|
The Duke Endowment |
|
James Buchanan Duke and The Duke Endowment
James Buchanan Duke was born on December 23, 1856, in Durham County, North Carolina. The son of Washington and Artelia Roney Duke, "Buck" was eleven years old when his father returned to the family farm after serving in the Civil War. It is reported that following the war's devastation, Washington Duke's only material assets were two blind mules, fifty cents, and some tobacco that had been stored in a shed for several years. In fact, his primary assets were his sons, James Buchanan and Benjamin Newton. Together, the father and sons built the family business - slowly at first, but gaining great momentum in 1884 when the Dukes decided to gamble on a new venture: the mechanized mass production of cigarettes. The "gamble" was so successful that the small cottage industry grew rapidly into the mammoth American Tobacco Company - a firm so large, so complex, and so profitable, that when it was "busted" in the 1911 anti-trust decision, the only person who could dissect the giant company was its original architect, James Buchanan Duke.
The family fortunes were not, however, dependent on tobacco. Long before the 1911 action, the Dukes had directed their attention to another new development, hydroelectric power. This move led to the founding of Duke Power Company in 1905. Throughout the years of growth and prosperity, the two brothers, Ben and Buck, worked together in business and in philanthropy. Their sister, Mary Duke Lyon, was an early partner in the family endeavors, and encouraged the family's support of Trinity College, a regional institution that was affiliated with the Methodist Church and which later changed its name to Duke University. For many years the family contributed privately to Trinity and to hospitals, orphanages, and the Methodist Church. After their father's retirement and their sister's untimely death, James Buchanan took the lead in most of the Duke family's business affairs, while Benjamin Newton guided much of their philanthropy. Together, they began to plan a more systematic method of giving - one which would continue on into the future for the benefit of the Carolinas.
On December 11, 1924, "the Indenture of Trust" was signed, establishing The Duke Endowment, funded with assets of $40 million. The indenture is a document that establishes the causes and institutions to receive funding, as well as the reasons for these choices. It has provided guidance for the Endowment's trustees for almost seventy-five years. The indenture specifically names the following beneficiaries: Duke University, Davidson College, Furman University, Johnson C. Smith University; not-for-profit hospitals and children's homes in the two Carolinas; and rural United Methodist churches in North Carolina, retired pastors, and their surviving families. The indenture also gives Endowment trustees broad discretion to make grants for similar charitable purposes in accordance with Mr. Duke's wishes.
In 1925, James Buchanan Duke died, leaving a legacy of giving that continues to educate students and teachers, to heal minds and bodies, to nurture children, and to strengthen the human spirit.