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Sandy McClamroch

Roland P. (Sandy) McClamroch of Chapel Hill founded the radio station WCHL in 1953, served two terms as a town alderman and was mayor of Chapel Hill through the 1960s. He was later instrumental in founding the Carol Woods retirement community in 1979.

Source: Orange County Veterans Memorial: Roland (Sandy) McClamroch

Orange County Indexed has not yet linked an indexed work directly to Sandy McClamroch. The biography and the dated events on this page provide sources about Sandy McClamroch’s life and work.

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A home for the Chapel Hill Public Library, 1958–19681958–1968 · Chapel Hill's first public library opened on December 15, 1958 in the east wing of the Hill House, with about 4,500 books. In November 1964 the State Library Commission again turned down the town's request for a share of new federal library money, because its library did not belong to a county or regional system. Around 1965 the library committee kept Don Stewart and his modern plan, though its head had asked him about a traditional design. His 1966 building on East Franklin Street used sloping native stone walls and stained wood to fit among the older faculty houses. When the library moved to Pritchard Park in 1994, the building became home to the town museum. Chapel Hill’s first public housing, 1961–19681961–1968 · 13 events · Chapel Hill created a housing authority in 1962 to seek federally financed low-rent housing, and the choice of sites drew objections in which race was a factor. The aldermen acted after testimony about substandard housing before the Mayor's Committee on Human Relations in 1961 and a hearing of about 100 people, all in favor. In 1964 Vivian Foushee of the Citizens Committee for Progress led a Black delegation against placing most of a 60-unit project in the all-Black Gomains Avenue area, neighbors of a North Columbia Street tract petitioned against housing there, and two commissioners said 21 businessmen opposed the project. Craig-Gomains and Lindsay Street were built in 1967, and North Columbia Street in 1968.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 35 dated events in the chronology →

  1. WCHL begins broadcasting WCHL, Chapel Hill's new commercial radio station, went on the air in January 1953 at 1360 on the dial with 1,000 watts, broadcasting from sunrise to sunset from a site on the Durham highway. General manager Sandy McClamroch ran it with partners Roy E. Fullen and Lonnie Dark; its first broadcast was set for January 18. People: Sandy McClamrochSearch the index · Chapel Hill Weekly (January 16, 1953): WCHL's First Broadcast · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 8, 1953, p. 1; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 15, 1953, p. 8; Chapel Hill Weekly, January 23, 1953, p. 4; Chapel Hill Weekly, January 30, 1953, p. 7
  2. County commissioners name the rural members of Chapel Hill's enlarged planning and zoning boards Under a 1953 legislative act that extended Chapel Hill's planning and zoning to a limited area outside the town with equal rural representation, the commissioners appointed Wallace Womble, Sandy McClamroch, Glenn Snipes, Frank G. Umstead and Luke Connor to the Planning and Zoning Commission. They named J. H. Sparrow, William B. Aycock, Dr. W. R. Berryhill, Roland Womble and John S. Williams to the Board of Adjustment, joining members already chosen by the aldermen. People: Sandy McClamroch, William B. Aycock, W. Reece BerryhillSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 8, 1953, p. 1
  3. The Orange Country Club is incorporated Orange Country Club, Inc., was formally incorporated in May and began selling memberships; by August its officers, led by temporary president Sandy McClamroch, were weighing four sites for a clubhouse and golf course, with a swimming pool and tennis courts to come later. People: Sandy McClamrochSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 12, 1954, p. 3
  4. The new Orange Country Club elects its directors and plans a clubhouse The new Orange Country Club elected seven directors, with Sandy McClamroch as acting chairman and temporary president, and had a plan from Durham architect Jock Pruden for a $50,000 clubhouse with a ballroom, dining room and locker room on a site near the bypass east of Chapel Hill, along with a small swimming pool and a nine-hole golf course. People: Sandy McClamrochSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 18, 1954, p. 4
  5. The new Orange Country Club buys 151 acres for a golf course The newly organized Orange Country Club, a nonprofit corporation, bought a 151-acre tract east of the bypass on both sides of Ephesus Church Road as the site of its golf course and clubhouse, after holding an option for several months. President Sandy McClamroch said golf architect George Cobb had sent a nine-hole layout planned so it could grow to eighteen holes. People: Sandy McClamrochSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 13, 1955, p. 7
  6. County commissioners fill the Greater Chapel Hill zoning boards The commissioners named five residents from outside the town to each of the two ten-member boards of the Greater Chapel Hill Zoning District, putting the long-pending Planning Board and Board of Adjustment to work beside five members each named by the Chapel Hill aldermen, with terms dated from July 1. Frank Umstead, the planning board's acting chairman, headed the county list, and William B. Aycock was reappointed to the Board of Adjustment. People: Sandy McClamroch, William B. AycockSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 4, 1955, p. 1
  7. 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)
  8. 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
  9. Sandy McClamroch is elected mayor of Chapel Hill without opposition McClamroch, an alderman, ran unopposed for mayor in the town election of May 2, 1961 and received 1,030 votes, succeeding the retiring mayor, O. K. Cornwell. Before the vote he took questions from residents at a public meeting at the Negro Community Center sponsored by the Chapel Hill Fellowship for School Integration and the Civic Club, and on a WUNC radio panel, saying he wanted to improve the town's public relations and would discuss merging Chapel Hill and Carrboro.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 20, 1961, p. 1 (McClamroch In As Mayor; Seven Running For Board) · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 4, 1961, p. 3
  10. McClamroch is sworn in as mayor and Joe Page is named to his aldermen seat McClamroch and three re-elected aldermen, Adelaide Walters, Paul Wager and Hubert Robinson, were sworn in at the Monday night meeting of the Board of Aldermen by Recorder's Court Judge William Stewart. The board named businessman Joe Page to the unexpired two year aldermen's term McClamroch left on becoming mayor, and elected Mrs. Walters mayor pro tem. People: Paul W. Wager, Hubert Robinson, Adelaide WaltersSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 11, 1961, p. 1 (Joe Page Gets Appointment To Board Of Aldermen)
  11. Chapel Hill's district planning board resigns en masse The aldermen accepted the resignations of all nine sitting members of the Chapel Hill District Planning Board, who had publicly questioned whether the board served any useful purpose after recent reversals of its advice and urged hiring a full-time professional planner. A new ten-member board was named three days later. People: Roland Giduz, Sandy McClamrochSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 29, 1961, p. 3
  12. Thomas D. Rose resigns as Chapel Hill town manager and stays on as town engineer The aldermen accepted, with a rising vote of thanks, the resignation of Town Manager Thomas D. Rose, who would turn 72 in August, effective September 1, and agreed that he would then serve as town engineer. In his twelve years the town budget had grown from $142,000 to $592,000 and the town from 840 to almost 3,000 acres. People: Sandy McClamrochSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 13, 1961, p. 4
Show all 35 dated events
  1. Mayor McClamroch names Chapel Hill's first public housing authority members Mayor Sandy McClamroch told the Chapel Hill aldermen that Mrs. Ruth Mace, William R. Cherry and Charles Mason had accepted places on the new five-member Public Housing Authority. Oscar Ewing and Collier Cobb Jr. had declined their appointments, and the mayor said he would name others soon. People: Sandy McClamrochThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 12, 1962, p. 8
  2. Chapel Hill Housing Authority holds its first meeting and seeks a charter The five-member Chapel Hill Housing Authority, appointed by Mayor Sandy McClamroch, met for the first time, elected bank official Bill Cherry chairman, was sworn in and signed its application for a state charter. It planned a survey of low-cost housing needs and a request for federal funds. People: Sandy McClamrochThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 10, 1962, p. 23
  3. Chapel Hill aldermen create six commercial zones and rezone the east side for business The aldermen accepted the planning board's plan for six commercial zones, including a new and tightly restricted regional commercial category, and voted to rezone more than 120 acres of east-side suburban land for business. The new rules sharply limited big advertising signs in business areas over the protest of an outdoor advertising spokesman. People: Sandy McClamrochSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 17, 1962, p. 3
  4. Chapel Hill annexes the Bolin Creek, Lake Forest and Eastgate areas The aldermen voted to annex more than 700 acres north and east of town, nearly as much land as the whole town held before its first annexation in 1950, effective June 17. The Lake Forest annexation depended on the sewer bonds put to voters on May 7, since the town had to build an outfall line to serve it. People: Sandy McClamrochSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 16, 1963, p. 1
  5. Chapel Hill aldermen declare a town policy against racial discrimination The Board of Aldermen unanimously resolved that race played no part in the use of town facilities, town services or town hiring. It also asked the mayor to head a committee to work for an end to discrimination by private businesses, as the Human Relations Committee had recommended. People: Sandy McClamrochThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 30, 1963, p. 3
  6. Mayor McClamroch's Integration Committee adopts a four-point program At its first meeting the 12-member committee headed by Mayor Sandy McClamroch agreed to press businesses to drop segregation, to study the town's power over privilege licenses, to bring cases to other authorities and to look into a public accommodations ordinance. The mayor said one more restaurant would admit Black patrons the next week, leaving about half a dozen eating places serving whites only. People: Sandy McClamroch, Hubert Robinson, Paul W. WagerThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 30, 1963, p. 3
  7. Chapel Hill annexes about 700 acres on its east and north sides An annexation of about 700 suburban acres to the east and north took effect, enlarging Chapel Hill by more than a quarter. Town officials moved the town limits sign on Durham Road a half mile east, to Booker Creek just past the WCHL studios near Eastgate Shopping Center. People: Sandy McClamrochSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 20, 1963, p. 1
  8. Aldermen hear Daniel Pollitt's opinion that Chapel Hill may pass a public accommodations law, then shelve it At a Town Hall hearing attended by more than 200 people, Mayor Sandy McClamroch read an opinion by Pollitt that Chapel Hill had the authority to enact a public accommodations ordinance and that similar laws elsewhere had withstood court tests. The Board of Aldermen then voted 4 to 2 to postpone the ordinance indefinitely. People: Sandy McClamrochSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, June 27, 1963, p. 1 (Accommodations Proposal Postponed Indefinitely)
  9. The Mayor's Integration Committee turns to a public accommodations ordinance after businesses refuse to desegregate The committee reported that the Colonial Drug Store, Leo's Grill, Clarence's, The Shack, Brady's, The Pines, The Patio and the Tar Heel Sandwich shop showed little or no inclination to change their segregation policies, and its members agreed they had exhausted persuasion before recommending a public accommodations ordinance. It also wrote to three motels and asked the school board about its plans for the all-Black Northside, Frank Porter Graham and Lincoln schools. People: Sandy McClamrochThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 13, 1963, p. 7
  10. A Committee for Open Business mass meeting authorizes nonviolent direct action At a mass meeting, the Committee for Open Business authorized its executive committee to use nonviolent direct action, the same day Mayor Sandy McClamroch accepted the committee's request for a businessmen's committee to negotiate desegregation. According to the Conscience, businessman George Coxhead had first suggested such a committee on July 7, and the Rev. Tom Davis formally submitted it to the mayor on July 8. People: Sandy McClamrochThe Chapel Hill Conscience, July 31, 1963, p. 4
  11. A new businessmen's committee turns down the Committee for Open Business's truce proposal A businessmen's committee newly appointed to settle Chapel Hill's racial dispute rejected a Committee for Open Business proposal to stop all demonstrations except picketing for a week, extended if at least three segregated businesses opened to all. According to the Conscience, Mayor Sandy McClamroch, who had accepted the proposal on July 15, said his acceptance had been premature, and the businessmen would accept nothing short of a permanent halt to the push for a public accommodations law. People: Sandy McClamrochThe Chapel Hill Conscience, July 31, 1963, p. 3
  12. Mayor McClamroch proclaims nondiscrimination the official policy of Chapel Hill The mayor proclaimed that the town would not recognize or sanction racial discrimination in its services, hiring or facilities, and advised private businesses, including any later annexed or newly opened, that they would be expected to follow the same policy. People: Sandy McClamrochThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 8, 1963, p. 7
  13. Chapel Hill approves $80,000 in revenue bonds for a downtown parking lot The aldermen approved $80,000 in revenue bonds, to be bought by local businessmen and repaid from parking meter receipts, to build an off-street lot on East Rosemary Street tracts behind the main business block. Mayor McClamroch remarked that it was the first time the town had issued revenue bonds. People: Sandy McClamrochSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 15, 1963, p. 11
  14. Chapel Hill aldermen vote to limit picketing to daytime hours On February 10 the Chapel Hill aldermen split 3 to 3 on Police Chief W. D. Blake's request to amend the 1960 picketing ordinance to allow picketing only from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Mayor Sandy McClamroch broke the tie in favor. Opponents marched to the police station in protest, the mayor sent the question to the Human Relations Committee, and because the vote fell short of the two-thirds needed on first reading the change never took effect. People: Sandy McClamroch, Roland Giduz, Paul W. Wager, Hubert RobinsonThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 13, 1964, p. 4
  15. The Citizens Committee for Progress protests a public housing site in a Black neighborhood A Black delegation led by Mrs. Vivian Foushee of the Citizens Committee for Progress asked the Chapel Hill aldermen not to annex the Gomains Avenue area the Housing Authority wanted for most of a 60-unit, $900,000 public housing project. They objected to its cost and to placing it in an all-Black area, and named three other sites; Mayor Sandy McClamroch said the Housing Authority, not the aldermen, chose sites. People: Sandy McClamrochThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 28, 1964, p. 8
  16. Chapel Hill's Mayor's Mediating Committee disbands as the civil rights bill passes The eight-member committee, chosen the winter before from the Chamber of Commerce, Merchants Association, University faculty and Ministerial Association to end racial discrimination in about two dozen Chapel Hill businesses, agreed unanimously to disband, holding that the new federal law left nothing to mediate. Mayor Sandy McClamroch said he would write the firms to remind them of the Town's policy against discrimination. People: Sandy McClamrochThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 9, 1964, p. 19
  17. The State Highway Commission approves four-laning East Franklin Street to Eastgate The State Highway Commission approved widening the two-mile stretch of East Franklin Street and the Durham Road out to the bypass at Eastgate Shopping Center to four lanes, half paid by federal money, as a rush job to be done within two years. Mayor Sandy McClamroch also told the aldermen that a $200,000 project linking Carrboro to the schools north of town by way of Hillcrest Street would be built in the spring. People: Sandy McClamrochSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 15, 1964, p. 4
  18. The State Library Commission again turns down federal aid for the Chapel Hill Public Library A Chapel Hill delegation led by Mayor Sandy McClamroch asked the State Library Commission for a share of the new federal library services money and was turned down, because the town library did not belong to a county or regional system. The commission told the town to talk with county and regional library officials about a joint program and report back. People: Sandy McClamrochSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 19, 1964, p. 1
  19. Mayor Sandy McClamroch attends Lincoln High's Negro History Week program Lincoln High School's Negro History Week program had Mayor Sandy McClamroch, the city schools superintendent, Northside principal J. H. Peace and Rev. T. P. Duhart of St. Paul A.M.E. Church among its platform guests. The Rev. Alex A. Chambers of St. Joseph Methodist Church spoke, and the faculty chorus sang spirituals. People: Sandy McClamrochLincoln High School student newspaper (Chapel Hill), March 1965, p. 1
  20. Chapel Hill aldermen approve an open housing ordinance 3 to 2 on first reading Weeks after the killing of Martin Luther King Jr. and a petition signed by about 2,200 people, the Board of Aldermen voted 3 to 2 for a local ban on discrimination in the sale or rental of housing. The margin fell short of the two-thirds needed to pass on first reading, so the measure went to a second vote. People: Sandy McClamroch, R. D. Smith, W. David Ethridge, Robert VarleyThe Daily Tar Heel, April 28, 1968, p. 3
  21. Chapel Hill adopts North Carolina's first local open housing ordinance On second reading the Board of Aldermen passed the open housing ordinance 4 to 0, effective immediately, making it a misdemeanor for an owner to discriminate by religion, race, color or national origin in selling or renting property in town. The penalty was a fine of up to $50 or up to 30 days in jail. People: Sandy McClamroch, W. David EthridgeThe Daily Tar Heel, May 15, 1968, p. 1
  22. Howard Lee takes the oath as mayor of Chapel Hill at Town Hall More than 140 people packed the second-floor room of Town Hall for the 7:30 p.m. meeting at which town clerk Roberts swore in Lee after outgoing mayor Sandy McClamroch reviewed his ten years in office. New aldermen Joe Nassif, Mary Prothro, George Coxhead and Ross Scroggs were sworn in, and Lee's first board elected David Ethridge mayor pro tem. People: Howard N. Lee, Sandy McClamroch, R. D. Smith, W. David Ethridge, Ross ScroggsThe Daily Tar Heel, May 14, 1969, p. 1 (OCR text)
  23. Sandy McClamroch helps found the Carol Woods retirement community McClamroch, by then a former mayor and the founder of WCHL, was instrumental in founding the Carol Woods retirement community in Chapel Hill in 1979.Search the index · Orange County Veterans Memorial: Roland (Sandy) McClamroch

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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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People named in the same events

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Background on Segregated housing and neighborhood boundaries

Background reading on Segregated housing and neighborhood boundaries. These works cover the broader subject and may not discuss Sandy McClamroch. Follow a link to find a copy or view the material.

The failure of the scattered site housing policy in Chapel Hill

Bagchi, Neil · 1999

Neil Bagchi's 1999 paper on scattered site public housing in Chapel Hill, the policy of spreading subsidized units across neighborhoods instead of concentrating them in one place. The title states the verdict. Housing discrimination, public housing and town housing policy all run through it. Typescript, with a bibliography on leaves 58 to 60.

UNC

A policy recommendation for dormitory desegregation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Giattina, Anna · 1983 · University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Anna Giattina's 1983 thesis recommending a policy for desegregating the dormitories at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Topics include discrimination in housing in Chapel Hill, dormitories, and student housing at the university. A typescript of vi and 150 leaves with color maps, it records how residence hall assignment was being argued in Chapel Hill in the early 1980s.

UNC

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