Local figure

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 indexed work is connected with this person.

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Indexed works

Works in the index that concern this person directly, or were written by them. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it; background reading with wider context sits further down.

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.

Why this is here: Their name appears in the record.

DigitalNC DPLA

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 7 dated events in the chronology →

June 1, 1907 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. WinstonSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 664
May 1917 Dr. Eric A. Abernethy leaves his Chapel Hill practice for the Army medical corps Abernethy gave up his medical practice in Chapel Hill in May 1917 to enter the Army medical corps as a first lieutenant. 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.Search the index · DigitalNC: Chapel Hill Weekly, January 13, 1933, p. 1 (Dr. Abernethy Resigns)
1919 Eric A. Abernethy becomes the university physician After he came home from the war, the university hired Dr. Eric A. Abernethy as its campus physician, in charge of the infirmary. UNC A to Z calls him the first person to hold the post and says he brought modern ideas about sanitation and medical practice to the campus.Search the index · UNC A to Z (UNC Press): Infirmary
June 1932 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. NathanDigitalNC: The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 1, 1932, p. 1 (Water Here Not Causing Typhoid, Says Abernethy)
January 1933 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. AbernethySearch the index · DigitalNC: Chapel Hill Weekly, January 13, 1933, p. 1
1945 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.Search the index · UNC A to Z (UNC Press): Abernethy Hall
February 1959 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. AbernethyDigitalNC: Daily Tar Heel, February 3, 1959, p. 1

Places in this person’s story

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows the 3 with a known location.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange and OpenStreetMap; town and community pins mark the middle of their mapped buildings.

University infirmary (Abernethy Hall) University buildings and grounds · Chapel Hill · 2 events here
Ackland Art Museum University buildings and grounds · Chapel Hill · 1 event here
Hill Hall University buildings and grounds · Chapel Hill · 1 event here
UNC Libraries University schools and programs · Chapel Hill · 1 event here

All places and the county map →

Named with them in the chronology

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.

Francis D. Winston 1 entry: Masons lay the cornerstone of the Carnegie library (June 1, 1907)
M. C. S. Noble 1 entry: Masons lay the cornerstone of the Carnegie library (June 1, 1907)
S. A. Nathan 1 entry: Hundreds take typhoid vaccine at Chapel Hill clinic after new cases (June 1932)

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Books about Eric A. Abernethy

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Chapel Hill Public Library (opens in a new tab) Public library in Chapel Hill
Durham County Library (opens in a new tab) Public library next door in Durham
UNC Libraries (opens in a new tab) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Duke Libraries (opens in a new tab) Duke University, Durham
NC Cardinal (opens in a new tab) The State Library of North Carolina and public libraries across the state

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Search beyond the index: NC LIVE: prepared search for Eric A. Abernethy NC LIVE An advanced search of the state’s shared databases already scoped to Orange County’s places and this subject; edit it freely, and sign in through your North Carolina library to read
Ask locally: Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection, Orange County Public Library Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection (OCPL) The county library’s local-history room at the Main Library in Hillsborough: books, journals, maps, and microfilm of county records from 1752
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