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Accessibility Note
Content is digitally accessible 2026.
Interviewees
Duke, Maurice
Interviewer
Hill, Kathryn Colwell
Description
Dr. J. Maurice Duke was Professor of English at VCU for over 30 years, and was instrumental in VCU's acquisition of Richmond author James Branch Cabell's library. He authored several works on Virginia history and literature and was a photographer and book page editor for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. He is presently staff historian for the Alliance to Conserve of Old Richmond Neighborhoods. In this interview, Dr. Maurice Duke discusses his background and education, work involving the library of James Branch Cabell, his thesis and dissertation on James Branch Cabell, experiences as first head of Special Collections at VCU Libraries, the growth of VCU, the Cabellian and Resources for American Literary study, changes in the VCU English graduate program, Tom Robbins and the Richmond literary scene in the late 1950s, and publications on Richmond's African American history.
Personal Name Subject
Duke, Maurice -- Interviews; Duke, Maurice -- Knowledge and learning; Cabell, James Branch, -- 1879-1958 -- Library -- History
Corporate Name Subject
James Branch Cabell Library -- History; Virginia Commonwealth University. Dept. of English -- History; James Branch Cabell Library. Special Collections and Archives -- History
Topical Subject
American literature -- Virginia -- Richmond; American literature -- African American authors
Geographic Subject
Richmond (Va.) -- Social life and customs
City/Location
Richmond (Va.)
Genre
oral histories (literary genre)
Local Genre
oral history; sound recording; text
Type
Sound; Text
Digital Format
audio/mp3
Language
eng
Rights Statement URL
Rights
This material is protected by copyright, and copyright is held by VCU. You are permitted to use this material in any way that is permitted by copyright. In addition, this material is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Acknowledgment of Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries as a source is required.
Collection
VCU Oral History Archive
Source
Oral history and related materials of Maurice Duke (Acc: 2005-12-15), Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University.
File Name
ohi_dukemaurice_part01.mp3