407 Swift Avenue

The earliest available records indicate that the land at 407 Swift Ave was deeded from J. B. Mason to J.A. Williams in 1917. While the house does not exist on the 1913 Sanborn maps, it was likely built either shortly before or shortly after this deed transfer in 1917. Williams was a carpenter who built and lived in the neighboring home, 405 Swift Avenue, with his wife Mary Myrtle Williams for many years. He owned 407 Swift until 1942 when he sold it to Walter and Mary Wegener. The Wegeners owned the home until 1947 when they sold it to Mrs. Ermengarde W. Hawkins. In 1947 and 1948, the house changed hands multiple times, from Ermengarde and M.P. Hawkins to W.F. and Betsy Swain, and then ultimately to B.W. and Elizabeth Parker Roberts. In 1960, the Roberts sold the home to their son, Bennett Watson Cowper Roberts, who owned it until 2013 when he sold it to Joseph and Canu DiBona. Canu and Robin Renee DiBona sold it to the current owners, Duke University, in 2025. 

Perhaps what is most notable about this home is that, in its close to 110 years, it was most likely never owner-occupied as far as we can ascertain. According to the Durham city directories, the occupants include a long and varied list of mostly working class and middle class tenants. While the directories are not exhaustive and there are almost certainly more tenant names that were not included, we have been able to document over 90 individuals who lived in this home over the course of its 100+ years. While it may not have been originally designed as a duplex (its current configuration), there were multiple families living in the home as early as 1934.

While we know that there were houses occupied on Swift Avenue well before they appear in the city directories, the first listing of occupants on that street by address is in 1926. The first tenants we have been able to document at 407 Swift are A. Graham Carroll, a carpenter, and his wife Leona, who lived in the home from 1926-1927. 

Some of the tenants with the longest occupancy include Earl S. Earp, his wife Audrey I. Earp, and their two children. They are listed as tenants in the home from 1935-1940 and again from 1947-1948. During these years, Earl worked as a steamfitter at Rowe-Coward Inc, a foreman at Camp Butner, and a mechanic at T C Malone Heating Company. Earl and Audrey are buried just down the road from 407 Swift at Maplewood Cemetery. 

Another notable tenant at 407 Swift was Olga Marx Perlzweig who resided in the left side unit of the house from 1950-1956. Olga moved to 407 Swift following the death of her husband William A. Perlzweig in 1949. Dr. William Perlzweig was a notable professor and chair of the biochemistry department at Duke Medical School, among other distinguished accomplishments. Olga Marx Perlzweig was an accomplished academic in her own right, working as a translator and bibliographer at Duke and publishing poetry and translations of classical literature under her maiden name.  

The most recent occupant of the home was Kelly Creedon, who lived in the B unit of 407 Swift from 2016-2026. From 2019-2026, the A side unit of the property was also home to The Living Room, a community gathering space. 

Here is a partial list of additional tenants to give a sense of the life of the home:
(Note: In the case of married couples in the older city directories, the listings often primarily focus on the name and occupation of the husband while there often is no information beyond first name regarding the wife. We regret this historical oversight.)

• 1928-29: Oppie Reid Lloyd, a machinist, and his wife Viola Sarah Gunter Lloyd
• 1930: Carl D. Whitfield, a fireman at Duke University, and his wife Olivia C Whitfield
• 1931: Clarence V. Davis, a clerk at the West Durham Post Office, and his wife Thelma C. Davis
• 1932: Pressly W. Welch, a maintenance mechanic at Duke University, and his wife Gertie L. Welch
• 1934: Eugene Hilliard, a textile worker, and his wife Pauline Hilliard; Moses Ashley, a textile worker, and his wife Viola Ashley. 
• 1942-43: Grover C. Edwards, a textile worker, and his wife Ona Edwards. 
• 1949-51: Fred Whitener, a student musician at Duke who was the band leader of the “Duke Ambassadors”, and his wife Brooks. 
• 1955-1958: Earl L. Radford, a student and later X-ray tech at Duke Hospital, and his wife Mary D Radford. 
• 1958: Thomas H. Ferrell, clerk at Lyon Hardware store, and his wife Lillie M. Ferrell
• 1959-1962: Thel H. Riley, a painter at the Claude May decorating company, and his wife Louise W. Riley
• 1960: Mrs. Marie Nichols, a waitress at the Blue Light Restaurant
• 1963: John L Holshouser, student
• 1964: William Breen, graduate student
• 1965-66: Gilbert L. Gates, student
• 1967: Jack H. Prost, professor at Duke Hospital, and his wife Stephanie 
• 1968-69: Donald B Myers, student, and Mrs Bessie Morton, also a student
• 1970-72: James A Boyrston, physician, Duke Hospital
• 1972-74: John D. Lerch, student
• 1973-1976: Jan Thompson, receptionist, Duke University and Hospital
• 1977-78: Jim Fergerson, Don Baffard, and Paul Kalatos, all students
• 1980-82: Dori Allen, David & Sally Allen, and Laura J. Bond, all students
• 1983-85: Mark Ling, student 
• 1992-95: Herbert Reisenbichler, cancer researcher at Duke University, and his wife Ruth Reisenbichler; Lisa Klopfer, researcher

Notes:
1) The city directories become less reliable and provide less information in the later years, so we have more information about earlier tenants. 

2) This is only a partial list of tenants. Note that there are multiple overlapping tenancies; this is because the home is a duplex and typically had more than one occupant/family living there at a time.