History of Duke University - Birth of Duke University: 1924-1938

Birth of Duke University: 1924-1938

On December 11, 1924, James B. Duke established The Duke Endowment, a $40 million (about $430 million in 2005 dollars) trust fund, the annual income of which was to be distributed in the Carolinas among hospitals, orphanages, the Methodist Church, three colleges, and a university built around Trinity College. President William Preston Few insisted that the university be named Duke University, and James B. Duke agreed on the condition that it be a memorial to his father and family.

The university grew up quickly. Duke's original campus (now East Campus) was rebuilt from 1925 to 1927 with Georgian-style buildings. The School of Religion and Graduate School opened in 1926. By 1930, the majority of the Gothic style buildings on the campus one mile (1.6 km) west were completed in order to accommodate the Undergraduate Trinity College for men as well as the professional schools. The Women's College on East Campus opened in 1930, at the same time as the men's Trinity College, the Medical School, and the Hospital opened on West Campus. The Law School, founded in 1904, was reorganized in 1930. The School of Nursing was founded in 1931, and the construction of Duke Chapel was complete in 1935. In 1938, the School of Forestry (later becoming the School of the Environment opened. That same year, Duke’s football team, deemed the “Iron Dukes,” went unscored upon the entire regular season, finally giving up a touchdown to USC in the final minute of the 1938 Rose Bowl loss. Shortly thereafter, Duke University became the thirty-fourth member of the Association of American Universities.