In a letter dating back to 1854, when Duke was known as Normal College, college president Braxton Craven wrote to University of North Carolina president David Swain to demand respect between both schools.

The letter is the earliest evidence of competitiveness between Duke and UNC and cites rumors that the UNC community described students at Normal College, which predates the names Trinity College and Duke University, as “small potatoes” and “a humbug,” according to Duke University Archivist Valerie Gillispie.

That rivalry flowed into athletics in 1888, when Trinity College first played UNC in football on Thanksgiving Day that year. Trinity won at the Raleigh state fairgrounds, 16-0.

Cheerleaders of Duke and UNC concocted a symbol for the rivalry in 1948: The Victory Bell, a traveling trophy given to the winner of the annual Duke-UNC football game. Duke has been in possession of the bell for the past two years.

“The fact that they’re geographically so close together has made them natural rivals over the years,” Gillispie said. “We benefit from being close to another great school, but we certainly enjoy the rivalry on these game days.”

Above, a crowd of 52,000 people gathered in Wallace Wade Stadium in November 1939 for the Duke-Carolina football game, according to the Library of Congress, which provided this photograph.

Football game traffic was congested back in 1939, according to this Library of Congress photo. Fans parked their cars along a North Carolina highway the day of the Duke-UNC football game, near the stadium. Duke University Archives states there aren’t any landmarks to distinguish the exact location, and notes on the Library of Congress website do not specify.

Kay Kyser, right, on platform, big-band leader and North Carolina native, attended the Duke-UNC football game in 1939 and hyped up the crowd alongside the cheerleaders, according to the Library of Congress. Kyser was known for his NBC radio show, “College of Musical Knowledge,” and attended UNC from 1923 to 1927, where he established a cheering section at games.

This early iteration of the Blue Devil mascot stands with Rameses, the UNC ram, in Duke’s stadium at the 1957 Duke-UNC football game. Photo courtesy of Duke University Archives.

Duke University Libraries’ Digital Collections contain 51 illustrated football programs for games against UNC, dating back to 1923, when Duke University was still known as Trinity College. This 1981 program is only one of the tongue-in-cheek covers displaying the Blue Devil versus Tar Heel rivalry. “The program covers have colorful, evocative illustrations that wonderfully document the rivalry over the years,” said Gillispie, Duke University archivist.