“100 Years of Duke: Names to Remember” at the Museum of Durham History

As you may be aware, Duke is celebrating its Centennial this year. We’ve all been privy to what this has entailed. Beyond campus, Durham is also celebrating the Centennial of their relationship with the University. One shining example of this premiered September 20th. The Museum of Durham History’s exhibit “100 Years of Duke: Names to Remember,” takes a nuanced approach to how Duke is discussed and emphasizes the mutual dependence and shared growth of Durham and Duke. 

The Museum of Durham History is housed in a converted bus station — a small space off of Main Street, near the American Tobacco Campus. The exhibit covers the majority of the museum’s limited exterior and interior space. From banners to a gazebo exhibit to an interior full of stories that cover everything from the nation’s first female PA to a history of our beloved mascot, almost everything you can see is Duke-themed.

As you enter the museum’s intimate campus, the aforementioned banners greet you, showcasing important figures in Duke’s history. The names include Nancy Buirski, an Emmy award-winning documentarian, alongside members of the Duke family and groundbreaking and foundational figures in our history. One thing that these banners emphasize is just how alive Duke’s history is. For an institution like ours, it's rare to have a founding family still so involved and to have our history and development to be so tangible.

A visitor then moves to the gazebo, arguably the centerpiece of the exhibit, to see James Buchanan Duke’s journey from businessman to philanthropist, which parallels the journey of Duke from schoolhouse to research university. The gazebo strikes a difficult balance of centering figures like Buchanan and Crowell, the fourth president of Duke’s predecessor Trinity College and the individual who oversaw its move to Durham, while representing those that have been marginalized, including Julian Abele and the women who studied at Trinity.

When one moves inside, you’re met with the most moving exhibit in its specificity and simplicity – the story of an individual life. Joyce Clayton Thorpe Nichols (PA School ‘70) was the first female and first black female PA in the U.S, at a time when most physician assistants were Vietnam vets. Spanning two walls and an entire life, the Joyce Clayton Thorpe Nichols Exhibit encapsulates all Duke University can be when people with great passion and a drive to improve their profession and community are given the opportunity to thrive. Ms. Nichols is also the perfect example of the symbiosis of Duke and Durham – a woman who grew within Duke and was able to leave a tangible impact on both the city and university in which her professional self was fostered.

In addition to their new exhibit on Duke’s history, MODH has been expanding its reach beyond its physical confines to grow our community’s understanding of and appreciation for its history. When talking with Clay Harrison, the museum’s operations manager, I was struck by the desire for growth at the museum — an implied emphasis on the need for historical curation in a town growing as quickly as Durham. We discussed their outreach in coordination with local organizations like the Durham Colored Library, the Durham Arts Council and the Hayti Heritage Center. It’s formal and informal relationships like these that allow the museum and those that share its values to grow. Without a strong sense of shared purpose and lacking the finances of older, more robust institutions of the city, it would be easy for MODH and similar organizations to fall behind.