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1. Early twentieth century · 1900–1944

2. Summer 1913
   Life event · Chapel Hill Carl Durham begins work at Eubanks Drug Store in Chapel Hill

   Carl Durham, born in 1892 in the White Cross community of Orange County, went to work at Eubanks Drugstore in Chapel Hill in the summer of 1913. He qualified as a pharmacy apprentice by 1916, studied pharmacy at UNC, served in the Navy Hospital Corps in 1918 and came back to Eubanks as a pharmacist.

3. 1921–1930
   Appointment, election or service · Chapel Hill Carl Durham serves on the Chapel Hill Board of Aldermen

   While working as a pharmacist, Durham sat on the Chapel Hill Board of Aldermen from 1921 to 1930 and on the Chapel Hill school board from 1924 to 1938.

4. 1932–1938
   Appointment, election or service · Orange County Carl Durham serves on the Orange County Board of Commissioners

   Durham was an Orange County commissioner from 1932 to 1938 and in 1935 helped secure $22,000 in federal aid for rural electrification in the county. He was elected a UNC trustee in 1937.

5. November 8, 1938
   Appointment, election or service · Chapel Hill Chapel Hill pharmacist Carl T. Durham is elected to Congress from the Sixth District

   Durham, who had been named the Sixth District nominee, won the general election over write-in candidate Oscar G. Barker, and Chapel Hill voters gave him 703 votes to Barker's 57. He went on to serve 22 years in the House and retired in 1961.

6. Civil rights era · 1945–1975

7. February 14, 1954
   Property or economic transaction · Chapel Hill Chapel Hill American Legion post gives an iron lung to N.C. Memorial Hospital

   The Chapel Hill post of the American Legion presented an iron lung, bought for about $1,600, to North Carolina Memorial Hospital, with Congressman Carl T. Durham making the presentation. Hospital director Robert R. Cadmus said the hospital had treated 90 polio patients, two from Orange County, in its first 18 months; it was the hospital's second iron lung.

8. Recent decades · 1976–2026

9. October 8, 2015
   Naming or commemoration · N.C. 54 at Carl Durham Road, Orange County State highway marker honoring Carl T. Durham is dedicated at N.C. 54 and Carl Durham Road

   Durham's daughters Anne Novak and Peggy Wall, other relatives and county officials gathered for the dedication of the marker. The ceremony recalled his 22 years in Congress and the 1951 amendments, written with Senator Hubert Humphrey, that created the prescription and over-the-counter drug classes.

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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.