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Local figure

Robert H. Wettach

Robert H. Wettach, a Pittsburgh native with a Harvard law degree, was dean of the UNC law school from 1941 to 1949 and served as an assistant state attorney general and on the Chapel Hill Board of Aldermen. The university named its 1968 law building, Van Hecke-Wettach Hall, for him and Maurice T. Van Hecke.

Source: The Carolina Story (museum.unc.edu): Van Hecke-Wettach Hall

1 work about Robert H. Wettach is indexed here.

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Life and Orange County connections

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

Chapel Hill town elections, 1933–19491933–1949 · On May 2, 1933 former town manager John Foushee was elected mayor of Chapel Hill over Mayor Zeb P. Council and B. J. Howard, and he was returned in 1935, 1937, 1939 and 1941, twice without opposition. In May 1942 he said he would resign because he was moving to his farm outside the town limits, and on July 8 the aldermen unanimously elected R. W. Madry, director of the University news bureau, as mayor. The Weekly believed no one in the University's service had headed the town government before. No one filed against Madry in 1943. On May 3, 1949 Edwin S. Lanier defeated him 811 to 589, ending his seven years as mayor.

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

  1. Chapel Hill re-elects Mayor Foushee and elects R. H. Wettach alderman In the town election Mayor John M. Foushee was returned without opposition, P. L. Burch (268 votes) and R. J. M. Hobbs (207) were re-elected aldermen, and law professor R. H. Wettach (236) won the third seat from Brodie S. Thompson (174). L. J. Phipps kept the recorder's court judgeship with 201 votes to 169 for C. P. Hinshaw and 102 for Roy W. McGinnis. People: Richard Junius Mendenhall Hobbs, Brodie Thompson, Luther James Phipps, Robert H. Wettach, Peter L. Burch, Clarence P. Hinshaw, John M. FousheeSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 10, 1935, p. 1
  2. NYA-paid law students begin compiling Chapel Hill's ordinances for a new code Two second-year law students, paid with National Youth Administration funds and directed by Alderman R. H. Wettach, read the aldermen's minutes back to 1869 and copied out every ordinance enacted since. The board meant to discard repealed ones, study and consolidate the rest, repeal all the old ordinances and enact, and probably publish, an entirely new code. People: Robert H. Wettach, John M. FousheeSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 2, 1937, p. 1
  3. Chapel Hill's aldermen legalize Sunday movies The board of aldermen adopted rules allowing Sunday picture shows from 1 to 7 P.M. and after 8:30 P.M., leaving the evening church hour clear, and requiring the Chapel Hill Movie Guild to report its receipts and spending to the board each year. Sunday shows had run for years under an informal understanding, with part of the money going to relief and civic causes. People: Richard Junius Mendenhall Hobbs, Robert H. Wettach, E. Carrington SmithSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 19, 1937, p. 1
  4. The town and the University agree to split the cost of shared services Committees of the two met and agreed to share equally the cost of fire protection, police, jail and recorder's court, the health department, and the sewers and incinerator. Their figures showed the University paying less than half for fire and sewers and more than half for health and police, leaving a net $186 due from the University. People: Richard Junius Mendenhall Hobbs, Robert H. Wettach, Arthur R. HollettSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 24, 1937, p. 1
  5. Chapel Hill aldermen choose Robert W. Madry to fill a vacant seat The board elected Robert W. Madry, director of the University news bureau, to succeed Robert H. Wettach, who had resigned on becoming an assistant attorney general of the state. Madry was to serve the rest of the term, to May 1939. People: Robert H. WettachSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 12, 1938, p. 1
  6. Chapel Hill men organize a faculty club to occupy the Archer house Ninety-nine men signed up for a faculty club open to townsmen as well as faculty, and 72 mailed ballots elected directors W. A. Olsen, L. B. Rogerson, George McKie, Clarence Heer, Louis Graves, Oliver Cornwell, J. M. Lear and R. H. Wettach. The club was to take over the Archer house on Columbia Street in July, with members' meals served in a room at the Carolina Inn. People: George McKie, Louis Graves, L. B. Rogerson, Robert H. WettachSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 9, 1939, p. 1
  7. University law professors agree to staff the reopening law school of the North Carolina College for Negroes The law school of the North Carolina College for Negroes in Durham, suspended a week after its September 1939 opening because only one qualified student enrolled, was to reopen in September 1940 with University law professors M. T. Van Hecke, J. P. Dalzell, F. B. McCall and R. H. Wettach teaching until Black teachers could be recruited. Van Hecke said every effort would be made to give Black students the same opportunities for legal education as the University offered. People: Robert H. WettachThe Chapel Hill Weekly, April 12, 1940, p. 4
  8. Chapel Hill organizes a chapter of Federal Union (Union Now) Members of Federal Union, Inc., which worked for a federal union of the United States, Britain, the Dominions, and Eire, met at the Town Hall, elected an executive board, and chose John M. Booker chairman, H. A. Whitfield vice-chairman, Elizabeth Bain secretary, and R. H. Wettach treasurer. A group had begun organizing after Clarence Streit spoke at the Human Relations Institute in April. People: John M. Booker, Robert H. Wettach, Henry A. WhitfieldSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 23, 1941, p. 5
  9. Robert H. Wettach serves as dean of the UNC School of Law The trustees, meeting on June 7, 1941, made Wettach, on the law faculty since 1921, dean of the law school in place of M. T. Van Hecke, who stepped down to teach and write. Wettach, who also served as an assistant state attorney general, lived with his wife Alpha in the rented Nash house on South Boundary Street. People: Robert H. WettachSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Arthur C. and Mary S. A. Nash House, National Register nomination (OR2289), p. 19 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, June 13, 1941, p. 1
  10. Trustees make Harold W. Brown dean of the School of Public Health The trustees appointed Dr. Harold W. Brown, a parasitologist on the faculty since 1937, dean of the School of Public Health in place of Dr. Milton J. Rosenau, the school's first dean, who kept the post of director. At the same meeting Robert H. Wettach succeeded M. T. Van Hecke as dean of the law school. People: M. J. (Milton Joseph) Rosenau, Robert H. Wettach, Harold W. BrownSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 13, 1941, p. 1
  11. Chapel Hill's air raid wardens organize in sixteen districts Meeting at the Town Hall on January 14 under chief warden R. H. Wettach, with Bruce Strowd and W. E. Thompson as deputies, the air raid wardens began organizing the town in sixteen districts, each with a leader, and arranged the Red Cross first aid course for wardens, firemen, police and barbers. They also took up how far the town police and firemen could serve outside the town limits. People: Bruce Strowd, W. E. Thompson, Robert H. WettachThe Chapel Hill Weekly, January 16, 1942, p. 1
  12. The law school cuts its admission requirement to two years of college Dean Robert H. Wettach announced that for the duration of the war the University law school would admit students who had finished two years of college instead of three, and would take beginners in the summer session for the first time in several years, so that a student could finish in two calendar years before being called to service. People: Robert H. WettachSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 27, 1942, p. 1
Show all 23 dated events
  1. Chapel Hill holds its first wartime blackout On orders from the First Interceptor Command of the Army Air Forces, covering twenty counties from Raleigh westward, Chapel Hill blacked out for about half an hour on the night of April 24, with the fire siren and the University steam siren giving the signals. The Weekly reported that a watcher on the power house could see only one light, outside the town limits. People: Robert H. WettachThe Chapel Hill Weekly, May 1, 1942, p. 1
  2. Chapel Hill aldermen elect R. H. Wettach to the board The board chose law school dean Robert H. Wettach to fill the seat Robert W. Madry had left on becoming mayor, Wettach's second time as an alderman. At the same meeting the aldermen voted $500, to be matched by the University, to improve the sewage disposal plant, strained by the larger town and campus population. People: Robert W. Madry, Robert H. WettachSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 11, 1942, p. 1
  3. Chapel Hill aldermen order an inquiry into charges that police mistreated Black prisoners After the Daily Tar Heel printed affidavits from three Black residents charging Chapel Hill police with mistreating them during and after arrest, the board of aldermen voted unanimously at a special meeting to investigate, and Mayor R. W. Madry named Aldermen P. L. Burch and R. H. Wettach to make a preliminary inquiry, with a public hearing to follow. People: Robert W. Madry, Robert H. Wettach, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 20, 1942, p. 1
  4. No one files against Chapel Hill's mayor, aldermen and recorder in the 1943 town election When nominations closed for the May 4 town election, no one had filed against Mayor R. W. Madry, aldermen R. J. M. Hobbs, R. H. Wettach and P. L. Burch, or recorder's court judge H. A. Whitfield, so their reelection was automatic. People: Robert W. Madry, Richard Junius Mendenhall Hobbs, Robert H. Wettach, Henry A. Whitfield, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 30, 1943, p. 1
  5. Chapel Hill's aldermen decide to enlarge the town sewage plant At their November 8 meeting the Chapel Hill aldermen decided to go ahead with enlarging the long-inadequate sewage disposal plant and asked Gilbert, White and Company of Durham for a survey and cost estimates. A committee under R. J. M. Hobbs was also studying a plan to extend the town limits to Morgan Creek on the south and Bolin Creek on the north. People: Richard Junius Mendenhall Hobbs, Robert H. Wettach, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 16, 1944, p. 1
  6. Chapel Hill citizens organize a housing corporation to build homes Forty citizens met at the Town Hall and laid plans for a corporation to build apartments and houses; seventy signed for stock and nine directors were elected. The National Housing Agency had approved priorities for 30 dwellings in Chapel Hill, five of them for Black families. People: Richard Junius Mendenhall Hobbs, Robert H. WettachSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 27, 1945, p. 6
  7. F. O. Bowman returns to the Chapel Hill board of aldermen F. O. Bowman, an alderman from 1937 until his defeat in May 1945, accepted appointment to the seat left by R. H. Wettach, dean of the law school, who resigned in December 1945. He was sworn in at the board's February meeting. People: Robert H. WettachSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 17, 1946, p. 1
  8. Robert H. Wettach chairs the Chapel Hill chapter of the American Red Cross As chairman of the Chapel Hill chapter of the American Red Cross, Robert H. Wettach announced in January 1950 that Admiral D. W. Loomis would lead the 1950 fund campaign, and in May he called the chapter's annual meeting at the Town Hall.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 19, 1950, p. 1
  9. Elizabeth Branson is named chairman of Chapel Hill's 1951 Red Cross drive Elizabeth Branson, a Chapel Hill businesswoman and daughter of the late University rural sociologist E. C. Branson, was named chairman of the local Red Cross chapter's 1951 fund drive, planned for March 4 to 10. The News called her the first woman ever to head the chapter's annual drive. People: Robert H. WettachSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 1, 1951, p. 8
  10. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce names Chancellor William B. Aycock Citizen of the Year At the new Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce's charter night banquet on Friday, February 28, former law dean Robert H. Wettach presented the chamber's Citizen of the Year award to UNC Chancellor William B. Aycock. People: Robert H. WettachSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 5, 1964, p. 12
  11. The university's new law building is named Van Hecke-Wettach Hall The university named its 1968 law school building Van Hecke-Wettach Hall for two former deans, Maurice T. Van Hecke and Robert H. Wettach.Search the index · The Carolina Story (museum.unc.edu): Van Hecke-Wettach Hall

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as Robert H. Wettach, 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.

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Indexed works

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Robert and Alpha Wettach papers, 1892-2001

Wettach, Robert Halsey; Wettach, Alpha · 1892

Robert Halsey Wettach and Alpha Wettach left papers spanning 1892 to 2001. The papers concern the School of Law at the University of North Carolina, the United States Navy, and kindergarten in Chapel Hill. Part of the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 5711.

Included because: Its title names this person.

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