Welcome to the Civil War in the Trans-Mississippi! This is a place where all who share an interest in the Civil War fought west of the Mississippi River can gather to ask questions, share information, and announce news.
If the Diaries are held by Duke, the copyright belongs to Duke, unless they were retained is some way by the donor. The fair use doctrine would allow small excerpts to be published, provided that it is properly cited, but dissemination of the entire work, ar a substantial portion of it, would clearly be a major copyright violation under Federal law.