Robert Franklin Durden (May 10, 1925 - March 4, 2016) was an American historian and author at who worked at

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 ...

. He wrote books about Duke's history, journalist James S. Pike, and historian

Carter G. Woodson Carter Godwin Woodson (December 19, 1875April 3, 1950) was an American historian, author, journalist, and the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). He was one of the first scholars to study the h ...

. He was born in Graymont, Georgia, to Virgil Edward Durden and Mildred Donaldson Durden. He studied at Emmanuel County Institute and

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

.Obituary
The News & Observer March 6, 2016 He served in the U.S. Navy. He received a Ph.D from Princeton in 1952. He married Anne Oller. He retired from Duke in 2001 and was awarded the University Medal. He died in Durham, North Carolina. Duke has a collectiom of his papers. He had two daughters, two granddaughters, and six great grandchildren. His ashes were spread in the Sarah P. Duke Gardens where his wife's ashes were also placed.

Writings

*''Reconstruction bonds & twentieth-century politics : South Dakota v. North Carolina, 1904'' 1967 *''The Launching of Duke University, 1924-1949'' 1993 *''The Dukes of Durham and The Launching of Duke University'' 1987 *''Electrifying the Piedmont Carolinas: The Duke Power Company, 1904-1997'' 2001 *''Bold Entrepreneur: A Life of James B. Duke'' 2009 *''The Gray and the Black: The Confederate Debate on Emancipation'' winner of the Jules F. Landry Award *''Carter G. Woodson: Father of African-American History'' *''The Self-Inflicted Wound: Southern Politics in the 19th Century'' 1985 *''James Shepherd Pike: Republicanism and the American Negro, 1850-82'' *''The Climax of Populism; The Election of 1896'' *''Lasting Legacy to the Carolinas; The Duke Endowment 1924-1994'' 1998

References

Duke University faculty {{DEFAULTSORT:Durden, Robert Franklin 1925 births 2016 deaths Emory University alumni 20th-century American historians Princeton University alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II 21st-century American historians People from Emanuel County, Georgia American military historians Historians of the American Civil War Historians of North Carolina Historians of African Americans