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

Local figure

William P. Richardson

Richardson was the health officer for Orange County and director of the Orange-Person Health Department in the later 1930s. In July 1937 he ran it jointly with Durham's department as North Carolina's field training center for new public health workers, which had trained 109 nurses, sanitary officers and health officers.

Source: DigitalNC: The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 23, 1937, page 5 (The Health Department Is Beginning Its Second Year as a Training Center)

On the Friends’ Local Authors roster → · Library of Congress authority record ↗

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

Search works on Public health in rural Orange County Research sources View background reading ↓

Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Select a title to open its page or chronology entry.

School dental clinics in Orange County, 1920–19401920–1940 · From 1920 to 1940 Orange County schoolchildren received free or reduced-fee dental care through clinics backed by the State Board of Health, civic clubs and the Red Cross. In January 1920 state school dentist A. M. Schultz treated 75 children free at Chapel Hill High School, then set up a county clinic at Hillsboro. From about 1928 Dr. J. P. Jones ran a clinic for Chapel Hill school children for the Kiwanis Club. By May 1935 a clinic at the Chapel Hill school for Black children had treated 340 children, with Black residents raising $100 of its cost. From 1936 Dr. I. A. Daves of the State Board of Health toured the county's Black schools, reaching every one by 1940. Chapel Hill’s milk supply in wartime, 1942–19451942–1945 · 8 events · Chapel Hill's milk supply ran into trouble in August 1942, when the health department degraded the milk of dairies supplying Harward's Durham Road Dairy from grade B to C. An aldermen majority suspended enforcement of the milk ordinance, a vote Louis Graves criticized in the Weekly, and the Naval Pre-Flight School ordered its cadets to stay out of places that sold Harward's milk. In February 1943 Durham Dairy Products said it would stop rather than label its mixed, partly imported milk Grade C, and health officer William P. Richardson declared a milk emergency. Refused a pasteurized label, the company made its last deliveries in March, and by April Richardson reported all milk sold in Chapel Hill strictly Grade A.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 64 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Dr. W. P. Richardson becomes health officer of the district serving Orange Richardson, lent by the State Board of Health, was elected acting county health officer by the county board of health in January 1936, when Dr. M. H. Rourk was given a month's leave to be with his ill father; he was still acting in Rourk's absence in late February, and by March the Weekly was calling him the health officer. Lefler and Wager say Rourk left in February 1936. Richardson served until Dr. O. D. Garvin replaced him in 1944. People: William P. RichardsonLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 216 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, January 24, 1936, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, February 21, 1936, p. 6; Chapel Hill Weekly, March 13, 1936, p. 1
  2. Grace Beatty appointed supervising nurse of the district health unit Acting district health officer Dr. William P. Richardson appointed Grace Beatty, who held a master's degree in public health nursing from Columbia, as supervising nurse under an enlarged program funded by Social Security money. By July 1936 the Orange-Person staff of 11 included staff nurses Agnes Tolbert in Chapel Hill and Ruth O'Briant and Lieotta Hall in Roxboro. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, February 28, 1936, p. 3 (Nurse Engaged)
  3. The county welfare and health departments set up a free syphilis clinic in Chapel Hill On March 10, 1936 county welfare superintendent George H. Lawrence and health officer Dr. William P. Richardson proposed to local physicians a clinic for people unable to pay for treatment of syphilis, paid for at first by the Red Cross, the Movie Guild and other groups. The physicians then named Dr. Roscoe Farabee clinic physician for the first year, and the clinic was set for Thursdays from 4 to 6 at the health unit's quarters from the week of March 23, with clinics to follow in Hillsboro and Roxboro. People: George H. Lawrence, William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, March 13, 1936, p. 1
  4. Orange County begins rabies vaccination of dogs under the state law On Monday, May 4, 1936 J. H. Hanner, chairman of the county commissioners, announced after conferring with health officer Dr. William P. Richardson that dogs in Orange County would be vaccinated against rabies that spring under the state law, with an inspector appointed by Dr. Richardson in each township. The health department was to show the inspectors how to give the vaccine. People: William P. Richardson, John Hodge HannerThe Chapel Hill Weekly, May 8, 1936, p. 1
  5. Health officer reports on the preschool clinics in Chapel Hill and Carrboro The health department finished its round of preschool clinics, with 25 children at the Chapel Hill clinic and 34 at Carrboro. Health officer W. P. Richardson credited a committee of women with much of the success and reported that 56 correctible defects were found among 38 of the 59 children examined.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 29, 1936, p. 1 (The Pre-School Clinics)
  6. The district health department adds an assistant health officer and a veterinarian By May 1, 1936 the Orange-Person district health department had appointed Dr. S. V. Lewis, lately of the U.S. Public Health Service on Ocracoke Island, assistant health officer stationed at Roxboro, and Dr. W. G. Chrisman of Leaksville its veterinarian, reporting May 1. The department was then quartered in the former D.K.E. house on Fraternity Row, with set office hours for the health officer, nurse and sanitary officer. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, May 1, 1936, p. 1
  7. The district health department opens its summer vaccination clinics in the county The district health department began its summer campaign against diphtheria, typhoid and smallpox with clinics in the southwestern part of the county, at the Wilson service station, Antioch, White Cross and Orange Grove, to be repeated on later dates into July. Health officer Dr. W. P. Richardson urged people missed the year before to come. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, June 19, 1936, p. 2
  8. First field training course for North Carolina public health workers held in the Orange-Person District A month-long field training course for 29 new public health workers (14 nurses, 6 sanitary officers, 4 sanitary engineers and 5 health officers), described as the first in North Carolina, ended in Chapel Hill in early July 1936 under Dr. William P. Richardson. The Orange-Person and Durham health departments then ran as a joint field training center, and by July 1937 it had trained 109 workers. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, July 10, 1936, p. 6 (Training Course Ends)
  9. Orange County goes the summer without a reported typhoid case Health officer Dr. W. P. Richardson reported that not a single case of typhoid fever had been reported in Orange County that summer, a year after an outbreak, and credited the 1935 vaccination campaign in part. He said sanitary privies and protected wells at rural homes and schools were the lasting cure, since typhoid had become mainly a rural problem. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, July 31, 1936, p. 1
  10. The Orange-Person health department begins its second year with a staff of eleven The district health department, which also served Chapel Hill, began its first year of full operation with eleven staff members under health officer Dr. William P. Richardson, a budget of about $30,000 (about half from federal Social Security funds), and permanent headquarters in the old DKE house near Hill Music Hall. It was meant as a model for district health departments in North Carolina and other states. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, July 24, 1936, p. 1
  11. District health department holds midwife classes across Orange County Classes for midwives were held at Efland and Hillsboro and began for those in and near Chapel Hill at the health department offices, with attendance required before a permit to practice would be issued. Health officer W. P. Richardson said 17 percent of births in the county were attended by midwives, against 31 percent statewide.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 21, 1936, p. 5 (classes for midwives)
  12. The Orange-Person district health department reports on its first full year Health officer Dr. W. P. Richardson reported 11 cases of diphtheria, 2 of scarlet fever, 1 of typhoid and 1 of meningitis in Orange County in 1936, none near Chapel Hill; a fall rise in diphtheria had brought the testing of school contacts and toxoid for children found susceptible. A WPA project had built 162 sanitary privies in the county, the Chapel Hill syphilis clinic had reopened with about 30 patients, every eating place for white people in Chapel Hill held an A rating, and midwives who could not meet state standards had been stopped from practicing. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 24, 1936, p. 1
Show all 64 dated events
  1. The Chapel Hill syphilis clinic reopens in the health department offices A free syphilis clinic, organized in the spring of 1936 with money from community groups and closed in September for want of space and steady support, reopened in the district health department's offices in December 1936, meeting Thursday afternoons. Health officer W. P. Richardson reported a rapid rise in attendance and said early cases were being found through examinations of food handlers and household servants. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 29, 1937, p. 4
  2. Rabies breaks out among Chapel Hill dogs From early January several dogs in and near Chapel Hill were found to have rabies, and eight people who had been bitten or exposed took the Pasteur treatment. The police were told to kill dogs without a current license tag, the state department of agriculture put Chapel Hill and its vicinity under quarantine, and in late February the health department kept the quarantine in force for about two more months after another case. People: William P. Richardson, S. A. NathanSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 29, 1937, p. 1
  3. The district health department opens an office in Hillsboro Alterations were finished on quarters in the former garage building behind the courthouse in Hillsboro, and the district health department made ready to move in, with sanitarian E. P. Caruthers in charge and a full-time secretary. Health officer W. P. Richardson planned to be there Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings, with other staff members coming daily and the office keeping regular hours in touch with the Chapel Hill office. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, February 19, 1937, p. 4
  4. The health department warns Chapel Hill's milk dairies to clean up or be downgraded Health officer W. P. Richardson told the aldermen that a survey of dairies supplying Chapel Hill found several far short of the requirements in cleanliness, though plants, equipment and herd testing for tuberculosis and Bang's disease had improved. Dairies below standard were given a short time to clean up, after which grades would be awarded strictly and made public, and the aldermen approved the program. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 2, 1937, p. 1
  5. Measles spreads in the Efland community District health officer W. P. Richardson reported 44 cases of measles from the Efland community in the four weeks before April 23, 1937, and warned that it might be the start of a considerable outbreak in the county. The health department urged parents to watch for early symptoms and pointed to a new preparation that could make the disease milder in exposed young children. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, April 23, 1937, p. 1
  6. The Orange-Person health department begins a second year as a state training center Dr. William P. Richardson reported that in its first year as part of North Carolina's field training center for new health workers, the Orange-Person department, working with Durham's, had given a month's training to 109 people: 60 nurses, 35 sanitary officers and 14 health officers. The Weekly said the center was one of the first set up under the Social Security program. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, July 23, 1937, p. 5
  7. The Black parents' PTA pays for eye tests and glasses for Orange County's Black schoolchildren The Negro Parent-Teacher Association used money it had saved for health work to provide eye examinations and glasses, at special rates from Durham specialists, for every Black school child in Orange County whom the health department had found to have poor vision; parents who could paid part or all of the cost, and teachers and neighbors arranged transportation. Health officer W. P. Richardson called it one of the most valuable projects of its kind he knew. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 17, 1937, p. 1
  8. Chatham County joins the Orange-Person Health District District health officer Dr. William P. Richardson announced that Chatham County had joined the Orange-Person Health District, which would provide a physician, a nurse and a sanitary officer for the new county. The State Board of Health had kept a nurse in Chatham for the past year with U.S. Children's Bureau funds. People: William P. RichardsonDigitalNC: Person County Times, October 28, 1937, p. 8 (Health Service Improved)
  9. The Orange County board of health requires smallpox vaccination of all schoolchildren During 1938 the boards of health of Orange and Chatham counties passed an ordinance requiring smallpox vaccination of every school child, as was already the rule in Person County, according to the district health department's annual report. By the next spring the Chapel Hill schools told parents that no child could enter in September without it. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, March 24, 1939, p. 3
  10. The district health department reports its 1938 work in Orange County Dr. W. P. Richardson's summary for 1938 counted 1,015 smallpox vaccinations, 516 diphtheria and 2,857 typhoid immunizations, 5,084 syphilis treatments and 373 people X-rayed for tuberculosis, with 587 cases of measles reported in Orange County but no deaths from contagious disease. He reported that a sanitary survey of the Chapel Hill and Carrboro community had been completed and that meat markets had been brought under the same supervision as cafés. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, February 3, 1939, p. 6
  11. The district health department holds its first fluoroscope clinic in Chapel Hill A house trailer fitted with a fluoroscopic x-ray unit, paid for by civic organizations in Orange, Person and Chatham counties, was to hold free monthly tuberculosis clinics at the department's offices in Roxboro, Hillsboro, Chapel Hill and Pittsboro. At the first Chapel Hill clinic a dozen people, mostly contacts of known cases, were examined and one new case was found. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, January 21, 1938, p. 1
  12. The Orange, Person and Chatham boards of health meet together in Hillsborough At the joint meeting in the courthouse, Dr. Charles S. Mangum reviewed the district health unit's growth to a staff of 14 under Dr. W. P. Richardson and a $43,000 budget, and the boards named an executive committee to draw up a district health program. A proposed three-county home of 50 to 70 beds for incurable tuberculosis patients drew strong support but no formal action. People: Charles Staples Mangum, William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, February 11, 1938, p. 1
  13. The district health department takes its trailer X-ray unit to tuberculosis clinics The Chatham-Orange-Person health department's fluoroscopic X-ray, mounted in a trailer, had held nine tuberculosis clinics, examined 225 people (mostly family contacts of known cases) and found 10 adult-type and 6 childhood-type cases. The American Public Health Association asked for photographs of the unit for a national exhibit. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, April 15, 1938, p. 1
  14. A typhoid case in Hillsborough is Orange County's first since 1936 A two-year-old child in Hillsborough came down with typhoid fever, the first case reported in Orange County since 1936. Health officer William P. Richardson traced it probably to a carrier and urged vaccination at the department's free clinics. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, June 10, 1938, p. 1
  15. Measles spreads through Orange County Measles, epidemic elsewhere in the state that spring, reached Orange County late in May. By July 1 the district health department had 61 reported cases (31 white, 30 Black), most of the Black cases in Chapel Hill and Carrboro and most of the white cases in Carrboro and the nearby countryside; 77 cases were reported in July before the outbreak subsided in August. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 1, 1938, p. 2
  16. Diphtheria cases bring school-wide Schick tests and quarantines in Chapel Hill After a University co-ed was taken to the infirmary with diphtheria in late October, the sixth student case of the year, the health department gave Schick tests to all the school children, offered toxoid to those found susceptible, took several hundred throat cultures, quarantined carriers and kept carriers among food handlers off the job. Health officer W. P. Richardson said there were no cases outside the student body; in September nine cases in the Orange-Person-Chatham district had raised fears of an epidemic in the Cedar Grove section. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 4, 1938, p. 1
  17. A measles epidemic closes Chapel Hill's three schools early for Christmas With more than 30 per cent of pupils absent, Superintendent A. W. Honeycutt closed the two white schools and the school for Black students on December 16 instead of December 21 as scheduled. Health officer W. P. Richardson counted 230 measles cases in the school area since November 1; three weeks before, he had reported 110 cases from the Chapel Hill community in November, about 60 per cent white and 40 per cent Black, and 896 for the year. People: William P. Richardson, Allison W. HoneycuttSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 16, 1938, p. 1
  18. Chapel Hill's syphilis clinic reports more than 500 patients treated in 1938 The district health department reported that the Chapel Hill syphilis clinic had grown to two sessions a week, with about 200 patients under treatment and more than 500 treated during 1938. Health officer W. P. Richardson credited a special program paid for jointly by the county and the Smith Reynolds Foundation for better examinations, the tracing of contacts and follow-up until patients had at least the minimum standard of treatment. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 22, 1938, p. 5
  19. A tuberculosis clinic tests 636 Chapel Hill schoolchildren At a three-day clinic run by the district health department with the P.T.A. and the Community Club's health department, 636 Chapel Hill schoolchildren were given tuberculin skin tests; the 225 who reacted were examined by fluoroscope, and one possible adult-type case and three active childhood-type infections were found. Examinations were also offered to any resident who asked, white or Black. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, March 10, 1939, p. 6
  20. An influenza epidemic closes the Hillsborough schools An influenza epidemic closed the Hillsborough schools early in 1939; the district health officer reported in mid-March that it was subsiding. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, March 17, 1939, p. 1
  21. Typhoid fever breaks out in West Hillsborough An outbreak of typhoid fever in West Hillsborough affected eight people; district health officer Dr. W. P. Richardson said in mid-March that he hoped it was checked. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, March 17, 1939, p. 1
  22. A survey of 661 Orange County schoolchildren finds hookworm rare Dr. Harold W. Brown and A. J. Sheldon of the University's public health division examined 418 white and 243 Black Orange County schoolchildren and found only one hookworm infection, which they credited to the county's clay soil. They found roundworm (ascaris) in 29 children, most of them Black, and their report attributed this to soil pollution and the lack of proper sanitary facilities for Black families. The Weekly said no such survey had been made in the county before. People: William P. Richardson, Harold W. BrownThe Chapel Hill Weekly, April 14, 1939, p. 1
  23. Fire guts the third floor of the district health department building in Chapel Hill A fire of unknown origin before dawn destroyed drugs, bedding and record blanks stored on the third floor of the district health department's large wooden building, and the water firemen poured through the windows damaged the floors below. It was the building's second fire that spring, and health officer Dr. W. P. Richardson said it would force an expensive rewiring. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 19, 1939, p. 5
  24. Whooping cough spreads through Chapel Hill Health officer Dr. W. P. Richardson warned in May of widespread whooping cough and reminded parents the law required them to report it. By the end of June 70 cases had been reported that spring, 50 of them since May 1, an increasing share in the Black section; he said the outbreak had subsided but about four cases a week were still coming in. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 30, 1939, p. 6
  25. Orange County records its second case of Rocky Mountain spotted fever A Chapel Hill man fell ill with Rocky Mountain spotted fever in late August 1939 and was recovering by September 1. District health officer W. P. Richardson told the Weekly it was the second case in Orange County that year and that no cases had been reported in the county before, though Person and Chatham had had several. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 1, 1939, p. 1
  26. Orange County board of health makes parents responsible for treating children with syphilis At its quarterly meeting in Hillsborough on November 1, 1939, the county board of health passed an ordinance making parents responsible for getting treatment for children infected with syphilis. Health officer W. P. Richardson said many infected parents came to the health department for treatment but did not bring their children. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 3, 1939, p. 1
  27. Health inspectors give Chapel Hill and Carrboro meat markets their first official grades Under the meat market sanitation law passed by the 1937 legislature, state and district health inspectors issued the first official grades in November 1939: Grade A to the Shields, A. & P., Model, Midway and West Franklin markets; Grade B to Pender's, the Friendly market, Mrs. Bettie Williams's market and Andrews-Riggsbee in Carrboro; and Grade C to E. T. Hearn's market in Carrboro. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 10, 1939, p. 6
  28. District health officer reports one of the district's best years for diphtheria Although diphtheria was widespread in North Carolina in 1939, the Orange-Person-Chatham district recorded only 18 cases. Health officer W. P. Richardson credited immunization of children under six, warned that immunizations had fallen off over the past twelve months, and urged parents to have young children immunized.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 9, 1940, p. 1 (Less Diphtheria Here)
  29. Chapel Hill aldermen order all dogs confined as rabies spreads After the fifth rabid dog in four weeks was killed at Ransom Street and West University Drive, the aldermen met in special session on April 3 and required all dogs to be kept on their owners' premises, any dog in a public place off a leash to be impounded or shot, and impounded dogs to be redeemed within 72 hours for $10 and board. Health officer W. P. Richardson warned that bitten dogs might go mad for three or four months and urged owners to have their dogs vaccinated. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 5, 1940, p. 1
  30. The district health department's 1939 report shows low death rates in Orange County and a wide racial gap in tuberculosis The district health department's annual report put Orange County's 1939 death rate at 6.2 per thousand, one of the lowest on record, and its infant death rate at 21.2 per thousand live births against 68.6 for the state, with no deaths from childbirth. It also showed that the Black death rate from tuberculosis had run three to five times the white rate for ten years. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, April 12, 1940, p. 1
  31. Two more rabid dogs lead Chapel Hill to extend its dog restrictions Health officer Dr. William P. Richardson reported two more cases of rabies in Chapel Hill dogs in the current epidemic, said many owners had been letting dogs run loose, and extended the restrictions beyond the time first set, with the police to enforce them. The town meeting of May 10 had voted all but unanimously to keep the quarantine. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 31, 1940, p. 1
  32. Typhoid from a woodland spring strikes a crew of house builders east of Chapel Hill Workmen building new houses beyond the Davie Woods section drank from an open spring in the woods east of the village; three came down with typhoid and one, a young Black man who lived out the Raleigh road, died at Duke Hospital on August 7. District health officer W. P. Richardson investigated, others in the crew had milder intestinal illness, and the spring was closed on his order. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 16, 1940, p. 6
  33. A state dentist finishes a seven-week dental program in Orange County's Black schools Dr. I. A. Daves of the State Board of Health completed a seven-week program that reached every Black school in the county, examining 1,513 pupils and treating 471 of the neediest, with lessons on care of the teeth. Health officer W. P. Richardson said it was the fourth year of the program, which the district health department also ran in the white schools. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 8, 1940, p. 6
  34. Chapel Hill aldermen tighten the rules for confining dogs that bite After many dog bites that fall, the aldermen, on the health department's advice, required that a biting dog spend the first seven of its ten days' rabies observation in a veterinary hospital at the owner's cost. An owner unable to pay could sign the dog over to the Humane Society and the town would bear the cost. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 22, 1940, p. 2
  35. An influenza epidemic closes the Chapel Hill, Carrboro and White Cross schools With 335 children absent and hundreds of cases in town, Superintendent A. W. Honeycutt, on the health officer's advice, closed the white and Black schools of Chapel Hill and the Carrboro and White Cross schools at midday until January 27. The University filled its Infirmary and turned the Faculty Club rooms into a ward for 156 sick students, helped by some 200 student volunteer nurses. People: William P. Richardson, W. Reece Berryhill, Allison W. HoneycuttSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 17, 1941, p. 1
  36. German measles epidemic spreads through county schools and Chapel Hill Health officer W. P. Richardson reported a widespread German measles epidemic that was cutting attendance at some county schools and reaching considerable proportions in Chapel Hill; it had begun among University students about six weeks earlier and was attacking adults as well as children. The health department asked parents to report every case. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 4, 1941, p. 1
  37. Orange County Board of Health orders a county-wide dog quarantine after rabies cases After three rabies cases in the county in ten days, the Board of Health at a special meeting declared a quarantine, effective at noon April 12, requiring every dog to be kept at home or on a leash, with loose dogs liable to be killed or impounded. One mad dog had bitten many dogs in West Hillsboro and another several cows in the Orange Grove section; on April 16 a rabid dog bit several dogs in Carrboro and western Chapel Hill. People: William P. Richardson, William T. SloanSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 11, 1941, p. 1
  38. The Orange County Nutrition Committee is organized An Orange County Nutrition Committee, formed in cooperation with the state and national nutrition councils and chaired by health officer Dr. William P. Richardson, called its first public meeting for November 24 in the Hillsboro high school auditorium, with State Health Officer Carl V. Reynolds to speak. It aimed to improve diets, spread simple nutrition information, raise more vegetables, milk and other food at home, and enlarge the school lunch program. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, November 21, 1941, p. 2
  39. Orange County holds rabies vaccination clinics for dogs Under a 1941 state law requiring every dog to be vaccinated, the county's new rabies inspectors held clinics at rural schools and crossroads across the county and then in Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Hillsboro, charging 75 cents a dog. By late April they had vaccinated almost 700 dogs in the rural areas, and a separate clinic for the dogs of Black owners was held at the Orange County Training School. People: S. A. Nathan, William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 24, 1942, p. 1
  40. A whooping cough epidemic runs through Chapel Hill Health officer Dr. William P. Richardson warned of the whooping cough epidemic that had gone on for two or three months, with 53 cases reported to the health department that spring and summer and many mild cases unreported. He reminded parents that they had to report cases when no doctor was called. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 3, 1942, p. 4
  41. Orange County records its lowest death rate on record and its most births in years District Health Officer William P. Richardson reported that Orange County's death rate in 1943 was the lowest ever recorded, with 163 deaths against 505 births, the most births in recent years. The infant death rate of 39.6 was the second lowest in county history, and heart disease led the causes of death with 25. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 16, 1944, p. 4
  42. Chapel Hill's health officer declares a milk emergency and the aldermen meet on it Health officer William P. Richardson declared a milk emergency, which let grades below Grade A be sold under the town ordinance, after Durham Dairy Products, selling about 1,000 gallons a day in Chapel Hill, said it would stop rather than relabel its mixed, partly imported milk Grade C. At a special meeting the aldermen suspended the Grade C order for a week and the company stayed. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 19, 1943, p. 1
  43. Chapel Hill aldermen refuse a pasteurized label for Durham Dairy's shipped-in milk At a special meeting the Chapel Hill Board of Aldermen turned down Durham Dairy Products' request to label its mix of out-of-state and local milk as pasteurized milk and followed health officer Dr. William P. Richardson's advice that children's milk be boiled. The board set March 6 as the deadline for proper labeling and named a committee of its members to settle the question with the Durham Board of Health. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), February 25, 1943, p. 1
  44. Junior Service League runs well-baby clinics in Carrboro and at the Training School Louis Graves visited the Junior Service League's well-baby clinic for white children in the small frame building that had been the office of Durham Hosiery Mill No. 4 in Carrboro, lent rent-free by the company leasing the mill property; the league's clinic for Black children met on the third Tuesday of each month at the Orange County Training School. Dr. Beryl Mason attended both, with public health nurses at each, and health officer Dr. W. P. Richardson praised the project. People: William P. RichardsonThe Chapel Hill Weekly, February 12, 1943, p. 1
  45. Durham Dairy Products stops selling milk in Chapel Hill rather than use the Grade C label Durham Dairy Products made its last deliveries and closed its Chapel Hill store at noon on March 15 after the aldermen held to the ordinance requiring a Grade C label on its mixed milk. The University contracted with Selected Dairies of Winston-Salem for 1,100 to 1,200 gallons a day, and local dairies covered most of the town's loss. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 19, 1943, p. 1
  46. Chapel Hill's milk supply is all Grade A again Health officer William P. Richardson reported that all milk sold in Chapel Hill, for the town, the University and the Pre-Flight School, was strictly Grade A, a month after Durham Dairy Products left the market. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 16, 1943, p. 4
  47. Bacillary dysentery spreads through the University's war-training units A bacillary dysentery with nausea and abdominal pain ran through students in the war-training units for several weeks, and town health officer Dr. W. P. Richardson reported scattered cases in town. The Weekly said it was common knowledge that a kitchen worker on a field-training trip had been found to be a carrier; kitchens, food handling and water were checked, faults corrected and chlorine increased, and by late August the illness had nearly gone. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 27, 1943, p. 1
  48. The Orange County polio chapter reports $1,090 from the March of Dimes Dr. William P. Richardson, chairman of the county chapter of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, reported $1,090 kept from the winter's March of Dimes and President's Birthday celebration, with an equal sum sent to the national office. Local money paid for a monthly crippled children's clinic in Chapel Hill and braces and shoes for patients, with a reserve held against an epidemic. People: William P. Richardson, Vic HugginsThe Chapel Hill Weekly, August 27, 1943, p. 2
  49. District health officer reports the season's typhoid cases Dr. William P. Richardson, district health officer, reported two confirmed cases of typhoid fever in the district in the past two months, one in Chatham County and one in Person County, with a suspected case in Person County and indirect reports of two cases in Orange County that health officials had not been able to confirm.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 15, 1944, p. 1 (Dr. Richardson)
  50. A young Orange County munitions worker dies of polio as the 1944 epidemic spreads A 24-year-old munitions plant worker from a farm in the southern part of the county fell ill on July 18, 1944, and died of poliomyelitis the next morning at Watts Hospital in Durham, the second polio case reported in Orange County that year. At the health department's request his family held a private funeral; earlier in July District Health Officer William P. Richardson had urged parents to keep children away from crowds. People: William P. RichardsonThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 27, 1944, p. 1
  51. Chapel Hill's Black Community Health Club reports its survey of 116 families At a community meeting at the C.M.E. church, the club reported its survey of 116 Black families, 657 people: 38 of 94 young children had no smallpox vaccination, 42 families had no means of sewage disposal, and some carried water three or more blocks. The club planned a study program and more home nursing classes. People: William P. RichardsonThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 14, 1944, p. 1
  52. Dr. Gaston W. Rogers, former assistant district health officer, dies Dr. Gaston Wilder Rogers, 75, who settled in Chapel Hill in 1937 after a 19-year Army career as a physician and engineer and became assistant health officer under District Health Officer William P. Richardson, died at the Veterans Hospital in Durham. In later years he had served as administrative officer for the Orange and Person health departments. People: William P. RichardsonSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 16, 1958, p. 1

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 →

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as William P. Richardson, 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.

Background on Public health in rural Orange County

Background reading on Public health in rural Orange County. These works cover the broader subject and may not discuss William P. Richardson. Follow a link to find a copy or view the material.

Community health assessment, Orange County, NC

2011 · Orange County Health Dept.

Orange County Health Department's community health assessment for the county, dated December 2011 and published in Hillsborough. A public health report of 240 pages plus 124 unnumbered pages, with color illustrations and maps.

UNC

Cedar Grove, Orange County : an action-oriented community diagnosis : findings and next steps of action

2002 · Dept. of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Graduate students in health behavior and health education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill produced this action oriented community diagnosis of Cedar Grove in 2002, completed for a course in the School of Public Health. It sets out findings on community health services, public health and economic conditions in that part of Orange County, with next steps for action. Seventy-three pages.

UNC

Annual report

Orange-Person-Chatham District Health Department (N.C.) · 1964 · Orange-Person-Chatham District Health Department

The 1964 annual report of the Orange-Person-Chatham District Health Department, the joint public health agency that served the three counties from offices in Chapel Hill. Public health in Orange, Person and Chatham counties runs through the series.

UNC

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.

Background

Records of the time

Collections and databases

  • NC LIVE: prepared search for William P. Richardson Library card Search NC LIVE for this subject and Orange County. You can change the search terms. Sign in through your North Carolina library to access the materials.
  • Ancestry Library Edition In the libraryOrange County Public Library Census, birth, death and marriage records, and more, free on the public computers at OCPL libraries

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 William P. Richardson

Books by William P. Richardson

Find copies at other libraries

Photographs, papers, and newspapers

Historical records and collections

These searches use William P. Richardson’s name without birth or death dates, so results 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