Benjamin Newton Duke (April 25, 1855 – January 8, 1929) was an American

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

and

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...

industrialist and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

. He served as vice-president at

American Tobacco Company The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter and Goodwin & Company. The company was one of the original 12 members of ...

, being also founder of

Duke Energy Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Overview Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Duke Energy owns 58,200 megawatts of base-load and peak generation in ...

Life and career

He was the son of industrialist

Washington Duke Washington Duke (December 18, 1820 – May 8, 1905) was an American tobacco industrialist and philanthropist. During the American Civil War he enlisted in the Confederate States Navy. In 1865, Duke founded the "W. Duke, Sons & Co.", a tobacco ma ...

and his second wife Artelia Roney. His older half-brother was Brodie Leonidas Duke (1846–1919) and his full brother was

James Buchanan Duke James Buchanan Duke (December 23, 1856 – October 10, 1925) was an American tobacco and electric power industrialist best known for the introduction of modern cigarette manufacture and marketing, and his involvement with Duke University. ...

(1856–1925). On February 21, 1875, Benjamin Duke married Sarah Pearson Angier, with whom he had a daughter, Mary Lillian Duke, and a son,

Angier Buchanan Duke Angier Buchanan Duke (December 8, 1884 – September 3, 1923) was a trustee of Duke University from 1914–1923, as well as vice president and president of its Alumni Association. Early life Duke was born on December 8, 1884, in Durham, Nort ...

. Portraits of all four members of the family were commissioned from the Spanish painter

Joaquín Sorolla Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida ( va, Joaquim Sorolla i Bastida, 27 February 1863 – 10 August 1923) was a Spanish Valencian painter. Sorolla excelled in the painting of portraits, landscapes and monumental works of social and historical themes. Hi ...

in 1911. He entered his father's tobacco business, and in 1890 became vice-president of the

. In 1892, the Duke family opened their first textile business in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

, with Benjamin Duke at its head. In 1905, he and his brother James founded the Southern Power Company, which later became known as

. The company initially supplied electrical power to the Duke textile factory. Within two decades, their power facilities had been greatly expanded, and they were supplying electricity to more than 300 cotton mills and other industrial companies through an electrical grid that supplied cities and towns in the

Piedmont Region it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

of North and

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. In 1908, he had his half brother Brodie declared incompetent and taken to a sanitarium. Benjamin Duke and his brother were major contributors to the economic growth of the North Carolina economy and would expand into other areas with sizable investments in railroads and banks. Benjamin was a primary benefactor of Trinity College after it relocated to Durham in 1892. Over the years, he donated substantial funds for improvements, additions, and scholarships. Between 1926 and 1929, he donated approximately $3,000,000 (more than $30,000,000 in 2005 dollars) to twenty-seven different southern institutions of higher learning. Today,

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

offers the Benjamin Newton Duke Scholars program in honor of Benjamin Duke's life and philanthropy. "The B.N.," as it is known on Duke's campus, is a full-ride

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

to Duke University. The B.N. is awarded to students who excel academically and are committed to service and

civic engagement Civic engagement or civic participation is any individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern. Civic engagement includes communities working together or individuals working alone in both political and non-political actions to ...

. "BNs" must also display empathy, intentionality, imagination, and a commitment to building community. All applying students are considered for the scholarship. In addition to a full scholarship to Duke University and programs within their time at Duke, B.N. Duke Scholars also complete two "summers of service" in which they complete community service projects. One Summer of Service must take place in a low-income community in

the Carolinas The Carolinas are the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina, considered collectively. They are bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, and Georgia to the southwest. The Atlantic Ocean is to the east. Combining Nort ...

, and one is carried out in an international location of the scholars' choice. Following his death at his home in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1929, Benjamin Duke's remains were brought back to North Carolina for interment with his father and brother James in Memorial Chapel in the Duke University Chapel on the campus of

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duke, Benjamin Newton 1855 births 1929 deaths American energy industry executives American philanthropists American tobacco industry executives B Businesspeople from Durham, North Carolina Duke family Duke Energy people Burials at Memorial Chapel (Duke University Chapel)

Life and career

References

Further reading

External links