James Buchanan Duke - Philanthropy and Will

Philanthropy and Will

In December 1924, Duke established The Duke Endowment, a $40 million trust fund (about $430 million in 2005 dollars), some of which was to go to Trinity College. The University was renamed Duke University in honor of his father. The James B. Duke Library, the main campus library at Furman University, is also named for him because of philanthropic relationship with the university.

On his death, he left approximately half of his huge estate to The Duke Endowment, which gave another $67 million (about $725 million in 2005 dollars) to the trust fund. In the indenture of trust, Duke specified that he wanted the endowment to support Duke University, Davidson College, Furman University, Johnson C. Smith University; not-for-profit hospitals and children's homes in the two Carolinas; and rural United Methodist churches in North Carolina, retired pastors, and their surviving families.

The remainder of Duke's estate, estimated at approximately $100 million (about $1 billion in 2005 dollars), went to his twelve-year-old daughter, Doris, making her "the richest girl in the world". Doris sued her mother for control of the Duke Farms estate and won. Associating Duke Farms with fond memories of her father, Doris Duke made few major changes to the property other than the adaptation of her father's Conservatory to create Display Gardens in his honor. These gardens showcased her father's extensive sculpture collection and were open to the public from 1964 until closed by her foundation trustees in May 2008.