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Local figure

Eugene Cunningham Branson

Eugene Cunningham Branson came to the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1914 to lead its new department of rural social economics, which he ran for nearly nineteen years. He edited the weekly University News Letter from 1914 to 1922, helped organize the North Carolina Club of faculty, students and townspeople, and is buried in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery.

Source: NCpedia: Branson, Eugene Cunningham

Also found in catalogs as E. C. (Eugene Cunningham) Branson.

1861–1933 · Dates from the Library of Congress · On the Friends’ Local Authors roster as E. C. Branson → · Library of Congress authority record ↗

2 works about Eugene Cunningham Branson are indexed here, as are 4 works by Branson.

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.

StorylineThe Orange County Civic Association, 19281928 · 3 events · On February 10, 1928 citizens from around Orange County formed the Orange County Civic Association, a nonpartisan group to gather and publish facts about county government, with E. C. Branson as chairman and Paul W. Wager as secretary. In March the association looked into the cost of school buses, hearing that the county had paid $37,828 for buses since 1922; members split between cutting bus service and improving the roads that wrecked the buses. In April it took up the roads themselves, agreeing that they were in poor shape and that the year's $42,000 for maintenance was spread too thin over about 800 miles. Commissioners proposed classing the roads by traffic. StorylineSoil conservation in Orange County, 1929–19391929–1939 · 4 events · In July 1935 the federal Soil Erosion Service estimated that erosion had cost Orange County the value of 26,300 acres. Work against it had begun in January 1929, when the new farm agent, Don S. Matheson, held a terracing school for 25 farmers (terraces are low ridges run level across a slope to slow runoff). The county commissioners then bought a Diesel-powered terracing outfit and rented it to farmers, and by the end of October it had terraced 836 acres on 54 farms. In February 1939 county voters approved joining the Neuse River Soil Conservation District, and federal farm planning began that year. By June 1953 plans covered 1,265 farms and about 142,000 acres.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 25 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Eugene C. Branson shows students how to survey their home counties During a five-day stay as Graham's guest at Bulrushes, the Georgia rural sociologist led classes and seminars and coached the Johnston County club on gathering facts about illiteracy, tenancy, crops and the tax burden, a report meant to serve as the model for the other county clubs. People: Edward Kidder Graham, Eugene Cunningham Branson Place: UNC, 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), p. 77
  2. Black church members in Orange County give $3.04 each to their churches, against $4.00 for white members Walter Patten's survey worked out what religion cost each church member in the county in 1914: $3.04 for Black members and $4.00 for white members. Pastors' pay came to the same $2.05 a member in both groups; the gap was in buildings (88 cents against $1.04) and above all in missions (13 cents against 91). People: Walter Patten, Eugene Cunningham Branson Place: Orange CountySearch the index · E. C. Branson, Field Study of Negro Conditions (1917), scan p. 9
  3. Trustees create a chair of applied economics and rural sociology for Eugene C. Branson Graham won approval to hire Branson at the top faculty salary of $2,500 and promised him a large office in the Peabody Building; Branson said he would come that fall and proposed starting a study of Orange County right away. People: Edward Kidder Graham, Eugene Cunningham Branson Place: UNC, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Peabody BuildingSearch 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), p. 83
  4. E. C. Branson takes up rural economics and sociology and starts the North Carolina Club Eugene Cunningham Branson arrived in Chapel Hill in September 1914 as Graham's new professor of rural economics and sociology. He at once gathered the students' county clubs into the North Carolina Club to study conditions back home. People: Eugene Cunningham Branson Place: UNC, 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), p. 97
  5. Branson's University News Letter publishes its first issue E. C. Branson's University News Letter, a weekly one-page sheet packed with facts about North Carolina gathered by him and his students, first appeared in mid-November 1914 with a run of four thousand copies. Its items were widely reprinted by the state's papers, and circulation grew to fifteen thousand. People: John Sprunt Hill, Eugene Cunningham Branson Place: UNC, 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), p. 101
  6. Patten's survey finds nearly nine in ten Black households in Orange County living in homes they own The survey reported that close to nine-tenths of the dwellings of Black families in the county were occupied by their owners, with town households ahead of country ones in screening and upkeep. Branson read the figure as a measure of real economic gains since the war. People: Walter Patten, Eugene Cunningham Branson Place: Orange CountySearch the index · E. C. Branson, Field Study of Negro Conditions (1917), scan p. 7
  7. The county sanitation campaign reaches Black residents through their preachers and churches In the 1915 county-wide drive for better sanitation, organizers found the Black churches the only real way to reach Black families. Black congregations took lantern-slide talks on unsafe privies as a fit church concern, while some white churches thought them out of place. People: Eugene Cunningham Branson Place: Orange CountyE. C. Branson, Field Study of Negro Conditions (1917), scan p. 8
  8. Orange County women form a Sanitation League to back the health survey Women of Orange County formed the Orange County Sanitation League to support the government sanitary survey. By late June it had eleven sections across the county and more than two hundred members, with no dues. People: Eugene Cunningham Branson Place: Orange CountySearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), June 24, 1915, p. 8
  9. The University Summer School holds a Rural Life Conference Speakers on country life filled the week, among them Dr. William A. McKeever of the University of Kansas, T. E. Browne of the state boys' corn clubs, Agriculture Commissioner W. A. Graham, State Health Officer W. S. Rankin on rural sanitation, and E. C. Branson and Farmers' Union president H. Q. Alexander on farmers' problems. People: Eugene Cunningham Branson Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Also named: William A. McKeever, T. E. Browne, W. A. Graham, W. S. Rankin, H. Q. AlexanderSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), July 15, 1915, p. 1
  10. Eugene C. Branson builds a house in Chapel Hill's eastern residential section University professor Eugene C. Branson was having a house built in the eastern residential section of Chapel Hill, the News reported. Place: eastern residential section, Chapel HillSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), November 23, 1916, p. 1
  11. Chapel Hill High School graduates twelve with E. C. Branson as speaker Chapel Hill High School held its commencement, with Professor E. C. Branson giving the address and Mayor W. S. Roberson presenting diplomas to twelve graduates; principal W. F. Morrison made the announcements. People: Eugene Cunningham Branson, W. S. Roberson, Fred W. Morrison Place: Chapel Hill High School, Chapel Hill · Also named: W. F. MorrisonThe News (Chapel Hill), June 14, 1917, p. 5
  12. J. Cheshire Webb is named Orange County's food administrator On September 20, 1917, State Food Administrator Henry A. Page appointed J. Cheshire Webb of Hillsborough food administrator for Orange County, with R. A. Eubanks as administrator for Chapel Hill. The record says no mill in the county broke a Food Administration rule. People: Eugene Cunningham Branson, Robert A. Eubanks, J. Cheshire Webb Place: Orange County · Also named: Henry A. PageSearch the index · Documenting the American South: A Record of the War Activities in Orange County, North Carolina, 1917-1919, p. 52
Show all 25 dated events
  1. Eugene C. Branson urges county teachers to back the food conservation drive At a court house meeting of teachers and school committeemen called by J. C. Webb, Branson explained why food conservation mattered, and Mrs. Isaac Manning described her work in the south end of the county. Forty-two teachers attended, and the meeting laid the plan to register every woman at her school house on October 27. People: J. Cheshire Webb Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Mrs. Isaac ManningSearch the index · Documenting the American South: A Record of the War Activities in Orange County, North Carolina, 1917-1919, p. 53
  2. Orange County women sign the food pledge at their school houses On Saturday, October 27, 1917, committees at every school house in the county registered the women of the district and asked each to sign the Food Administration pledge. A house-to-house canvass of every housewife followed from October 29 to November 4. People: J. Cheshire Webb, Eugene Cunningham Branson Place: Orange CountySearch the index · Documenting the American South: A Record of the War Activities in Orange County, North Carolina, 1917-1919, p. 53
  3. The Council of Defense extends into township community councils At a court house meeting on June 15, 1918, J. Cheshire Webb organized community councils of defense for each of the seven townships, choosing the township over the school district as the unit. Their charge was to support every war activity without forming new organizations. People: J. Cheshire Webb, Eugene Cunningham Branson Place: Orange CountySearch the index · Documenting the American South: A Record of the War Activities in Orange County, North Carolina, 1917-1919, p. 45
  4. The university publishes the North Carolina Club's study of county life The extension program issued a 188-page report on the counties built on the North Carolina Club's research, in which E. C. Branson called county government the least creditable institution in the country. The study later fed the 1920s county government reforms. People: Albert Coates, Eugene Cunningham Branson Place: UNC, Chapel HillSearch the index · Howard E. Covington Jr., The Good Government Man: Albert Coates and the Early Years of the Institute of Government (2018), p. 29
  5. Chase keeps E. C. Branson at Chapel Hill with a Kenan professorship When the University of Virginia tried to hire the rural sociologist to rebuild his program in Charlottesville, Chase made Branson a Kenan professor with $1,000 more in pay, and he stayed. People: Harry Woodburn Chase, R. D. W. Connor, Eugene Cunningham Branson Place: UNC, 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), p. 194
  6. Eugene C. Branson proposes calling the planned social science school the School of Public Welfare Branson had urged a school of social science on Graham in 1916. In 1919, worried that "social science" sounded like socialism to North Carolinians, he proposed the name School of Public Welfare, which John Sprunt Hill endorsed, and suggested Hill endow it. People: John Sprunt Hill, Harry Woodburn Chase, Edward Kidder Graham 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), p. 215
  7. Orange County raises $2,075.84 for Armenian relief An Armenian Relief campaign led by Dr. E. C. Branson ran from February 21 to March 6, 1919, and raised $2,075.84. Much of it came through the county's white and Black schools; Nellie Russell led Hillsborough Township. People: J. Cheshire Webb, Eugene Cunningham Branson, John Simcox Holmes Place: Orange County · Also named: Nellie RussellSearch the index · Documenting the American South: A Record of the War Activities in Orange County, North Carolina, 1917-1919, p. 73
  8. Odum's new institute makes county government its first study The Institute for Research in Social Science chose county government as its first project, with E. C. Branson leading researchers who examined forty-three counties. Odum shared the findings in 1925 with Governor McLean's study commission, and McLean put county finance reforms to the 1927 legislature. People: Howard W. Odum, Eugene Cunningham Branson, Paul W. Wager, Angus W. McLean Place: Institute for Research in Social Science, UNC, Chapel Hill · Also named: Angus McLeanSearch the index · Howard E. Covington Jr., The Good Government Man: Albert Coates and the Early Years of the Institute of Government (2018), p. 78
  9. Citizens organize the Orange County Civic Association Citizens from around the county formed the Orange County Civic Association, a nonpartisan group to gather and publish facts about county government, at a meeting in the Hillsboro school auditorium. E. C. Branson was chairman and Paul W. Wager secretary; commissioners' chairman John McCauley attended. People: Eugene Cunningham Branson, Paul W. Wager Place: Hillsboro school auditorium, Hillsborough · Also named: John McCauleySearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 17, 1928, p. 3
  10. The Orange County Civic Association looks into the cost of school buses Meeting at the Hillsboro court house, the civic association heard that hauling children to consolidated schools cost $2.40 a month a pupil in 1926-27 and that the county had paid $37,828 for buses since 1922. Members split between cutting bus service and improving roads that wrecked the buses. People: R. H. Claytor, Eugene Cunningham Branson, Grady A. Brown Place: Court house, HillsboroughSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 16, 1928, p. 1
  11. County agent Don Matheson holds a terracing school for Orange farmers In January 1929 Orange County's new farm agent, Don S. Matheson, called the county agricultural board together in Hillsborough, where 18 of its 21 members heard E. C. Branson, and then with W. T. Holman held a terracing school for 25 farmers, ending with a field demonstration of running terrace lines with a level. People: Don S. Matheson, Eugene Cunningham Branson Place: Hillsborough · Also named: W. T. HolmanSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 18, 1929, p. 3
  12. Citizens call in the Duke legal clinic for Black owners facing loss of homes over West Franklin Street paving assessments At a meeting in the old Methodist church on January 17, a citizens' committee working for West Franklin Street property owners, mostly Black, who faced losing their homes over curb-to-curb paving assessments of $7.70 a front foot, called in the Duke University legal aid clinic, and the aldermen ordered the town records searched and an engineer hired to reconstruct how the assessments were laid. Questioning by the clinic's director brought out that the owners' petitions had been circulated by the paving contractor. People: Eugene Cunningham Branson, Joseph Hyde Pratt, Howard W. Odum Place: Old Methodist church and West Franklin Street, Chapel HillThe Chapel Hill Weekly, January 20, 1933, p. 1
  13. Eugene Cunningham Branson, head of rural social economics, dies E. C. Branson, who came to the University in 1914 and through his department, the North Carolina Club and the University News Letter taught the state about its farms, counties and taxes, died at Duke Hospital at 72 after a cerebral hemorrhage. He had helped draft the county government reforms of Governor McLean's commission and was buried in the Chapel Hill cemetery. Place: Duke Hospital, Durham; Chapel Hill cemetery · Also mentions: Chapel Hill cemeterySearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 17, 1933, p. 6

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as Eugene Cunningham Branson, 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 Eugene Cunningham Branson. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

By Eugene Cunningham Branson

Orange County social progress

Branson, E. C. (Eugene Cunningham), 1861-1933 · 1916 · North Carolina Conference for Social Service

E. C. Branson's three-page article on social progress in Orange County, a piece of rural sociology detached from the Social Service Quarterly of April to June 1916, published by the North Carolina Conference for Social Service in Raleigh. Branson was the University of North Carolina professor of rural social economics. Pages 36 to 38 only, 25 cm.

UNC

Field study of Negro conditions.

Branson, E. C. (Eugene Cunningham), 1861-1933 · 1917

A paper by Eugene Cunningham Branson of the University of North Carolina, reporting a field study of conditions among African Americans in Orange County and read on his behalf by H.N. Morse at the tenth annual meeting of the Home Missions Council in January 1917. Topics include church life, social life and customs, and county history. Detached from the meeting's printed proceedings.

UNC DPLA

A constructive home county survey

Branson, E. C. (Eugene Cunningham), 1861-1933 · 1916 · University of Chicago

E. C. Branson's address on surveying one's home county, printed on pages 161 through 164 of the proceedings of the National University Extension Association meeting in Chicago in April 1916. This four-page offprint concerns community organization in Orange County.

UNC

A study of Orange County Negroes

Branson, E. C. (Eugene Cunningham), 1861-1933 · 1916

A nine leaf typescript by E. C. Branson (1861-1933), written in 1916 as the introduction to Walter Patten's field study of African American churches and Sunday schools in Orange County, North Carolina. Topics include those churches and Sunday schools and social conditions in the county. In the North Carolina Collection at UNC.

UNC

About Eugene Cunningham Branson

Eugene Cunningham Branson, humanitarian

Branson, Lanier, 1889- · 1967 · Branson

Lanier Branson's account of Eugene Cunningham Branson, 1861 to 1933, a University of North Carolina teacher associated with the Department of Rural Social Economics at Chapel Hill. The work deals with biography of North Carolina college teachers and social reformers and with rural development in the state. Published in Charlotte in 1967 under the author's own imprint.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Branson, E. C. (Eugene Cunningham), 1861-1933.

UNC

Records of the Dept. of Rural Social Economics, 1924-1942

University of North Carolina (1793-1962). Department of Rural Social Economics · 1924

Departmental records of Rural Social Economics at the University of North Carolina, 1924 to 1942. Subjects include E. C. Branson and S. H. Hobbs, Jr., cover the teaching of sociology in the state and the university's curricula, and link the department to the later history of sociology at Chapel Hill. In the University Archives at UNC, collection 40088.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Branson, E. C. (Eugene Cunningham), 1861-1933.

UNC

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