Few’s speech, he questioned whether it was possible to reconcile democracy with excellence.

“Certainly colleges and college graduates should contribute with ever-increasing strength toward the reconciliation of excellence and democracy upon which, I should think, the perpetuity of this public must finally rest,” he said.  

The formal ceremony also had its fair share of fun and entertainment. The speeches were accompanied by a series of musical performances, including a concert by John Carter, the popular Metropolitan Opera tenor, and two presentations of the opera Mikado.

Carter’s last-minute performance was met by a "loud ovation" from an “enthusiastic” audience at the Woman’s College auditorium. His rendition of the parlor song "I Dream of Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" and “Donkey Serenade” were reportedly well-liked by the student body.

The University’s 2024 Centennial program will also feature a concert during the Centennial Founder’s Day and Homecoming Celebration Weekend. Headlined by Grammy-award winning musician Ed Sheeran, the event welcomes “alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends” to Wallace Wade Stadium Sept. 27.

The 2024 Centennial year is scheduled to culminate in a campus-wide celebration Dec. 11 titled “Duke’s 100th Anniversary,” although details of the event have yet to be announced. The date commemorates 100 years since James B. Duke signed the indenture of trust and established the Duke Endowment, transforming Trinity College into Duke University.

Dedications

Duke’s first Centennial has left lasting legacies on campus, with many of its tangible traces still visible today through various memorial gifts.

The Centennial Weekend saw the formal dedication of the Sarah P. Duke Gardens. Although construction on the gardens had been ongoing since 1935, they remained closed for much of 1938. At the April 21, 1939, dedication event, visitors admired the terrace gardens and gathered to hear a speech around the pergola.

The Women’s College Class of 1939 donated a redecorated parlor in the East Duke building known as the Anna Branson Memorial as their Centennial gift. Designed by Karl Bock, a renowned New York interior decorator, the Victorian-style parlor features an oval marble-topped mahogany table under a chandelier. The room is further adorned with portraits of Benjamin N. Duke, James B. Duke, Washington Duke, President Braxton Craven and Few.

The University also commissioned Louis Orr, a Paris-based artist who was recognized as one of the leading etchers of the 20th century, to make a series of six etchings of the University. The Duke University Alumni Association sold the etchings, and the funds were used to finance scholarships.

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