Duke - Kimberly Sims https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/author/kimberly-sims en The King Paucus Affair https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/king-paucus-affair <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>One of the most notorious pieces of Duke’s theatrical history—an anonymously written play titled <em>The Vision of King Paucus</em>—never actually appeared on a campus stage. But when 300 copies of the three-page script showed up mysteriously in student and faculty mailboxes in late 1933, it caused a stir felt across the university.</p> <p>The script laid out a bitter lampoon of a Duke administration more concerned with football, grand campus buildings, and paying homage to the university’s rich benefactor than with the wants and needs of its students. The play’s central characters, thinly veiled parodies of university leaders, were given outrageous descriptions that left little doubt as to the target of their ridicule. President William Few was represented as King Paucus, “a thin, awkward man with a goatish beard.” Vice President Robert Flowers was characterized as Prince Struttabout Blossoms, “a self-important sonorous saynothing dressed in a curious suit of armour fashioned from coins.” Dean William Wannamaker was Lord Willie Wanna-be- King, “a pasty sort of ham-and-egg man wearing an academic robe.”</p> <p>The play’s most-pointed lambasting was directed at Henry Rudolph Dwire, Duke’s director of public relations, who appeared as Henri Rudolphus Fatpaunch, “the King’s eunuch and Lord of Ballyhoo, a man-sized infant with a head like a pumpkin and a croaking blah-blah voice. His eyes are beady, his face rat-like. His breath comes in short pants, but nevertheless he wears no pants, and is arrayed sometimes in the disguise of a fairy and at others à la Mahatma.”</p> <p>University administrators searched urgently for the identity of the author, apparently believing the author could be charged with sending obscene material through the mail (based on the fact that Fatpaunch was described as not wearing pants). Suspicion centered on Janet Earl ’35, a student from Iowa, because a spelling mistake in the play matched one she was known to make. But the author’s identity remained unknown for decades.</p> <div class="caption caption-center"> <div class="caption-width-container" style="width: 250px;"> <div class="caption-inner"><img alt="" class="media-image" src="/sites/default/files/users/196305/King-Paucus-vertical.jpg" style="height:364px; width:250px" /> <p><strong>Subject to ridicule: </strong>Few and Flowers became King Paucus and Price Struttabout Blossoms in thinly veiled theatrical parody.</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>It wasn’t until 1979, in an interview with former classmate Susan Singleton Rose ’35, A.M. ’87, that Earl admitted to writing <em>King Paucus</em>. She said she had been frustrated by the administration’s seeming indifference to student concerns and what she saw as administrators’ outmoded attitude toward academic freedom. Ernest Seeman, theneditor of Duke University Press and a vocal critic of the administration, encouraged her to express her feelings in writing. She drafted her play and gave it to Seeman, who had an out-of-state printer make 300 copies. Earl and two friends took the copies to Raleigh, where they anonymously mailed them to students and faculty.</p> <p>During the university’s investigation, Earl admitted her participation to law professor Leslie Craven, whom she had sought out for advice. He told her that Duke had hired the famed Pinkerton National Detective Agency to hunt for the author and that one of his classes had been investigate the case. Craven encouraged her never to speak of her involvement with <em>King Paucus</em>. He also urged her to consider transferring to another university, which she did. Craven, too, would soon leave Duke for a position in federal government. Years later, he related that he had told only two people about her role in the <em>King Paucus</em> affair: law school dean Justin Miller and former U.S. President Herbert Hoover, who, Craven said, laughed at the story.</p> <p>Earl, known later as Janet Earl Miller, went on to edit Quaker Oats’ company magazine and coauthor a book about her Iowa high school. She died in January 2012. Her obituary notes that among her pleasures were “her years at Duke University in North Carolina.”</p> <p>Seeman was dismissed from Duke Press in 1934. The official reason given for his dismissal was financial.</p> <p>Perhaps encouraged by the <em>King Paucus</em> stunt, several students took steps in February 1934 to address their complaints with the administration. A committee including students and faculty members was formed to address their concerns, which included a lack of on-campus social activities and access to athletics facilities, and the right of campus police to enter dormitory rooms without student permission. The success of this endeavor encouraged the creation of a stronger, more vocal student government— a predecessor of today’s Duke Student Government. Today, DSG advocates for communication between students and administrators, a dialogue that stems from a three-page play about a very odd king.</p> <p><em>Sims is a technical services archivist at Duke.</em></p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2013-02-13T00:00:00-05:00">Wednesday, February 13, 2013</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/dm-main-images/King-Paucus-script-banner.jpg" width="620" height="265" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-topics field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/art-art-history-and-visual-studies" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Art, Art History and Visual Studies</a></li><li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/arts-and-culture" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Arts and Culture</a></li><li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/campus-news" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Campus News</a></li><li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/performing-arts" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Performing Arts</a></li><li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/students" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Students</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-author field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Writer:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/author/kimberly-sims" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Kimberly Sims</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/spring-2013" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Spring 2013</a></li></ul></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue<section class="field field-name-field-sub-header field-type-text-long field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Sub-header:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Mocked by an outrageous play script, Duke administrators searched in vain for its secret author.</div></div></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Cover Story </h3> <h3 class="field-label"> Homepage </h3> Wed, 13 Feb 2013 10:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18498757 at https://alumni.duke.edu https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/king-paucus-affair#comments From the Vault: Collecting for future generations https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/vault-collecting-future-generations <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <div class="caption caption-center"><div class="caption-width-container" style="width: 350px;"><div class="caption-inner"><img alt="" class="media-image" height="255" style="float: left;" width="350" typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://magazine-dev.oit.duke.edu/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/070810-lg-retro.vault_.jpg?itok=BA4mW4DC" /><p class="caption-text"><strong>Treasure trove:</strong> Trinity College Historical Society holdings, first stored in a fireproof vault, evolved into today's Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library. Duke University Archives</p></div></div></div><p>In 1892, a young Trinity College history professor named Stephen B. Weeks came up with a plan to enhance the school's meager collection of historical materials. He established the Trinity College Historical Society and asked students and faculty members to join. The society's objective was to "collect, arrange, and preserve a library of books, pamphlets, maps, charts, manuscripts, papers, paintings, statuary, and other materials illustrative of the history of North Carolina and of the South, to rescue from forgetfulness the names and deeds of our first settlers, to encourage original work in the field of Southern History and to promote the study of the same by means of lectures and publications."</p><p>By 1894, the society had founded a museum and begun to collect relics of historical interest. When the Trinity Library opened in 1904, the new facility included a display room and a fireproof vault to store the society's treasures. These treasures included materials such as bullets from the Battle of the Crater near Petersburg, Virginia; a 1769 edition of Plutarch's Lives once owned by North Carolina Federalist and U.S. Supreme Court Justice James Iredell; and the papers of North Carolina author Edwin Wiley Fuller.</p><p>By 1906, the collecting focus of the society and museum shifted from relics to documents and printed materials of historical and research value. Thanks in large part to students, who solicited family and friends for documents and relics, the society owned more than 500,000 pieces of manuscript material by 1938.</p><p>These collections are the foundation of Duke's present Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library and University Archives.</p><p>An exhibition of the relics and documents collected by the Trinity College Historical Society will be on display in the Perkins Library Gallery, August 3 through October 10.</p> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2010-08-01T00:00:00-04:00">Sunday, August 1, 2010</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/default_images/dukmag-horizontal-placeholder.jpg" width="238" height="140" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-author field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Writer:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/author/kimberly-sims" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Kimberly Sims</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/jul-aug-2010" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Jul - Aug 2010</a></li></ul></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue Sun, 01 Aug 2010 08:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18502278 at https://alumni.duke.edu Houses That Line Campus Drive https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/houses-line-campus-drive <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-rss"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <table width="98%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><div class="media-header" style="width: 300px; float: right; margin: 0 0 10px 10px;"><div align="center"><div class="caption caption-center"><div class="caption-width-container" style="width: 300px;"><div class="caption-inner"><img src="/issues/010207/images/lg_proctorhouse2.jpg" alt="Campus Drive House" width="300" height="201" /><p class="caption-text"><span style="font-size: 10px;">Duke University Archives</span></p></div></div></div></div></div><p class="articletitle">As their architecture might suggest, the fourteen houses that line Campus Drive did not always serve as home to administrative departments. In fact, the residences were originally commissioned by the university during the 1930s to house faculty members and administrators. The construction of West Campus and the recruitment of additional faculty members had spurred a need for good-quality housing conveniently located.</p><p>At the suggestion of The Duke Endowment, the university established policies regarding new faculty housing on what was then Myrtle Drive. These included an annual rent of 8 percent of the total cost of the house, to be paid monthly; a clause that allowed the houses' original faculty owners to have a say in the size and architecture (the exceptions were four houses for administrators, built in the Gothic style to match West Campus); the provision that a faculty member could occupy his house as long as he taught at Duke, unless the university decided to make other arrangements; and the understanding that the tenant would pay all utilities.</p><p>The first twelve houses were completed in 1930 and 1931; the last two in 1937. Among those who lived in the houses in the early years were William H. Wannamaker, William Preston Few, Robert Lee Flowers, and Wallace Wade. By the late 1960s, most of the houses had been converted for administrative use. Today, thirteen are home to the offices of departments such as undergraduate admissions, the study-abroad program, and the Asian/Pacific Studies Institute. But one remains a private residence, that of Eleanore Jantz, the widow of Harold Jantz, a former visiting professor of Germanic languages and literature.</p><p class="articletitle"><em><span class="articletitle">—Sims is an Archives Assistant.</span></em></p></td></tr></tbody></table><!-- #EndEditable --> </div></div></div> <h3 class="field-label"> Published </h3> <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2007-01-31T00:00:00-05:00">Wednesday, January 31, 2007</span><section class="field field-name-field-main-image field-type-image field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Main image:&nbsp;</h2><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-none" src="https://alumni.duke.edu/sites/default/files/default_images/dukmag-horizontal-placeholder.jpg" width="238" height="140" alt="" /></figure></div></section><section class="field field-name-field-author field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Writer:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/author/kimberly-sims" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Kimberly Sims</a></li></ul></section><section class="field field-name-field-issue field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above view-mode-rss"><h2 class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even"><a href="/magazine/issue/jan-feb-2007" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Jan - Feb 2007</a></li></ul></section> <h3 class="field-label"> Featured article </h3> No <h3 class="field-label"> Background color </h3> blue Wed, 31 Jan 2007 10:00:00 +0000 Joseph Sorensen, JOSEPH E. 18500724 at https://alumni.duke.edu