Duke University is a private school in Durham, North Carolina. The university libraries contain a wide variety of books, manuscripts, and other resources. Duke University Hospital is a noted teaching and training institution. The Duke Forest serves as a laboratory for outdoor education and environmental science research. The marine laboratory near Beaufort, North Carolina, is used for training and research in marine biology and oceanography.
The school originated in 1838 as an academy. It became Union Institute in 1839, and in 1859 it was renamed Trinity College. The school is named for the Duke family. Washington Duke, a wealthy manufacturer of tobacco products, was an early benefactor of Trinity College. Duke’s son, the tobacco millionaire James B. Duke, provided an endowment in 1924 that helped the college become a leading university. The university’s athletic teams are called the Blue Devils. The university’s website at https://duke.edu/ presents information about the school today.
