Date: Thursday, January 29th, 2026
Time: 5:00 – 6:30pm Location: Smith Warehouse, Ahmadieh Family Lecture Hall, Bay 4; 114 S Buchanan Blvd, Durham, NC
In 1974, a twenty-year-old Black woman named Joan Little found herself facing the death penalty for killing a white guard who had tried to rape her in an eastern North Carolina prison. The folks who campaigned on Little’s behalf understood the webs of sexual violence, state violence, and racialized carcerality that ensnared her, and they linked her trial to other sites of existential concern for Black women’s—and everyone’s—liberation. Her August 1975 acquittal spoke to the power of their critique and the reach of their organizing. 2025 marks the fiftieth anniversary of this landmark case that still offers lessons in the struggle for justice. Join historian Christina Greene, Ph.D. ’96, and death penalty lawyer Shelagh Kenney to discuss what Joan Little tells us about gender, incarceration, and state violence then and now.
Christina Greene is professor of Afro-American studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and author of Free Joan Little: The Politics of Race, Sexual Violence, and Imprisonment; Shelagh Kenney, is Interim Director of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation. Adriane Lentz-Smith, Associate Professor of History and African & African American Studies at Duke University, will introduce and moderate the discussion.
In addition to the panel, an exhibition of items related to Joan Little, including one of her handwritten, illustrated poems, will be on display in Perkins Library during the month of January 2026.
Header image: “Abolish Women’s Prisons” photograph of protestors outside of the NC Correctional Institution for Women, The News and Observer – Raleigh Times, November 1974. Nancy Blood Papers, Box 3, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
Post contributed by Jennifer Dai, Josiah Charles Trent History of Medicine Intern.
As I near the end of my first semester as the Josiah Charles Trent History of Medicine Intern at the Rubenstein Special Collections Library, I’ve started reflecting on some of the amazing materials I’ve had the opportunity to work with. From Vesalius to the Four Seasons, I’ve handled exquisite and priceless items, often becoming caught up in their splendor and rarity. In those moments, I’ve found it easy to forget the human side of medicine. I look at hand-colored drawings and notice the artistry and the time it took to create such pieces but forget that the depictions are often of actual events that happened to real people.
I’ve spent the past few months researching patent medicine (aka quack medicine). Its colorful advertisements, deadly undisclosed chemicals, statistics, and fun facts are flashy and interesting. But they distract from the humanity of medicine. How did these cure-alls truly affect those who were on the receiving end of these treatments? How and why were they used? This is where the story of William Anderson Roberts comes in.
Letter from William to his wife depicting a horseback riding show he attended after the war.
The William Anderson Roberts Papers start in the 1850s with a young William corresponding with friends and family about his faith, work as a portrait painter, and love life. By August 1859, letters that used to be addressed “Dear Brother” are now addressed “Dear Brother and Sister”, implying he has married (which he did, to a woman named Mary earlier that year). In 1861, William enlists in the Confederate Army and, throughout the war, is consistently in and out of the hospital. Despite numerous letters and attempts to be discharged due to a chronic medical condition called Neuralgia, he remains in the army until the end of war in 1865.
Letter describing Gold Remedy as a cure for opium addiction from 1886.
This lifelong affliction led to William’s first prescription for opium. He states that it not only “relieved the dreadful pain, but it soothed and quieted my irritable nervous system and stimulated my mind to act with double strength and quickness.” Later in his writing, he claims he could have stopped the habit if it hadn’t been for the “Cruel War.”
During the “Cruel War” in 1864, a doctor prescribed opium to help with ongoing diarrhea and dysentery after William had a bad case of measles. This treatment continued for weeks, and when he tried to stop, he found that he could not complete his assigned duties. He tried for years to overcome his dependence but was unable to paint or function without taking morphine.
Note from William describing his poor relationship with his wife and troubles with morphine addiction.
William never overcame the addiction. By the 1880s the effect of continued opiate use is apparent in his correspondence. Where he had previously been requesting assistance from patent medicines, he now practically begs for cures. He states that his wife doesn’t understand him and has never even tried and goes as far as to say she would be better off if he were no longer alive. He mourns the life he could have had and discusses his guilt over not being a healthy and happy husband and father.
Fittingly, the last item attributed to him, and how his date of death is estimated, is a receipt for morphine dated between June and September 1900. Based on this estimate, he died at 63 years old.
Receipt for opium from 1900.
William’s story isn’t particularly unique. Many people then became addicted to opium after taking the medicine under a doctor’s orders. Many people still do.
What is remarkable about this collection is that we have access to his letters over 150 years after they were received. This collection, and those like it, give us the chance to see the humanity in individuals from over 100 years ago. To understand a person’s struggle and see firsthand the effects it has on them is something deeply intimate. Looking beyond the titles or rarity of items, you may just find the humanity of someone you will never meet.
The David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library is now accepting applications for the 2026 – 2027 Research Travel Grant Programs, offering awards of up to $1,500 to support research projects associated with the following collecting Centers, subject areas, and collection holdings:
Archive of Documentary Arts General Grant
Archive of Documentary Arts Sidney Gamble Travel Grant
Doris Duke Foundation Travel Grant
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick Travel Grant
Harry H. Harkins, Jr. T’73 Travel Grant
History of Medicine Collections
Human Rights Archive
John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History
John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History
Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture (Mary Lily Research Grants)
Anyone whose research would be supported by resources from the Rubenstein Library’s research centers is eligible to apply. We encourage applications from students at any level of education; faculty and teachers; visual and performing artists; writers; filmmakers; public historians; and independent researchers.
For assistance determining the eligibility of your project, please contact AskRL@duke.edu with the subject line “Travel Grants.”
Eligibility
Applicants must reside beyond a 100-mile radius of Durham, N.C., and may not be current Duke students or employees.
Information Session
An online information session will be held Wednesday, January 14, 2026, 2-3 PM EST. This program will review application requirements, offer tips for creating a successful application, and include an opportunity for attendees to ask questions of staff involved with the travel grant program. This information session will be recorded and posted online afterwards. You can register for the session here.
Timeline
The deadline for application will be Friday, February 27, at 8:00 PM EST. Decisions will be announced by the end of April 2026 for travel during May 2026 – June 2027. Awards are paid as reimbursements for personal expenses after completion of the research visit(s).
The Corinthian Poster, 1974, Box 1, University Archives Poster Collection, Duke
Post contributed by Meredith Mobley, University Archives Intern for Student Engagement.
In February of 1974, the Duke Players, who were founded as an independent student theater group in 1931, brought to Durham the premiere of a new, world-class production: The Corinthian. The new play was based on the myth of Oedipus: the age-old tale of a man who murders his father and marries his mother. In the newspaper Durham Sun, Philip Lawrence, the author and director of the play, called it “a complete and new play” — instead of adapting Sophocles’ existing work, he aimed to create an entirely new work that prioritized the themes of the myth rather than the dialogue and directions provided by Sophocles millennia ago.
The play starred two professional Broadway actors, John Callum (Oedipus) and Laura Stuart (Jocasta), with a supporting cast made of local and student talent. News of the play’s premiere was met with much fanfare across the Triangle, but the Players worried as ticket sales failed to meet their expectations and opening night crept closer. But audiences flocked to the production, intrigued by the investment that Duke Administration had made by supporting external, professional talent. Local reviewers noted that a standing ovation was received on opening night, but they themselves were reluctant to give the same praise to the play. In The Chronicle on February 28, 1974, Sally Austen Tom made the evaluation that The Corinthian was a “fine production of a flawed play.” She added that “Its faults, however, do not make the original goals, to have a world premiere of a play at Duke, and to undertake a large Page production, any less exciting or any less laudable.”
The Corinthian Program, 1974, Box 1, University Archives Poster Collection
The Corinthian was the first time in Duke’s history that a world premiere was held on campus. Since then, student written plays, in addition to classics and emerging works, are given by the Players. The Duke Players, through their commitment to artistry and pursuit of good theater, helped to further establish the drama program at Duke, culminating in the formal establishment of the Department of Theater Studies in 2003.
The story of The Corinthian can be found in the scrapbook kept by the Duke Players during the 1973-1974 academic year. The scrapbook is located in Box 7 of the Duke Players records collection of the University Archives, housed in the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. More information about the Duke Players can be found in their collection guide. The University Archives relies on donations from student organizations to document and preserve the history of Duke University and the impact of its students. If you are interested in donating your organization’s records (physical or electronic) to the University Archives, follow this link to learn more.
Header Image: Duke Players Scrapbook, 1973-1974, Box 7, Duke Players Records
Post contributed by Amelia Wimbish, DCL at Duke Intern
Today we celebrate the birthday of Lyda Moore Merrick: an artist, a teacher, and a steward of community life in Durham. She was attentive and deliberate in how she showed up for others, offering her abilities where they were needed. People who knew her remembered her patience, her composure, and the thoughtful way she moved through the world.
She was born on November 18, 1886, in a home on Fayetteville Street where her parents, Sarah McCotta “Cottie” Dancy Moore and Dr. Aaron McDuffie Moore, cared for neighbors before a hospital for Black residents existed in Durham. The rhythm of that household formed her understanding of responsibility and how one might carry it. Her life is documented not only in her father’s papers but also in the papers of Dr. Charles DeWitt Watts, her son-in-law, whose correspondence and family materials help preserve her story.
Family photograph of Lyda V. Merrick from the 1960s
Lyda was observant and patient, drawn to books, art, and music. At Whitted School she excelled in her studies and graduated as valedictorian. She continued her education at Barber-Scotia Seminary in Concord, a school that prepared Black women to teach and to serve their communities, and then at Fisk University, where she earned her degree in music with honors in 1911. Later she studied art at Columbia University. These institutions connected her to networks of Black educators, artists, and cultural workers and affirmed what she had already learned at home: knowledge holds value when it is shared. She often remembered watching her father read his Bible and study medical research late into the night, long after his formal training had ended. From him she learned that responsibility was not a task completed, but a way of living.
In 1916 she married Edward Richard Merrick. Their home at 906 Fayetteville Street became a place for lessons, conversation, and encouragement. She taught piano and violin to students of many ages, guiding them toward confidence through daily practice. She served as organist at St. Joseph’s AME Church, where music shaped both worship and community life. Those who studied with her remembered calm instruction paired with high expectations, and an approach to teaching that treated skill as something developed over time.
Lyda made art throughout her life. She painted portraits and landscapes and often worked from memory to hold on to places and people who mattered. Her portrait of her father, completed in 1940, remains on display at the Stanford L. Warren Branch of the Durham County Library. Later in life, she drew a detailed map of Hayti from her recollection, recording the neighborhood’s homes, streets, and gathering places. Her art was a form of remembrance, a way of keeping community life visible and known. Across her life, she treated art, teaching, and community work as one practice: preserving what mattered by making it shareable.
Brochure interior describing the organizations mission and support for blind readers.A printed brochure from the North Carolina Federation of Negro Women’s Clubs, Inc., featuring the motto “Lifting As We Climb.”
Her work with blind readers grew from a long relationship. As a young mother, she came to know John Carter Washington, who was blind and deaf from infancy and was receiving care through Lincoln Hospital, where her father worked as a physician and as hospital superintendent. Their friendship endured for more than sixty years. When Washington noted the lack of reading material available to Black blind readers, Lyda responded. In 1952 she founded The Negro Braille Magazine, later adopted as a project of the Durham Colored Library. Volunteers gathered regularly to transcribe essays, sermons, and articles into Braille by hand. The magazine reached readers throughout the United States and internationally. Later renamed The Merrick Washington Magazine, it continued for decades under her daughter’s and later her granddaughter’s leadership. It remains a rare example of Black-led accessible publishing and a testament to collective effort. In 1973, her leadership in the project was recognized by a letter of commendation from the White House.
Recognition of Lyda’s work came steadily across her life. Community organizations, cultural groups, and professional associations honored her not just for what she accomplished, but for how she carried her responsibilities. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and Links, Inc. of Durham recognized her leadership. The Daughters of Dorcas and Sons Quilting Guild honored her role in sustaining craft and cultural memory. The North Carolina Library Association granted her honorary membership for her leadership with the Durham Colored Library, her way of continuing her father’s legacy. The Hayti Heritage Center named a gallery in her honor, a testament to her influence on Durham’s artistic life.
Late in life, Lyda reflected on her experiences in an oral history published in Hope and Dignity: Older Black Women of the South. She spoke about the institutions her community built and maintained, and about the belief that cultural and educational life should be shaped by those who participate in it. Her recollections emphasize continuity and ongoing effort rather than singular accomplishments.
Her presence is still visible in Durham. Her portrait of her father greets visitors at the Stanford L. Warren Branch Library. Her hand-drawn map of Hayti preserves the memory of a neighborhood reshaped by time. Issues of The Merrick Washington Magazine survive in collections as evidence of shared labor and sustained commitment.
A hand-drawn map created from memory, documenting the homes, streets, churches, and gathering places of Hayti.
She once reflected, “My father passed a torch to me which I have never let go out. We are blessed to serve.” The care she carried did not end with her lifetime. It continues in the practices of teaching, memory work, and community stewardship today. On her birthday, we honor the torch she tended and the work that keeps it lit.
Sources and Further Reading:
Dr. Charles DeWitt Watts Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Includes correspondence, family materials, John Carter Washington materials, and extensive documentation relating to The Negro Braille Magazine and The Merrick Washington Magazine.
Materials relating to Dr. Aaron McDuffie Moore in the Rubenstein Library
Appearing throughout the C. C. Spaulding Papers and related institutional and family collections.
Hand-drawn map of Hayti by Lyda Moore Merrick
Available through Durham County Library and the Rubenstein Library digital collections.
Portrait of Dr. Aaron McDuffie Moore (1940)
Painted by Lyda Moore Merrick. On display at the Stanford L. Warren Branch Library.
Hope and Dignity: Older Black Women of the South, by Emily Herring Wilson
Temple University Press.
Aaron McDuffie Moore: An African American Physician, Educator, and Founder of Durham’s Black Wall Street (2020), by Blake Hill-Saya
It is with profound sadness that we share that graphic artist, mask-puppet-and-banner maker, violinist, country dance teacher, and community activist Allan Troxler passed away on October 26, 2025.
Born and raised in Greensboro, Troxler became a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War and participated in civil rights organizing and campaigns. He also worked in Boston to preserve neighborhoods threatened by urban development. Later, Troxler moved to a communal farm in rural Oregon with his partner, noted gay activist Carl Wittman. While in Oregon, Allan and Carl helped to publish RFD, a magazine for gay men living in rural America.
Returning to North Carolina in 1979, Troxler and Wittman were actively involved in arts, dance, and cultural programs throughout the region. Both devotees of English Country Dance and leaders in a national dance movement, they started Sun Assembly, its weekly dances and New Year’s celebrations in Durham weaving an egalitarian community beyond gender binaries.
Troxler and Wittman were early members of the North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Health Project, which sought to improve access to medical care and information for the gay community, particularly as it endured the spread of HIV/AIDs in the early 1980s. They were vocal activists against homophobia and the criminalization of homosexuality. Over the years they helped organize a range of community projects and protests. Wittman died of AIDS in early 1986.
Papercut broadside by Allan Troxler. Allan Troxler Papers, 1800s-2024.
Troxler’s writings, dance, artwork, and activism continued through his life. His work appeared in Southern Exposure, RFD, and local features and press. He created Camas Swale, a series of “occasional pamphlets,” along with other zines and artwork by pseudonym E. Bunny. Troxler’s work frequently expressed political views, opposing anti-gay legislation, and promoting peace and inclusivity. Much of this artwork was distributed to local friends in his community network.
Troxler was honored as an LGBT Pioneer at the Executive Mansion by Governor Roy Cooper in June 2024 along with Mandy Carter as Carolinians who “for decades led the charge for acceptance and equality.” Troxler’s artwork and papers, along with Wittman’s, reside in the Rubenstein Library.
From Troxler’s writings: “Here we be, ears ringing as some of us grieve ancient companions just gone; others meting out pills; potions in portions! Through the window cicadas rattle their ancient benedictions: Life, death. Through the curtain Sister Heavenly Light blesses us all.”
Header Image: Allan Troxler. Portrait by Annie Segrest.
The History of Medicine Collections recently received the Thomas Bashore, M.D., Collection of Artifacts. Dr. Bashore is Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the Duke University Medical School, where he specialized in treatment of cardiovascular conditions and congenital heart disease. He first began collecting historic medical artifacts, such as mechanical devices relating to electrotherapy and cardiology, and expanded his collection to include fringe medical instruments and treatments.
Please join us on Wednesday, October 29, at 4:30 p.m. to celebrate the Thomas Bashore Collection. Dr. Bashore will provide remarks.
The United Nations considers intellectual freedom to be a basic human right through Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which asserts: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
Libraries in particular value intellectual freedom as part of their mission to provide and protect access to information and ideas. According to the American Library Association intellectual freedom is an integral component of a democratic society, protecting an individual’s right to access, explore, consider, and express ideas and information as the basis for a self-governing, well-informed citizenry. Yet there is an intensification of threats to intellectual freedom across the United States, with pressure on curriculum and research, book and program challenges, and censorship attempts continuing to reach unprecedented levels.
This year’s Janie K. Long Speaker Series program will focus on the impact of challenges to intellectual freedom on higher education and the steps we can take to support students, faculty, staff, and other members of our community. We will also honor Duke Alumnus Harry H. Harkins Jr, T’73 longtime supporter of LGBTQ+ library collections, scholars, and this event series.
Speakers: Robin Koshelev, Duke undergraduate researcher, Dr. Janie K. Long, Duke faculty emerita, Dr. Joseph Salem, University Librarian, Dr. Pete Sigal, Department of History; moderated by author, journalist, and Duke alumnus Steven Petrow.
Sponsored by: Duke University Libraries, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke Department of History, and the Duke Program for Scholars and Publics.
Post contributed by Jennifer Dai, Josiah Charles Trent History of Medicine Intern.
Image of Psycho-Phone printed on wax cylinder case.
The History of Medicine Collection has recently acquired a fringe medical device, known as the Psycho-Phone, as a part of the Thomas Bashore Collection. Little is written about this item; upon immediate inspection it looks like every other wax cylinder phonograph, however, when you dive deeper you learn the interesting history of this hypnotic device.
In June 1927 the popular psychology magazine titled “Psychology: Health, Happiness, Success” advertised an instrument that claimed it would “enable you to use your vast unconscious powers to get more out of life.” This instrument, called the Psycho-Phone, would allow users to listen to recorded messages of affirmation while sleeping. Created by Alois Benjamin Saliger, this device utilized a clock which would be set to the time when an individual would be at their “most receptive cycle of sleep”. At that time, the device would turn on and play recordings of Mr. Saliger himself reading affirmations such as “you are being rejuvenated in perfect health.” “Your weight is normal.” “Your hair is growing in luxurious abundance.” and “I am now having a wonderful rest.” Once the affirmation was completed the device would automatically turn off and the listener would continue to sleep as a better version of themselves.
Recorder for the wax cylinder psycho-phone.
There were two variations of this device, either utilizing a disc or a wax cylinder to play these recordings. One major difference, aside from price, is that the wax cylinder version would allow users to record their own affirmations. In our collection we have a wax cylinder Psycho-Phone surrounded by numerous empty wax cylinders just waiting to hold affirmations. Enclosed in the travel case which holds the Psycho-Phone is a letter from Mr. Salinger himself from October 1927. He states that they had also sent “some information regarding affirmations which we think you will find useful as it has been prepared in the light of much expertise.” Unfortunately, we do not have the materials Mr. Saliger spoke of in his letter, leaving us to wonder what affirmations he personally recommended to buyers of his device. After allegedly selling 2,500 devices by 1933, the company disappeared, as did many of those devices.
Nearly 100 years later, we have apps and television shows that promote mental health in similar ways to Mr. Saliger’s device. A quick Google search will show numerous videos and podcasts promoting sleep affirmations. With this in mind, I see the Psycho-Phone as more than a heavy device that once resided on a few bedside tables, it’s the physical proof that no matter when in history you happen to live, we’re always striving for betterment any way we can.
