Chronology

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1. Early twentieth century · 1900–1944

2. 1920s
   Construction or physical change · Senlac, 203 Battle Lane, Chapel Hill Dr. John Booker remodels Senlac on Battle Lane

   In the 1920s Dr. John Booker, whose wife was Kemp Battle's granddaughter, reworked Senlac: he added matching one-story side wings, removed the Italianate trim and gave the house a full-width porch with Doric columns.

3. Spring 1922
   Chapel Hill John M. Booker outlines sixteen more buildings for the growing campus

   With enrollment rising past 1,600, English professor John M. Booker, a member of the faculty building committee, presented a plan with sites for sixteen buildings beyond the seven already funded, which he said would be needed within a few years to serve 3,000 students. He had also urged grouping buildings by purpose in the new campus plan.

4. July 1, 1938
   Protest or organizing · Franklin Street, Chapel Hill John M. Booker offers to buy a Franklin Street lot for the new town hall

   In a letter to the Chapel Hill Weekly, professor John M. Booker objected to the hurried choice of the old site and offered to buy and give a lot on Franklin Street, hoping it would start a civic center. Editor Louis Graves backed the idea and called for town planning.

5. August 1938
   Chapel Hill John M. Booker calls for town-sponsored planning in Chapel Hill

   After voters approved financing for the new town hall 211 to 27, John M. Booker wrote a longer letter to the Chapel Hill Weekly faulting the rush with which it was planned and proposing planning as a town function, with public planning meetings citizens could attend. Editor Louis Graves took up the call.

6. 1940
   Publication, speech or performance · Franklin Street, Chapel Hill Louis Graves starts a newspaper campaign to give Franklin Street a Williamsburg look

   Feeling the business district looked shabby beside the new campus, Chapel Hill Weekly editor Louis Graves began praising Colonial Williamsburg's shops in editorials. Joseph Hyde Pratt, John M. Booker, W. D. Carmichael Jr., Collier Cobb and George Watts Hill backed the plan, and architect Archie Davis gave the planning commission watercolors showing owners how to remodel.

7. April 14, 1941
   Founding or opening · Chapel Hill Chapel Hill appoints its first town planning commission

   After more than a year of urging by the Chapel Hill Weekly, the town named a five-member planning commission to review the design of new and remodeled buildings. It set the Colonial Revival look of downtown for the next decade.

8. November 6, 1942
   Chapel Hill UNC's General Faculty names John M. Booker to chair a committee on University government

   The General Faculty authorized a committee, chaired by English professor John M. Booker, to study faculty government and write a uniform set of principles for the powers and duties of the University's divisions. Reporting in sections over eight years, its work became the 1950 Faculty Legislation on University Government.

9. Civil rights era · 1945–1975

10. May 10, 1950
    Law, policy or court · Chapel Hill UNC's General Faculty adopts new rules creating a Faculty Council

    The General Faculty approved the Faculty Legislation on University Government on May 10, 1950, to take effect in January 1951. It made an elected Faculty Council, meeting each month, the faculty's governing body.

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Compiled and maintained by the Friends of the Orange County Public Library from county records, the sources named on each card, and the index’s event pages. Last updated October 2, 2026.