Skip to content
Orange County Public Library (opens the library’s website in a new tab)

Local figure

Oliver K. Cornwell

Oliver K. Cornwell, a Chapel Hill alderman who chaired the board's finance committee, was chosen mayor by his fellow aldermen in November 1954, when Mayor Edwin S. Lanier left to become a county commissioner.

Source: DigitalNC: The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 26, 1954, page 1 (Aldermen Elect Oliver Cornwell As Mayor)

Also found in catalogs as Oliver Kelly Cornwell.

1896–1971 · Dates from the Library of Congress · Library of Congress authority record ↗

1 work about Oliver K. Cornwell is indexed here, as is one work by Cornwell.

Search this work Research sources View indexed works ↓

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 23 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Oliver K. Cornwell leads UNC's new Department of Physical Education When the university created a Department of Physical Education in 1935, Oliver K. Cornwell, for eight years director of athletics at Wittenberg College in Ohio, came in September as professor of physical education to direct its academic program, training students to teach and run physical education programs. He chaired the department, in its various forms, until Richard E. Jamerson replaced him in 1967.In the index: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · UNC Libraries: Department of Exercise and Sport Science of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records, 1938-2001 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, August 30, 1935, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, October 11, 1935, p. 2
  2. Ground clearing begins for the University's new gymnasium Clearing began on the site between the Tin Can and Fetzer Field, facing the Raleigh road, for a gymnasium with a 250 by 150 foot main floor seating more than 5,500 for games and a wing holding a 165 by 55 foot swimming pool. Arthur C. Nash was supervising architect, working with Atwood and Weeks of Durham, and the building was expected to be finished by the middle of January 1938. People: Arthur Cleveland Nash, Charles T. Woollen, Oliver K. CornwellSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 9, 1937, p. 1
  3. Chapel Hill children get their first turn in the new University pool The University set aside 10 to 11 o'clock every Saturday morning for Chapel Hill children in the new swimming pool, with a doctor-signed examination card and a parent's permission. In late May it announced that townspeople with no University tie could also use the pool that summer. People: Oliver K. CornwellSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 6, 1938, p. 1
  4. Chapel Hill elects William S. Stewart judge as Fred Edwards runs for alderman Mayor Edwin S. Lanier was reelected without opposition. William S. Stewart beat Paul H. Robertson 829 to 286 for recorder's court judge, and Oliver K. Cornwell, P. L. Burch and G. Obie Davis won the three aldermen's seats. Fred Edwards, a 57-year-old Black builder whom the News called the second Black candidate for the town board, polled 493 votes, ahead of Giles Horney and James R. Farlow. People: Edwin Sidney Lanier, Oliver K. Cornwell, Paul H. Robertson, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 10, 1951, p. 1
  5. Chapel Hill aldermen refuse the gas company's franchise as written By a 4 to 3 vote the Chapel Hill aldermen refused to pass the franchise proposed by Public Service Company of North Carolina for natural gas service, finding it gave the company wide powers and the town little protection. A joint Chapel Hill-Carrboro committee then began drafting a franchise with safeguards on rates, pressure, service to all and street work. People: Oliver K. Cornwell, Edwin Sidney LanierSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 13, 1951, p. 1
  6. Oliver K. Cornwell becomes chair of UNC's Department of Physical Education and Athletics After Robert Fetzer retired in 1952, Cornwell became chair of the combined department, while Charles P. Erickson became director of athletics. By 1955 the two parts had been separated again. People: Robert A. FetzerIn the index: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · UNC Libraries: Department of Exercise and Sport Science of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records, 1938-2001
  7. Fetzer retires as director of athletics and becomes executive director of the Morehead Foundation The trustees' executive committee approved Robert A. Fetzer's retirement as the University's director of athletics, and he took up the post of executive director of the Morehead Foundation, which he held until his death. People: Oliver K. CornwellSearch the index · Chapel Hill Weekly: "Fetzer Leaves One Post, Takes Another" (May 16, 1952), p. 1
  8. Chapel Hill aldermen ask for a new, smaller perimeter zoning act On February 9, 1953, the Chapel Hill aldermen voted 4 to 2 to ask Representative John W. Umstead Jr. to introduce a new enabling act, replacing the 1949 and 1951 laws, to let the town zone a much smaller area of about a mile on each side of the new Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard, with planning and adjustment boards of five town and five outside members. The vote shelved the zoning ordinance that rural residents had fought for more than a year. People: Oliver K. Cornwell, John W. Umstead Jr., Peter L. Burch, Robert Lee FowlerSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 12, 1953, p. 1
  9. Chapel Hill aldermen give fraternities and sororities a fire-escape deadline The Board of Aldermen resolved that fraternity and sorority houses must have fire escapes built or under contract by June 5, or the town would take legal steps to stop their use as dormitories after June 10. The houses had been posted as condemned in January under a state law requiring fire escapes where people slept on upper floors. People: Oliver K. Cornwell, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 14, 1953, p. 1
  10. Chapel Hill aldermen elect Oliver K. Cornwell mayor After Mayor Edwin S. Lanier won the Democratic nomination for county commissioner, the Board of Aldermen chose one of its own members, Oliver K. Cornwell, as mayor and elected Rogers Wade to his seat. People: Edwin Sidney LanierSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 26, 1954, p. 1 (Aldermen Elect Oliver Cornwell As Mayor)
  11. More than 115 people crowd the final hearing on Chapel Hill's suburban zoning ordinance More than 115 people filled the Chapel Hill town hall courtroom for the aldermen's final public hearing on the proposed zoning ordinance for land outside the town, an idea first aired in 1951. Residents of the Durham Road, Mount Carmel and Smith Level areas again objected to being zoned by a board they had no voice in electing. People: Oliver K. CornwellSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 10, 1955, p. 1
  12. Chapel Hill voters elect members of their school board for the first time In the first popular election for the Chapel Hill school board, created as an elective body by a 1955 local act, voters in the Chapel Hill school district chose Charles F. Milner and Richard E. Jamerson over James L. Godfrey, Fred Edwards and Jack Lasley. Edwards, a Black contractor put forward by members of the Black community, received 207 votes. In the town election held the same day Mayor O. K. Cornwell was returned without opposition and Gene Strowd joined the board of aldermen. People: Richard E. Jamerson, James L. Godfrey, Oliver K. CornwellSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 5, 1955, p. 1
Show all 23 dated events
  1. Chapel Hill and Carrboro merchants hold a Dairy Festival The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Merchants Association staged an all-day Dairy Festival for area dairy farmers, with a parade of twelve Dairy Queen candidates from the Carrboro ball park, a picnic supper, a queen crowned at an outdoor dance, and a milking contest in which Carrboro Mayor R. B. Todd out-milked Chapel Hill Mayor O. K. Cornwell. People: Oliver K. CornwellSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 23, 1955, p. 10
  2. Chapel Hill hearing on annexation draws questions but no opposition About 75 people attended a Chapel Hill aldermen's hearing on annexing fringe areas that would enlarge the town by about 40 percent; many asked questions but none spoke against it. Mayor O. K. Cornwell said the town would go bankrupt unless it grew. People: Oliver K. CornwellSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 8, 1956, p. 8
  3. Roland Giduz and Adelaide Walters are elected to the Chapel Hill Board of Aldermen In a heavy turnout that also re-elected Mayor Oliver K. Cornwell and approved a $500,000 bond issue, voters re-elected aldermen Hubert Robinson and Paul Wager and chose two new members, Adelaide Walters and Roland Giduz. As low man among the winners, Giduz drew a two-year term. People: Paul W. Wager, Hubert Robinson, Oliver K. Cornwell, Adelaide WaltersSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 10, 1957, p. 1 (Heavy Vote Approves Bond Issue and Ten Candidates for Office)
  4. Sandy McClamroch is elected to the Chapel Hill Board of Aldermen McClamroch, one of five candidates for three seats, was elected on May 5, 1959 with F. E. Strowd and Roland Giduz, and was sworn in with Mayor Oliver K. Cornwell the following Monday night. Campaigning, he had called for coordinating town and university planning and for bringing the university's payments for town services above the table. People: Oliver K. Cornwell, Roland GiduzSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 14, 1959, p. 1 (Newly Elected Town Officers Are Installed)
  5. Mayor Cornwell presses the state to widen the highways into Chapel Hill Sworn in for a new term with aldermen F. E. Strowd and Sandy McClamroch, Mayor Cornwell wrote to the state's director of highways urging four-lane roads toward Durham and Raleigh and calling U.S. 15-501 and N.C. 54 major entrances to the university. People: Sandy McClamrochSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 14, 1959, p. 1
  6. The Research Triangle Regional Planning Commission organizes The 15-member advisory commission from Orange, Durham and Wake counties held its organizing meeting, electing Chapel Hill's Mrs. Harold Walters secretary and Orville Campbell second vice chairman, both named by Mayor O. K. Cornwell, and making Research Triangle Park vice president Pearson Stewart of Chapel Hill its executive director. The chairmanship was to rotate yearly among the three counties. People: Adelaide Walters, Oliver K. CornwellThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 29, 1959, p. 12
  7. Chapel Hill voters approve $525,000 in town improvement bonds Chapel Hill voters approved all four parts of a $525,000 bond issue, the largest in the town's history, by at least five to one: money for the sewer plant and lines, street widening and paving, a $100,000 Town Hall addition and storm sewers. Only 368 of 2,332 registered voters went to the polls. People: Oliver K. CornwellSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 10, 1960, p. 3
  8. UNC ends public children's swimming in the Woollen Gym pools Chancellor William B. Aycock told Mayor O. K. Cornwell that from the next summer the two Woollen Gymnasium pools would be open only to University people and their families, to serve a growing student body and faculty. The public summer swimming program, begun in 1938 by Cornwell as head of physical education, had taught several thousand children to swim. People: William B. Aycock, Oliver K. CornwellSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 16, 1960, p. 6
  9. Chapel Hill voters approve $160,000 in bonds for town hall land and buildings Voters approved by better than three to one, 947 to 248, a $160,000 capital improvements bond issue that let the town buy land and build a new municipal center rather than only enlarge the existing Town Hall site. The same election returned aldermen Mrs. Harold Walters, Paul Wager and Hubert Robinson to office. People: Hubert Robinson, Oliver K. Cornwell, Paul W. WagerSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 4, 1961, p. 3
  10. Shareholders approve merging University National Bank and Durham Bank and Trust Shareholders of Chapel Hill's University National Bank and the Durham Bank and Trust Company voted to merge the two as Central Carolina Bank and Trust Company, subject to the State Banking Commission, with the consolidation expected about September 1. People: Oliver K. CornwellSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 18, 1961, p. 8
  11. University National Bank of Chapel Hill becomes part of Central Carolina Bank The University National Bank of Chapel Hill merged into the Durham Bank and Trust Company, which took the new name Central Carolina Bank and Trust Company. Both Chapel Hill offices reopened under the new name, with O. Gordon Perry as manager for Chapel Hill. People: Oliver K. CornwellSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 28, 1961, p. 1 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, September 28, 1961, p. 8; Chapel Hill Weekly, October 5, 1961, p. 5; Chapel Hill Weekly, November 13, 1961, p. 1

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as Oliver K. Cornwell, 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.

Show 4 more

Indexed works

Works about or by Oliver K. Cornwell. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

By Oliver K. Cornwell

The new gymnasium at the University of North Carolina

Fetzer, Robert A. (Robert Allison), 1887-1968; Cornwell, Oliver Kelly, 1896-1971 · 1938 · Ohio State University

Robert A. Fetzer and Oliver K. Cornwell describe the new gymnasium at the University of North Carolina, Woollen Gym. The paper was detached from the proceedings of the forty-second annual meeting of the College Physical Education Association and printed at Ohio State University in 1938. It concerns college buildings in Chapel Hill.

UNC

About Oliver K. Cornwell

Oliver Kelly Cornwell : life, professional career, and major contributions to physical education and athletics

Shapiro, Ira George, 1943- · 1966

A biographical study of Oliver Kelly Cornwell, 1896 to 1971, covering his life, his professional career and his contributions to physical education and athletics. Ira George Shapiro wrote it in 1966, 64 leaves with a bibliography. The study covers physical education and training at Chapel Hill and the Department of Physical Education at the University of North Carolina.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Cornwell, Oliver Kelly, 1896-1971.

UNC

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 1 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.

All places and the county map →

Research sources

Sources and research tools for this person. For ready-made searches of other catalogs, see Search further. Research guide: Trace a family through historical records.

Collections and databases

Local help

Search further

Search other catalogs and collections for this name. Results may include other people with the same name and have not been reviewed by the Friends.

Books about Oliver K. Cornwell

Books by Oliver K. Cornwell

Find copies at other libraries

Photographs, papers, and newspapers

Historical records and collections

Catalog searches use the Library of Congress name heading: Cornwell, Oliver Kelly, 1896-1971. Historical-record searches use the person’s name and may include namesakes. Links open in a new tab.

Found a book OCPL doesn’t own? You can often borrow it through interlibrary loan at OCPL.

More to discover

Keep Reading Local

The Friends connect people with new library materials, local writers and publishers, and resources documenting Orange County.

Browse New Arrivals → Meet Local Authors → Explore Local Publishers →
Two mice reading back to back against a leaf, with the hand-lettered words Friends of the Orange County Public Library
Illustration by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell, gifted to the Friends 2026