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Harold D. Meyer

Harold D. Meyer taught sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from the 1920s, becoming a full professor in 1926. In 1932 he started the University's undergraduate curriculum in recreation and chaired it until 1963.

Source: American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration: Hall of Fame, Harold Meyer

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Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each opens in the chronology.

Scouting in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, 1925–19351925–1935 · Chapel Hill hosted what the Weekly called the national council's first patrol leaders' training camp in 1925, when about 125 picked North Carolina Scouts camped on Emerson Field. By 1932 thirty-six men had set up a Chapel Hill district committee under Joseph Hyde Pratt to equip and house the troops of Chapel Hill and Carrboro. In 1933 it reported that the Carrboro troop had grown and had a three-room house, that the Chapel Hill troop had 47 members, and that plans were under way for a troop for Black boys. In December 1935 a new district council sought student leaders for the Carrboro troop and heard a report on the Black troop.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 19 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Isaac W. Pritchard and six others give land for a Chapel Hill park and playground A tract of several acres at the southwest corner of town, beyond Pritchard's home, was to be reserved to Chapel Hill for all time as a park and playground. The givers were Pritchard, W. S. Roberson, J. F. Steiner, H. W. Odum, George B. Logan, Harold D. Meyer and E. R. Mosher, and one or two ball fields were planned. People: W. S. Roberson, Howard W. Odum, Harold D. MeyerSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 13, 1924, p. 6
  2. The University holds its first Summer Institute for adult education The University extension division opened its first Summer Institute on August 16, 1926, a two-week mix of short courses and recreation with a school of citizenship under Howard W. Odum, a school of recreation and physical education under Harold D. Meyer, and a coaching school under Robert A. Fetzer. Durham's city recreation workers helped teach, and when it closed on August 27 extension director R. M. Grumman said it would be held every year. People: Russell M. (Russell Marvin) Grumman, Howard W. Odum, Robert A. Fetzer, Harold D. MeyerSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 20, 1926, p. 1
  3. Harold D. Meyer starts and chairs the University's undergraduate curriculum in recreation In 1932 Harold D. Meyer of the sociology department set up an undergraduate curriculum in recreation at the University in Chapel Hill. He chaired it until 1963 and taught recreation courses part time until 1965.Search the index · American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration: Hall of Fame, Harold Meyer
  4. Chapel Hill's school board asks to stay a special district that may vote its own school tax Meeting on a Sunday, the former Chapel Hill charter school board voted unanimously to ask that its old district, with unchanged boundaries, become a city administrative unit under the 1933 school machinery act, so that its voters could tax themselves to supplement the state's allowance for an eight-month term. The county board of education approved the request at a special meeting two days later and sent it on to the State School Commission. People: Harold D. Meyer, J. Minor GwynnSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 2, 1933, p. 1
  5. Orange County's Parent-Teacher Associations call on legislators to back a $22 million school fund Groups from ten Parent-Teacher Associations in Orange County met at the Chapel Hill school and resolved that the county's legislators should support the state superintendent's request for $22,000,000 for the public schools. Attorney General A. A. F. Seawell, a Chapel Hill resident, told them the legislature was eager to support education. People: Harold D. MeyerSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 1, 1935, p. 3
  6. About 1,600 Boy Scouts camp in Chapel Hill for a state Scout Jubilee Scouts from all over North Carolina pitched tents around Kenan Stadium for a four-day jubilee marking the 25th anniversary of Scouting, held with the Dogwood Festival. Governor Ehringhaus addressed them, and Chief Scout Executive James E. West spoke at a Saturday night pageant in the stadium; Swain Hall fed the campers. People: Harold D. Meyer, J. C. B. EhringhausSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 3, 1935, p. 1
  7. A new Boy Scout district council for Chapel Hill and Carrboro holds its first meeting The newly organized district council, chaired by Harold D. Meyer, met in his office and debated leaving the Cherokee Council for the Occoneechee Council. It agreed to ask the University Y.M.C.A. for students to lead the Carrboro troop, which lacked leadership; Harry F. Comer reported on the Black troop, and the Movie Guild gave $50 to renovate the Scout hut. People: Harold D. Meyer, Harry F. ComerSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 13, 1935, p. 2
  8. The Chapel Hill Scout district organizes for 1937 with three troops, one of them Black Meeting in January 1937 under chairman Harold D. Meyer, the Boy Scout district committee reported three troops, each meeting weekly: a white troop of 40 boys in Chapel Hill, a white troop of 20 in Carrboro, and a Black troop of 20 in Chapel Hill. During Scout Anniversary Week in February the Black troop met at the Black school. People: Harold D. MeyerSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 22, 1937, p. 1
  9. Chapel Hill holds a WPA play day for its children The WPA recreation program held an afternoon of supervised games, races and crafts for children on the elementary school athletic field under Marjorie L. Fletcher, WPA recreation supervisor for Orange, Wake and Durham counties, with University students assisting; the Weekly called it Chapel Hill's first WPA play day. Play days were to continue every Friday until school opened. People: Harold D. MeyerSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 27, 1937, p. 6
  10. About 1,800 Boy Scouts camp on the University campus for the Region Six Jubilee Scouts from the two Carolinas, invited by the University, pitched tents on Emerson Field, behind the law building and in the grove by the library for the second Jubilee of Region Six, with campfires and a Scout-o-Rama on Fetzer Field, a parade up Franklin Street arranged by the Merchants Association, meals at Swain Hall and a field hospital run by the infirmary. National Chief Scout Executive James E. West was to be guest at the Saturday campfire, and the program called for the Scouts to attend the Carolina-Tulane game and break camp on Sunday. People: Russell M. (Russell Marvin) Grumman, Harold D. MeyerSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 7, 1938, p. 1
  11. The Chapel Hill aldermen create a town recreation commission On July 31, 1940, the Chapel Hill board of aldermen unanimously passed an ordinance creating a five-member recreation commission appointed by the mayor, and Mayor J. M. Foushee named R. J. M. Hobbs, Mrs. R. H. Wettach, Harold D. Meyer, A. W. Honeycutt and Joseph Hyde Pratt. A 1948 account says Hobbs was named chairman; the Chapel Hill Weekly reported that when the commission organized on September 17 it elected Pratt chairman and Honeycutt secretary. On May 8 the aldermen had agreed to sponsor a community center for Black residents to be run by such a commission, and the board had first appointed a town recreation committee on September 13, 1939. People: Richard Junius Mendenhall Hobbs, Joseph Hyde Pratt, Harold D. Meyer, John M. Foushee, Allison W. HoneycuttSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 10, 1948, p. 6 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, May 10, 1940, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, August 30, 1940, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, September 20, 1940, p. 5
  12. Chapel Hill's new Recreation Commission organizes and names a town superintendent of recreation Mayor John Foushee named Joseph Hyde Pratt, A. W. Honeycutt, Harold D. Meyer, R. J. M. Hobbs and Mrs. R. H. Wettach to the town Recreation Commission by August 30. Meeting at the Town Hall on September 17, the commission chose Pratt chairman and Honeycutt secretary and appointed Jack MacPhee, the WPA recreation director, town superintendent of recreation; its plans took in the Negro Community Center, a proposed white community center, school playgrounds and recreation in Carrboro. People: Joseph Hyde Pratt, Harold D. Meyer, John M. Foushee, Allison W. HoneycuttSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 20, 1940, p. 5
Show all 19 dated events
  1. About 2,500 Boy Scouts camp on Emerson Field for the third Carolina Boy Scout Jubilee About 2,500 Boy Scouts from the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida camped on Emerson Field and the women's athletic field for the third Carolina Boy Scout Jubilee, sponsored by the University and Region Six. On the University's High School Day they paraded through the village with some 50 high school bands and about 20,000 visiting seniors, went to the Lenoir-Rhyne game, and heard Governor Broughton at a campfire that night. People: J. Melville Broughton, Harold D. MeyerSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 19, 1941, p. 1
  2. A service center for men in the armed forces opens in Chapel Hill's old Methodist church The Service Center, made ready mainly for the Navy Pre-Flight cadets but open to all servicemen, opened in the old Methodist church, with women of the Baptist church as hostesses, and about 100 servicemen came the first weekend. Seven denominations took turns as weekend hosts, and the building served as the town's recreation center on weekdays. People: Harold D. MeyerThe Chapel Hill Weekly, June 19, 1942, p. 2
  3. Navy Pre-Flight band holds open house at the community center for Black residents The Navy Pre-Flight School band, made up of Black men enlisted in North Carolina, showed white residents of Chapel Hill and Carrboro through its quarters in the Negro Community Center, which the Navy had finished and enlarged in lieu of rent. The Weekly reported that the building would become the social and recreational center for Black residents of both towns after the war. People: Harold D. Meyer, John P. GraffThe Chapel Hill Weekly, November 13, 1942, p. 1
  4. Federal Works Agency grants Chapel Hill $2,700 for wartime recreation The Federal Works Agency approved a Lanham Act grant of $2,700 to keep up Chapel Hill's recreation services, chiefly the Service Center for men in uniform in the old Methodist church, from April 17 to November 30. The Recreation Commission later named Mrs. R. H. Wettach director of recreation. People: Harold D. Meyer, Carl T. DurhamThe Chapel Hill Weekly, April 9, 1943, p. 5
  5. Chapel Hill's Recreation Center counts 64,078 visits in its first year The town reported that service men and civilians had made 64,078 visits to the Community Recreation Center in the old Methodist church in the year since it opened. The Recreation Commission's report for the year ended June 30 put visits by service men at about 50,000. People: Harold D. MeyerThe Chapel Hill Weekly, June 18, 1943, p. 4
  6. The Chapel Hill Recreation Commission sets up the Negro Community Center after the Navy band leaves Leaders met to open and run the Community Center the Navy band had just vacated. The nursery school took the lower floor, Henry Edwards became superintendent of the building, and Melvin J. Scales was named program director, with the center open five days a week. People: Hubert Robinson, Harold D. MeyerThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 6, 1945, p. 5
  7. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce backs a public recreation center at the new high school site At its first annual business meeting the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce voted overwhelmingly for a campaign to build a public recreation complex, with a stadium, pool, community center and park, on about 30 acres of the new senior high school's site north of town. It also backed recreation sites at the proposed New Hope, Falls of the Neuse and Crabtree Creek lakes. People: Harold D. MeyerSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 19, 1964, p. 23

Places in this person’s story

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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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