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Local figure

John M. Booker

John M. Booker, a Baltimore native with a doctorate from the University of Heidelberg, joined the English department of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1909 and was its senior member when he died at his home in March 1948. He chaired the faculty committee on University government.

Source: DigitalNC: Chapel Hill Weekly, March 19, 1948, p. 6 (John M. Booker Dies of Heart Attack)

Also found in catalogs as John Manning Booker.

On the Friends’ Local Authors roster as John Manning Booker → · Library of Congress authority record ↗

2 works about John M. Booker are indexed here.

Search these 2 works Research sources View indexed works ↓

Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each has its own page.

StorylineChapel Hill’s 1938 town hall and its later uses, 1938–19891938–1989 · 18 events · Chapel Hill built a new town hall in 1938 and 1939 with Public Works Administration money and town bonds, gaining a jail, fire and police quarters, offices and a courtroom under one roof. In June 1938 the PWA allotted $17,550, 45 per cent of the estimated cost, and the aldermen called a vote on up to $24,000 in bonds, which passed 211 to 27 in July. In August the general contract was let, and a few strokes of a pick met the PWA's starting deadline. The recorder's court first sat there in March 1939, Mayor John M. Foushee accepted the building at its April dedication, and the old firehouse and jail were torn down by July. Most of it went to the police when the town offices moved to a new Municipal Center in 1971. In 1981, as the town weighed selling or leasing the old police building, residents at a hearing agreed it should not be sold, and in 1989 it was leased to the Interfaith Council for a homeless shelter. StorylineWilliamsburging Franklin Street, 1940–19421940–1942 · 4 events · Durham attorney J. L. Morehead urged Chapel Hill to make its Franklin Street business block as handsome as the campus, pointing to the business street of Colonial Williamsburg. Louis Graves's Chapel Hill Weekly reported the plan favorably in March 1940, and later accounts credit his paper with the campaign. In 1941 a Town Meeting committee under John M. Booker asked the aldermen for a Town Planning Commission and a consulting architect to pass on building designs. By November the commission was at work, and architect Archie Davis gave owners watercolors showing how to remodel. One building in its block followed the plan: the new Carolina Theatre, with a Colonial front from Davis's sketches, which opened on October 15, 1942.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 16 dated events in the chronology →

  1. 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. People: John M. Booker Place: Senlac, 203 Battle Lane, Chapel Hill · Also named: John Booker, Kemp Plummer BattleSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Chapel Hill Historic Sites Survey: Final Report (1992), p. 31
  2. 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. People: Harry Woodburn Chase, William Chambers Coker Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Howard E. Covington Jr., Fire and Stone: The Making of the University of North Carolina under Presidents Edward Kidder Graham and Harry Woodburn Chase (2018), pp. 242, 244
  3. John M. Booker's colony and the Gimghoul colony require approval of house designs In selling lots on the old Battle place, John M. Booker wrote into his deeds that house exteriors be approved by a consulting architect, A. C. Nash, and the Gimghoul colony's deeds required plans approved by a local committee. Both also set building lines back from the street; the Weekly urged a town building law. People: John M. Booker, Arthur Cleveland Nash Place: Old Battle place and the Gimghoul colony, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 18, 1923, p. 4
  4. John M. Booker lays out a street and house lots on the old Battle place John M. Booker cut a new street through the former Battle place east of the campus and sold lots to C. A. Hibbard, A. C. Nash, I. H. Butt and C. T. Murchison, keeping the old Battle house for himself; excavation for the Hibbards' house began early in February 1925. Place: former Battle place, east of the campus, Chapel Hill · Also named: C. A. HibbardSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 12, 1925, p. 2
  5. Chapel Hill aldermen act on protests over Kenan Stadium blasting After residents of the south side of the village protested that dynamite blasts on the stadium site were breaking windows, cracking plaster and throwing stones as far as 1,600 feet, the board unanimously adopted R. D. W. Connor's resolution authorizing Town Manager E. M. Knox to get expert advice, confer with the contractors and act to protect the community. The contractors' superintendent said he had already cut the charges in half twice. People: R. D. W. Connor, John M. Booker, Edward M. Knox Place: Board of aldermen meeting, Chapel Hill; stadium site south of the campusSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 22, 1927, p. 1
  6. Chapel Hill marks Armistice Day with a reading of the Orange County war dead At the joint University and American Legion ceremony in Gerrard Hall, Dean Addison Hibbard read the roll of the University's World War dead and post commander Paul Robertson the roll of Orange County's, and Col. Joseph Hyde Pratt urged his hearers to vote and serve as they had in 1917 and 1918. The day before, the Legion post showed 'The Soul of France' at the Carolina Theatre with an offering for disabled veterans at Oteen. People: Joseph Hyde Pratt, John M. Booker, Alfred Stratton Lawrence, Paul H. Robertson, Addison Hibbard Place: Gerrard Hall, UNC, Chapel Hill · Also named: Paul Robertson · Also mentions: Carolina TheatreSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 15, 1929, p. 1
  7. The University faculty votes to send the trustees resolutions against moving the engineering school On Tuesday afternoon, May 12, 1936 the University faculty voted 80 to 19 to ask President Graham to lay before the trustees resolutions opposing removal of the engineering school from Chapel Hill to State College, offered as the view of a considerable number of the faculty. The resolutions proposed a single engineering school with divisions at Chapel Hill and Raleigh, and the faculty also thanked Graham for encouraging open debate. People: John M. Booker, Frank Porter Graham, H. V. Wilson Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel HillThe Chapel Hill Weekly, May 15, 1936, p. 1
  8. Protesting citizens get the aldermen to put off the new garbage ordinance The day after the town tried its new tax-supported garbage collection, about a score of citizens led by historian H. M. Wagstaff came to the aldermen's meeting to object to a rule that containers be set in sight of the street, and some to shifting the cost onto taxpayers. The board put off the ordinance, sent the trucks back to the old method, and soon dropped the disputed rule. People: Charles Staples Mangum, John M. Booker, Clyde Eubanks, Richard Junius Mendenhall Hobbs Place: Board of aldermen meeting, Chapel Hill · Also named: H. M. WagstaffSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 14, 1936, p. 1
  9. John M. Booker proposes a Franklin Street site for the new town hall In a letter dated June 28 and printed in the Chapel Hill Weekly on July 1, professor John M. Booker proposed that the town buy the lots west of the Presbyterian Church on Franklin Street for the new town hall, set the hall back in line with the church, and make it part of a civic center with the post office and the Village Apartments. He did not offer to buy a lot himself. Late in July he urged the aldermen to plan buildings in advance, and editor Louis Graves backed the idea and called for town planning. People: Louis Graves, John M. Booker Place: Franklin Street, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Village ApartmentsSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Chapel Hill Town Hall, National Register nomination (OR0327), p. 8 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, July 1, 1938, p. 2; Chapel Hill Weekly, July 29, 1938, p. 2
  10. John M. Booker calls for town-sponsored planning in Chapel Hill After voters approved financing for the new town hall 211 to 27 on July 23, John M. Booker urged the aldermen to plan the town's buildings in advance rather than one at a time. In a longer letter to the Chapel Hill Weekly, printed August 5, he faulted the rush with which the town hall was planned and proposed planning as a town concern, with town meetings open to all citizens. Editor Louis Graves took up the call. People: Louis Graves Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Chapel Hill Town Hall, National Register nomination (OR0327), p. 8 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, July 8, 1938, p. 2; Chapel Hill Weekly, July 29, 1938, p. 2; Chapel Hill Weekly, August 5, 1938, p. 2
  11. Louis Graves's Weekly takes up J. L. Morehead's call to give Franklin Street a Williamsburg look Durham attorney J. L. Morehead, for years the attorney and financial adviser of the town government, urged the mayor, the aldermen and other citizens to make the Franklin Street business block as handsome as the campus and residential streets, pointing to the business street of Colonial Williamsburg as proof it could be done, and Louis Graves's Chapel Hill Weekly reported his plan favorably on March 22, 1940. Later accounts credit Graves's paper with the campaign. Joseph Hyde Pratt, John M. Booker, W. D. Carmichael Jr., Collier Cobb Jr. and George Watts Hill backed the plan, and architect Archie Davis gave the planning commission watercolors showing owners how to remodel. People: Louis Graves, Joseph Hyde Pratt, William D. Carmichael Jr., George Watts Hill, Archie Royal Davis, John M. Booker, Collier Cobb Jr., John Lindsay Morehead Place: Franklin Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: Archie Davis, W. D. Carmichael Jr. · Also mentions: Franklin Street business blockSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 68 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, March 22, 1940, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, March 22, 1940, p. 2
  12. Chapel Hill citizens sign an appeal urging the United States into the war beside Britain A group of Chapel Hill citizens, among them professors J. M. Booker, Sturgis E. Leavitt, W. M. Dey and W. T. Couch, signed an appeal to President Roosevelt and North Carolina's members of Congress to place the United States beside Britain in its war on Hitlerism, arguing that the country would be drawn in anyway and that its sea and air forces might decide the outcome. Admiral Percy W. Foote and Archibald Henderson answered over the radio from Raleigh, urging immediate mobilization but opposing a declaration of war. People: John M. Booker, Sturgis E. Leavitt, William Morton Dey, William T. Couch, Archibald Henderson Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Percy W. FooteSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 28, 1940, p. 1
Show all 16 dated events
  1. Chapel Hill organizes a chapter of Federal Union (Union Now) Members of Federal Union, Inc., which worked for a federal union of the United States, Britain, the Dominions, and Eire, met at the Town Hall, elected an executive board, and chose John M. Booker chairman, H. A. Whitfield vice-chairman, Elizabeth Bain secretary, and R. H. Wettach treasurer. A group had begun organizing after Clarence Streit spoke at the Human Relations Institute in April. People: John M. Booker, Robert H. Wettach, Henry A. Whitfield Place: Town Hall, Chapel Hill · Also named: Elizabeth Bain, Clarence StreitSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 23, 1941, p. 5
  2. Chapel Hill appoints its first town planning commission After more than a year of urging by the Chapel Hill Weekly, a Town Meeting on April 4, 1941 named a committee of John M. Booker (chairman), W. D. Carmichael Jr., Clyde Eubanks, Joseph Hyde Pratt and H. G. Baity to study the look of the business section. Its report, taken up at a Town Meeting on April 21, asked the mayor and aldermen to appoint a five-member Town Planning Commission to plan for stream-valley land, zoning and parking and to have a consulting architect pass on the designs of new and remodeled buildings. The aldermen then created the commission by ordinance, and by November it was at work with Baity as chairman and Pratt, Collier Cobb Jr., L. J. Phipps and J. P. Harland as members. It set the Colonial Revival look of downtown for the next decade. People: William D. Carmichael Jr., Herman G. Baity, Joseph Hyde Pratt, Clyde Eubanks, John M. Booker, Collier Cobb Jr., Luther James Phipps Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: J. P. Harland, W. D. Carmichael Jr.Search the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Chapel Hill Town Hall, National Register nomination (OR0327), p. 10 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, April 11, 1941, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, April 18, 1941, p. 4; Chapel Hill Weekly, November 28, 1941, p. 6
  3. 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. Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 154
  4. 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. People: John M. Booker Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), pp. 154-155

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as John M. Booker, 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 John M. Booker. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

Booker, Professor John M.: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

Undated portrait of Professor John M. Booker of the University of North Carolina faculty, from the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection (CHHS.002).

Included because: Their name appears in the record.

CH Historical Society

Original Mount for photograph of Professsor John M. Booker: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

The original mount for a portrait photograph of Professor John M. Booker of the UNC faculty, undated, kept in the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection, CHHS.002.

Included because: Its title names this person.

CH Historical Society

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 4 with a known location.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

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Background

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