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

Person in the county’s record

W. Robert (William Robert) Mann

1920–2006 · Dates from the Library of Congress · On the Friends’ Local Authors roster as W. Robert Mann → · Library of Congress authority record ↗

The index holds one work for W. Robert (William Robert) Mann so far. Search further, by the Library of Congress heading: WorldCat · OCPL. If you know a source, tell us.

Search this work Research sources View indexed works ↓

Life and Orange County connections

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

The Horace Williams Airport and its road, 1940–19441940–1944 · 17 events · In 1940 the University bought the Chapel Hill airport that Charlie Martindale had opened in 1928 and planned a field named for Professor Horace Williams, who gave more than 200 acres. University students began Civil Aeronautics Authority flight training there that February. WPA workers began grading in January 1941 on a project costing about $200,000, and that month fire destroyed the hangar and seven training planes. By mid-October crews had finished rough grading for the runways, and that fall University and Duke students began joint pilot training. In 1942 the federal government paid for a new road to the field because of its military value, and in March 1943 paratroopers from Fort Bragg dropped on the airport.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 5 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Fire destroys the University airport hangar and seven training planes A short circuit in an extension cord ignited a gas tank while a plane was being repaired, and fire swept the hangar at the Horace Williams airport, destroying seven of the University's pilot-training planes and burning a mechanic's assistant's hands. University officials arranged replacements by telephone, and instructors flew five new Piper Cubs from Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, two days later. People: W. Robert (William Robert) Mann, William D. Carmichael Jr.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 17, 1941, p. 1
  2. The WPA approves money to finish the University's airport University officials announced that the WPA had approved $130,000 to complete the University's 600-acre airport, where work had slowed for lack of funds; rough grading was to be done by December 1 and three runways of 4,000 to 4,500 feet by spring, with more than 200 men on the job. Work resumed in early August with a steam shovel and trucks, and Bermuda grass cuttings were planted on the runways. People: W. Robert (William Robert) Mann, Arthur R. HollettSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 1, 1941, p. 1
  3. University and Duke students begin joint civilian pilot training at Horace Williams Airport The fall Civil Aeronautics Authority class at the Horace Williams Airport opened with 30 University and 10 Duke students, the start of a Carolina-Duke cooperative program to be run at the field from then on. Three earlier classes had been licensed there since the University began its flight program a year before, and by early November 24 of the 30 University students had flown solo. People: W. Robert (William Robert) MannSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 24, 1941, p. 4
  4. WPA crews finish the rough grading of the enlarged Horace Williams Airport Under a second WPA project, backed by a $275,000 appropriation made the winter before, crews leveled the University's Horace Williams Airport and finished the heavy grading by mid-October, leaving 175 acres of runways to be planted in Bermuda grass. The paper said the finished field, with one runway 5,000 feet long and two of 4,000 to 4,500 feet, would be larger than any other civilian airport in North Carolina; a small frame house was moved near the hangar for the airport's headquarters. People: W. Robert (William Robert) Mann, Arthur R. HollettSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 17, 1941, p. 1
  5. Episcopalians organize the Church of the Holy Family in Chapel Hill A second Episcopal congregation in Chapel Hill was organized with Maurice Arthur Kidder as its first pastor. Ground was broken for its building in June 1953. People: W. Robert (William Robert) MannSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 293

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as W. Robert (William Robert) Mann, 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.

Indexed works

Works about or by W. Robert (William Robert) Mann. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

By W. Robert (William Robert) Mann

W. Robert Mann papers, 1955-1999 (bulk 1955-1963).

Mann, W. Robert (William Robert), 1920-2006 · 1955

Twenty five or so items from W. Robert Mann (1920-2006), dated 1955 to 1999 and mostly from 1955 to 1963, in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 5675-z. Mann taught at the University of North Carolina, and topics include school and college integration in Chapel Hill, the Chapel Hill Fellowship for School Integration, race relations in the town, and Daniel H. Pollitt.

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 them all.

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. Research guide: Trace a family through historical records.

Background

Collections and databases

Local help

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