Historic Charlotte

The Duke Endowment was established
December 11, 1924, when North Carolina
industrialist and philanthropist James
Buchanan “Buck” Duke created the trust that
bears his name. But the roots of the foundation
go much deeper.
When Washington Duke, Buck’s father,
returned to the family farm near Durhan
following service during the Civil War, his only
material assets were two blind mules, fifty
cents, and some tobacco that had been stored in
a shed for several years. To survive, Washington
Duke, along with Buck and his older brother,
Benjamin, went on the road, selling small
pouches of tobacco from the back of a wagon.
From this humble beginning, the small
company eventually evolved into the mammoth
American Tobacco Company. The family
fortunes, however, were not dependent on
tobacco. Long before an anti-trust decision
split the tobacco company in 1911, the Dukes
had invested in the textile industry and
turned their attention to a new development,
hydroelectric power. This led to the founding
of Duke Power Company, now Duke Energy.
As their fortunes grew, the two brothers, Buck
and Benjamin, worked together in business
and philanthropy. Largely through the guidance
of Benjamin Duke, the Duke family for
many years contributed generously and privately
to selected hospitals, orphanages, the Methodist
Church, and Trinity College, a small Methodistaffiliated
school. By the time Buck Duke signed
the indenture creating The Duke Endowment
in 1924, the general trends of the family’s
philanthropic interests were already established.
The Endowment systematized and strengthened
what already existed.
The Duke Endowment received its original
assets from Buck Duke in the amount of $40
million, most of which consisted of stock in
Duke Power Company. In accordance with his
wishes, stock in Duke Energy remains the
Endowment’s largest single investment. The
original asset base of $40 million was increased
in 1925, when Buck Duke died and left the
Endowment $67 million in his will.
A total of $17 million from these two gifts
was designated for the construction of Duke
University, formerly Trinity College. Thus, in
1925, the Endowment had $90 million on
which to earn income and make grants. At the
end of 2000, its assets were valued at more
than $2.8 billion.
The Duke Endowment focuses its grant making
on the areas specified in Buck Duke’s indenture,
healthcare and children’s welfare in North
and South Carolina, the rural United Methodist
Church and its pastors in North Carolina, and
four universities: Duke, Davidson, Furman, and
Johnson C. Smith.
In 2000 the Endowment, which has its
headquarters in Charlotte, appropriated almost
$100 million for programs in North and South
Carolina, ranking The Duke Endowment
among the largest philanthropic foundations in
the nation.
✧
THE DUKE
ENDOWMENT
Above: James Buchanan Duke.
Below: The statue of Buck Duke on the
campus of Duke University.
COURTESY OF DUKE UNIVERSITY PHOTOGRAPHY.
PHOTO BY LES TODD.
QUALITY OF LIFE
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