The papers of Kevin Duke consist primarily of materials related to the different community service groups with which he was involved: Trailblazers of Washtenaw County, Alliance for the Mentally Ill in Washtenaw County, the Equity Audit Committee, and the Wines Elementary School's School Management Team. More than half of the collections relate to Trailblazers. The collection has been divided into two series: Trailblazers of Washtenaw County and Other Projects.
Kevin Duke is an Ann Arbor businessman and an active member of several local community groups. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in English. In 1981, he started the Duke Realty Corporation. He is licensed as both a real estate agent and builder. Duke has also served as the president of the Halcyon II Corporation, a company that operates the Burwood House, an adult foster care home for the chronically mentally ill in Ann Arbor.
Duke has been a community activist in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County for over twenty years. He has worked with a variety of community service programs, such as food banks, and he ran for 9th District Washtenaw County Commissioner in the early 1990s. Duke was especially interested in the development of local support groups and services for the mentally ill and their families. He was president of the Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Washtenaw County from 1989 to 1990, and he received Washtenaw Community College's 1990 Community Organization Award in recognition of the Alliance's work. Duke was also a founder of the Trailblazers of Washtenaw County, a non-profit agency operating a clubhouse rehabilitation center for the mentally ill. He served on its executive board from 1989 to 1998.
As a father, involvement in his children's education expanded his community interests to include educational issues. Duke served on two Ann Arbor Public School committees: the Equity Audit Committee (1993-1997), and the Wines Elementary School's School Management Team (1995-1997). He was appointed to the Equity Audit Committee by the Ann Arbor Board of Education, and he was elected as a parent representative to the Wines Elementary School Management Team.
