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Eric A. Abernethy

Eric A. Abernethy, an alumnus, served as the University of North Carolina's physician from 1919 to 1933. In 1945 the campus infirmary building completed in 1907 was renamed Abernethy Hall in his honor.

Source: UNC A to Z (UNC Press): Abernethy Hall

1 work about Eric A. Abernethy is indexed here.

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Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 18 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Masons lay the cornerstone of the Carnegie library On the Saturday of the 1907 commencement the Grand Lodge of Masons, led by Grand Master Francis D. Winston, laid the cornerstone of the new library built with Andrew Carnegie's gift. Construction had begun in October 1906. People: M. C. S. Noble, Eric A. Abernethy, Francis D. Winston, Andrew Carnegie Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 664
  2. A State Board of Health inspector examines Chapel Hill's school children At the request of the school trustees and town health officer Dr. Eric A. Abernethy, Dr. Thomas M. Jordan of the State Board of Health examined the Chapel Hill graded school children on September 27-29, 1916. He found few defects and no tuberculosis, but 64 children with decayed teeth and only 54 of 245 vaccinated against smallpox. People: Eric A. Abernethy Place: Chapel Hill graded school, Chapel Hill · Also named: Thomas M. JordanSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), November 2, 1916, p. 1
  3. Dr. Eric A. Abernethy leaves his Chapel Hill practice for the Army medical corps Abernethy gave up his medical practice in Chapel Hill to enter the Army medical corps as a first lieutenant. He and Dr. L. H. Webb left Chapel Hill on June 13, 1917, for the physicians' training camp at Fort Oglethorpe; a 1933 account put his departure in May 1917. He rose to lieutenant colonel, was wounded in Belgium in July 1918, and then commanded the 78th Division sanitary train in the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne campaigns. Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: L. H. WebbSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 13, 1933, p. 1 (Dr. Abernethy Resigns) · Also: The News (Chapel Hill), June 14, 1917, p. 5
  4. Eric A. Abernethy becomes the university physician UNC A to Z says the university hired its first campus physician, Dr. Eric A. Abernethy, in 1919, and that he brought modern ideas about sanitation and medical practice to the campus. The infirmary building was later named Abernethy Hall for him. Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · UNC A to Z (UNC Press): Infirmary
  5. Acting president Marvin Hendrix Stacy dies of influenza Stacy, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and chairman of the faculty with a president's powers since Graham's death, died on Tuesday morning after several days' serious illness, the second university head lost to the pandemic in three months. The pandemic led the university to appoint its first university physician, Eric Alonzo Abernethy. People: Marvin Hendrix Stacy, Eric A. Abernethy Place: Chapel HillUNC Libraries, Going Viral: Influenza at UNC: The Two University Presidents
  6. Chapel Hill High School graduates fourteen seniors Chapel Hill High School closed one of its most successful years with commencement exercises at which Col. E. A. Abernethy, just back from a year in France, gave the address. Mayor W. S. Roberson presented the 14 diplomas and spoke of plans for a girls' dormitory, a student activities building and a home economics course. People: Eric A. Abernethy, W. S. Roberson Place: Chapel Hill High SchoolThe News (Chapel Hill), June 19, 1919, p. 1
  7. The town and the University form a joint sanitary board and hire a health officer for Chapel Hill The University and the town of Chapel Hill organized a joint sanitary board headed by Dr. Eric A. Abernethy to inspect dairies, water, food and eating places, and retained Dr. S. A. Nathan, a veterinarian who had done the same work for New Hanover and Craven counties, for one year from about January 1. Dairies, restaurants and boardinghouses were to be licensed and regularly inspected, using testing equipment the University installed in Phillips Hall. People: Eric A. Abernethy, S. A. Nathan Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Phillips HallSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), December 22, 1921, p. 1
  8. Chapel Hill and the University hold a joint Armistice Day parade and exercises The town, its American Legion post and the University marked Armistice Day with a parade from the school down Franklin Street to Memorial Hall, led by Colonel E. A. Abernethy and made up of the University band, Red Cross members, the Legion's Woman's Auxiliary, Confederate veterans, ex-servicemen, school children and Boy Scouts. Cale K. Burgess of Raleigh spoke in Memorial Hall on the country's duty to disabled veterans, and games on Emerson Field filled the afternoon. People: Eric A. Abernethy, W. S. Roberson Place: Franklin Street and Memorial Hall, Chapel Hill · Also named: Cale K. Burgess · Also mentions: Emerson Field, Franklin StreetSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), November 16, 1922, p. 1
  9. Chapel Hill marks Armistice Day with a parade and a packed Memorial Hall School children led by the boys' band paraded down the main street and through the campus, and an overflow crowd in Memorial Hall heard R. D. W. Connor speak on the meaning of the day. E. A. Abernethy read the Orange County roll of honor of men who died in the World War, and P. H. Winston read the names of those who died in the University hospital during the S. A. T. C. People: R. D. W. Connor, Eric A. Abernethy Place: Memorial Hall, Chapel Hill · Also named: P. H. WinstonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 13, 1924, p. 1
  10. Chapel Hill business and University men organize a Rotary Club A Rotary Club was organized in Chapel Hill at an initial meeting in late April 1928, with Dr. Eric A. Abernethy as president and about twenty charter members; the district president, Luther Hodges, helped launch it. The club met weekly for supper at the Carolina Inn and received its charter from Rotary International at a dinner there on June 14. People: Eric A. Abernethy, Luther H. Hodges, Milton E. Hogan, Edward M. Knox Place: Carolina Inn, Chapel Hill · Also named: Luther HodgesSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 4, 1928, p. 1
  11. The Chapel Hill school board drops six teachers and the school secretary Soon after Superintendent Hoyle resigned, the board, chaired by W. S. Roberson, told six teachers and the secretary they would not be re-elected, after a committee inquiry into the school; no economy was involved, as the next budget kept the same pay scale. The Weekly reported that many parents thought the notices came too late and too suddenly for the teachers to find other places. People: W. S. Roberson, R. E. Coker, Edgar Wallace Knight, Eric A. Abernethy, Milton E. Hogan, Carl T. Durham Place: Chapel Hill schoolSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 27, 1932, p. 1
  12. Hundreds take typhoid vaccine at Chapel Hill clinic after new cases After several new typhoid cases were reported in late June 1932, about 600 people received typhoid vaccine at the Chapel Hill public clinic in a single day, and the Infirmary gave the treatment on any day. Town health authorities said the water supply was not the source. People: Eric A. Abernethy, S. A. Nathan Place: Chapel HillThe Chapel Hill Weekly, July 1, 1932, p. 1 (Water Here Not Causing Typhoid, Says Abernethy)
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  1. Dr. Eric A. Abernethy resigns as university physician Abernethy, appointed university physician in charge of the infirmary after he came home wounded from the First World War, resigned because of poor health and went into private practice in Chapel Hill with his son. Dr. Foy Roberson of Durham took temporary charge of the infirmary. People: Eric A. Abernethy Place: University infirmary (Abernethy Hall), 131 South Columbia Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: William B. Abernethy, Foy RobersonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 13, 1933, p. 1 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, April 8, 1932, p. 1
  2. University physician Eric Abernethy is buried in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery Eric Abernethy (1876-1933), the university physician for whom Abernethy Hall is named, died at his home on March 21, 1933, and after a funeral in the Methodist church was buried in the cemetery on March 23. People: Eric A. Abernethy Place: Old Chapel Hill Cemetery, South Road (NC 54) and Country Club Road, Chapel Hill · Also named: Eric AbernethySearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Old Chapel Hill Cemetery, National Register nomination (OR0496), p. 22 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, March 24, 1933, p. 2
  3. Dr. W. Reece Berryhill becomes University physician Dr. Walter Reece Berryhill, a 1921 graduate who had been on the Western Reserve medical faculty in Cleveland, took up the post of University physician in succession to the late Dr. Eric A. Abernethy. Since Abernethy's death the infirmary had been run by Dr. Foy Roberson. People: W. Reece Berryhill, Eric A. Abernethy Place: University infirmary, Chapel Hill · Also named: Foy RobersonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 15, 1933, p. 5
  4. Chapel Hill Masons dedicate a memorial to Dr. Eric A. Abernethy About 300 people gathered on the Masonic Lodge lawn on West Franklin Street for the dedication of an electric sign bearing the Masonic emblem, given by Mr. and Mrs. T. A. Rosemond in memory of Dr. Eric A. Abernethy, the University physician who had been master of the lodge about 30 years before. Rev. C. Excell Rozzelle of Gastonia made the presentation, W. M. Pugh accepted, and Dr. W. B. Abernethy presided. Place: Masonic Lodge, West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: T. A. Rosemond, C. Excell Rozzelle, W. M. PughSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 15, 1941, p. 3
  5. The old campus infirmary is renamed Abernethy Hall The university renamed its 1907 infirmary building Abernethy Hall in honor of Dr. Eric A. Abernethy, the university physician from 1919 to 1933. The infirmary itself moved to a new building in 1946. Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · UNC A to Z (UNC Press): Abernethy Hall
  6. The University tears down the Abernethy house on South Columbia Street for Ackland grounds and parking UNC bought the house from the widow of Dr. Eric A. Abernethy, long the director of the University Infirmary, and tore it down to extend the Ackland Art Center grounds and make a gravel lot of about 60 faculty parking spaces. The house dated from 1905 and had housed many students. People: Eric A. Abernethy Place: 117 South Columbia Street, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Ackland Art Center, University InfirmaryThe Daily Tar Heel, February 3, 1959, p. 1

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as Eric A. Abernethy, those sharing the most entries first. Each line links one of the shared entries in the chronology, where its source is cited. A shared entry shows these people in the same event, not how well they knew each other.

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Indexed works

Works about or by Eric A. Abernethy. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

Patterson's General Store Ledger

Store, Patterson's General · 1910

Account ledger of Patterson's General Store in Chapel Hill for 1910 to 1911, recording what customers owed. Accounts run from townspeople and the university Athletic Association to figures such as Kemp Plummer Battle, Edward Kidder Graham, Collier Cobb, Horace Williams and Louis Round Wilson, and firms including the Bank of Chapel Hill, Odell Hardware, Standard Oil and the Southern Railway. Part of North Carolina Memory.

Included because: Their name appears in the record.

DigitalNC DPLA

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