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Schools and academies

Chapel Hill School (West Franklin Street)

In Chapel Hill. 84 dated events, 1891–1958.

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  1. Alex Stronach and E. R. McKethan are chosen to teach the Chapel Hill public school Alexander Stronach and E. R. McKethan were chosen to teach in the public school at Chapel Hill. Stronach had already taught in the Raleigh graded school. The Chapel Hillian, February 21, 1891, p. 1
  2. The Community Club gives books to the Chapel Hill school library In 1913-14 the club gave the school library the twenty-volume Book of Knowledge and nineteen other books and paid for a subscription to The Mentor. Community Club of Chapel Hill, The Community Club of Chapel Hill, 1914-1915 (1914), scan p. 29
  3. Chapel Hill's public school adds home economics and a two-session day in its new building When the Chapel Hill public school opened on September 11, 1916 in its new $55,000 building, the school board added a high school home economics department under Lydia E. Lacy of Council Bluffs, Iowa, two more teachers, and a day split into morning and afternoon sessions. Enrollment had grown from 174 to 249 in four years, and the high school from 43 to 85. People: Fred W. Morrison The News (Chapel Hill), September 7, 1916, p. 1
  4. A State Board of Health inspector examines Chapel Hill's school children At the request of the school trustees and town health officer Dr. Eric A. Abernethy, Dr. Thomas M. Jordan of the State Board of Health examined the Chapel Hill graded school children on September 27-29, 1916. He found few defects and no tuberculosis, but 64 children with decayed teeth and only 54 of 245 vaccinated against smallpox. People: Eric A. Abernethy The News (Chapel Hill), November 2, 1916, p. 1
  5. The Chapel Hill Community Club opens its season with 143 members and six departments The Chapel Hill Community Club held its first meeting of the season in the school building and organized its work in six departments: education, civics, health, home economics, literature and art, and music. It already had 143 paid-up members. The News (Chapel Hill), October 5, 1916, p. 1
  6. Chapel Hill and Carrboro residents vote to form a Red Cross chapter at the Graded School Dr. Louis H. Webb, charged with organizing chapters in his medical district, called a Monday night meeting of Chapel Hill and Carrboro people at the Graded School building on May 28, 1917, which voted almost unanimously for a full chapter rather than an auxiliary. Seventy-one people enrolled at the chapter's first meeting, which elected George Howe chairman and Alice Noble vice-chairman. People: George Howe, Alice Noble State Archives of North Carolina, Military Collection, WWI Papers, Box 2, Folder 37: Orange County Red Cross History (typescripts, 1918-1919), scan 18
  7. Principal Fred Morrison returns from the army to the Chapel Hill school Lieutenant Fred Morrison, principal of the Chapel Hill school, came back to his post after his discharge from the army. Lettie Glass had run the high school as acting principal while he was away, and she was called home to Greensboro on December 30 by her mother's illness. People: Fred W. Morrison The News (Chapel Hill), January 2, 1919, p. 1
  8. Chapel Hill builds an addition to its school building An addition to the Chapel Hill school building was under construction in August 1921. The News (Chapel Hill), August 11, 1921, p. 3
  9. The Chapel Hill school opens with 432 pupils The Chapel Hill school opened with 432 pupils registered on the first day, 256 in the elementary grades and 176 in the high school, 30 more than a year before. Superintendent Fred W. Morrison presided at the opening exercises before leaving to study at Columbia, and Lettie Glass took charge as superintendent for the year with 22 teachers. People: Fred W. Morrison The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 13, 1923, p. 1
  10. L. R. Sides becomes principal of the Chapel Hill school as Fred W. Morrison resigns Superintendent Fred W. Morrison resigned to join the faculty of the North Carolina College for Women, and principal Myrtle Green resigned to marry. The school board elected L. R. Sides, leader of the university's student band, as principal, and with no new superintendent named, much of Morrison's supervision fell to him. People: Fred W. Morrison, L. R. Sides The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 17, 1924, p. 1
  11. The Chapel Hill school board requires smallpox vaccination for every entering pupil The school board resolved that every child entering the Chapel Hill School that year must show a recent smallpox vaccination scar or be vaccinated on entering. Dr. S. A. Nathan offered to vaccinate free all who applied, and families could instead have their own physician do it with points supplied by the health department. People: N. W. Walker, S. A. Nathan The News (Chapel Hill), September 4, 1924, p. 4
  12. The Chapel Hill school opens with the largest enrollment in its history The Chapel Hill school opened on a Monday with the largest number of pupils in its history, with more to enter that week, and the News expected the next graduating class to be the largest yet. The News (Chapel Hill), September 18, 1924, p. 1
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  1. The school board elects L. R. Sides superintendent of the Chapel Hill school Meeting with all members present on the night of Tuesday, February 17, 1925, the Chapel Hill school board unanimously elected L. R. Sides superintendent. Sides, an Elon College graduate who had come to the University as a fellow in education, had been principal and acting superintendent since the previous September. People: L. R. Sides The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 19, 1925, p. 1
  2. Chapel Hill re-elects Mayor Roberson and chooses its first six-member board under a new charter Under a charter amendment passed by the 1925 legislature, Chapel Hill elected six aldermen instead of five, three for four years and three for two, on a printed official ballot. Only 76 voters came to the polls at the school on May 5, 1925; they re-elected W. S. Roberson mayor and chose Carl Durham, M. E. Hogan and Gustave M. Braune for four-year terms and R. D. W. Connor, C. L. Wills and B. S. Williams for two. People: W. S. Roberson, R. D. W. Connor, Gustave M. Braune, Milton E. Hogan, Carl T. Durham The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 7, 1925, p. 1
  3. The Chapel Hill school opens its iron-walled gymnasium The Chapel Hill school's physical education building, an iron-plated hall modeled on the University's Tin Can and nicknamed Ironsides for Superintendent L. R. Sides, was formally opened on May 29, 1925, with drills, relay races, singing games and volleyball by the pupils. Built by Brodie Thompson on land bought from M. E. Hogan, it let 100 or more children exercise under one roof in bad weather. People: Brodie Thompson, L. R. Sides The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 4, 1925, p. 1
  4. Chapel Hill school board keeps teaching country children free while it seeks a township school tax Despite the county's budget cut, the Chapel Hill school board decided to go on teaching children from outside its tax district without charge for the time being, and to seek an election on a uniform school tax for the whole township. It cut its teaching force from 21 to 18 to live within the smaller allowance. People: W. S. Roberson The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 19, 1925, p. 1
  5. Chapel Hill school opens a junior high school unit for the sixth through eighth grades The Chapel Hill school opened its year with 485 pupils and a new junior high school, departmental teaching for the sixth, seventh and lower eighth grades under Miss Harriett Bowen. Home economics, agriculture and music were kept after the teachers gave up their raises and the county commissioners added to the appropriation. People: Edgar Wallace Knight, L. R. Sides The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 11, 1925, p. 4
  6. The Chapel Hill school stages a penny circus with a minstrel act Minstrel shows were built on demeaning caricatures of Black people. The Chapel Hill school's annual 'Penny Circus' for its library included a 'Minstrel' number by the Goodfellowship Club among the high school clubs' acts, and cleared $140, the Weekly reported. The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 27, 1925, p. 4
  7. About 100 rural pupils leave the Chapel Hill school when county money runs out Because the county voted no money beyond the six-month term, children living outside the Chapel Hill special-tax district were charged tuition of $5 a month for the last three months, and about 100 of them dropped out. Attendance fell from 550 to 450, and school officials urged making the whole township one school district with a uniform tax. The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 23, 1926, p. 1
  8. County and town school officials meet all day on a Chapel Hill township school district In mid-May 1926 the county superintendent and county board of education met for most of a day at the Chapel Hill school with Superintendent L. R. Sides and six members of the Chapel Hill board and with Carrboro principal A. C. Hoyle and three Carrboro committeemen, sending envoys to consult State Superintendent A. T. Allen. They sought a township school system with a uniform tax after many country children outside the Chapel Hill district had been dropped from school or charged tuition on March 1, when county money ran out; by July Allen was helping draft a special act for a township election. People: Edgar Wallace Knight, L. R. Sides The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 21, 1926, p. 1
  9. The General Education Board gives $75,000 to make the Chapel Hill high school a University training school By early June 1926 the General Education Board of New York had given $75,000, to be spent over five years, for the Chapel Hill high school, which became in effect a branch of the University's school of education. The fund, run jointly by the University and the town school board, paid most of the salaries of new teachers who would also hold University rank, and the board's representative said the aim was a model public school. People: N. W. Walker, L. R. Sides The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 4, 1926, p. 1
  10. The Chapel Hill school opens under its cooperative plan with the University's school of education The Chapel Hill school opened on September 13, 1926, with three new high school teachers who also held the rank of University assistant professors, the first fruit of the General Education Board gift that tied the school to the University's school of education. H. L. Munch in mathematics, William Doub Ker in French and C. C. Certain in English joined the faculty under E. R. Mosher as director of training; enrollment reached 515 in the first week, and a new bus was added for children from the White Cross section. People: N. W. Walker, L. R. Sides The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 17, 1926, p. 1
  11. Chapel Hill school board drops the agriculture department The school board decided to abolish the agriculture department in the fall, because nearly all its pupils came from outside the district and the county gave no aid, leaving $1,600 a year on Chapel Hill taxpayers; home economics was also in doubt. In June the Weekly reported that the agriculture teacher, G. H. Singleton, had left because funds were not available. People: L. R. Sides The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 8, 1927, p. 1
  12. L. R. Sides leaves the Chapel Hill school superintendency for music teaching in New York L. R. Sides, superintendent of the Chapel Hill school, gave up school administration to teach instrumental music in the Horace Mann and Lincoln schools in New York, which are affiliated with Columbia University. The Weekly said the offer came through Peter W. Dykema of Columbia, whom he had met when the Chapel Hill school band won honorable mention at a Greensboro band contest that spring. People: L. R. Sides The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 5, 1927, p. 1
  13. The Chapel Hill school opens as a training school of the University's school of education The Chapel Hill school opened on September 12 with 535 pupils, 245 of them in the elementary grades, under a new plan of cooperation between the town school board and the University paid for by a General Education Board grant. Eight University faculty members joined the teaching staff, with E. R. Mosher of the school of education as superintendent, H. F. Munch as high school principal and Sallie B. Marks as elementary principal, and seniors in the school of education were to do practice teaching under supervision. The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 16, 1927, p. 5
  14. Chapel Hill parents and the school board settle the dispute over double sessions Parents of first and second graders protested the school's change from a single morning session to a double session and objected to a circular from Superintendent E. R. Mosher calling the school the training school of the University's school of education. After a heated public meeting in the school auditorium on September 19, a committee of six named by W. S. Roberson met the school board on September 21 and agreed that children whose parents chose could attend a single session ending at 12:30, with music and handiwork left to the afternoon. People: W. S. Roberson, William de Berniere MacNider The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 23, 1927, p. 1
  15. The Chapel Hill school board elects A. B. Stevens superintendent The town school board elected A. B. Stevens, a former Charlotte schools official finishing a doctorate at Columbia, superintendent of the Chapel Hill school from September 1. He was to answer to the board and be paid by the community, with no tie to the University. The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 30, 1928, p. 1
  16. Chapel Hill school board restores teachers' salaries after cutting them Facing a $5,000 operating deficit and a $16,000 accumulated debt, the Chapel Hill school board sent teachers reappointment offers in early May 1928 with sharp pay cuts, some from $1,800 to $1,200. After a week of public concern it met on May 16 and restored the old salary schedule by reorganizing the teaching force and leaving one vacancy unfilled. People: N. W. Walker The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 18, 1928, p. 1
  17. Chapel Hill school board raises tuition for pupils from outside the district Deciding that district taxpayers should no longer carry the cost of educating children from outside, the school board raised the tuition for the three months outside the legal six-month term to $5 a month in the lower grades and $6 in high school. A plan to collect the tuition in the fall was dropped in early September after a ruling by the state department of education. The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 31, 1928, p. 1
  18. Audit finds the Chapel Hill school more than $23,000 in debt An audit laid before a joint meeting of the school board and the directors of the Bank of Chapel Hill showed an operating deficit of $26,350 and a net deficit of $23,218, with teachers' pay months in arrears and $16,500 in bank notes endorsed personally by the board members. The board had already arranged a $10,000 loan from the state literary fund and cut the year's budget from $38,562 to $29,975, dropping public school music. People: W. S. Roberson The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 21, 1928, p. 1
  19. Chapel Hill citizens agree to underwrite the teachers' back pay Meeting with the school board, a group of citizens resolved to have the bank lend about $7,500 on notes they would endorse, each endorser liable for no more than $100, so the teachers could be paid at once. The loan was to be repaid from a $16,500 school bond issue, which needed a special act of the legislature and a vote, and the University's business office was to keep the school's accounts. People: Dudley Dewitt Carroll, Harry Woodburn Chase, N. W. Walker, L. B. Rogerson, Gustave M. Braune The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 28, 1928, p. 1
  20. Kiwanis Club dental clinic treats Chapel Hill school children For four months from about November 1928 Dr. J. P. Jones ran a dental clinic for Chapel Hill school children for the Kiwanis Club, which with $100 from the Red Cross paid reduced fees for pupils whose parents could not. He reported on March 12, 1929, that he had made 217 fillings, 76 extractions and 93 cleanings and given away 100 toothbrushes. The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 15, 1929, p. 5
  21. Rotary Club pays for hot lunches for school children who live far from the Chapel Hill school By February 1929 the Chapel Hill Rotary Club was providing hot lunches for about 25 children at the Chapel Hill school who lived too far away to go home at midday. The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 8, 1929, p. 1
  22. Chapel Hill school survey finds outside-district parents favor an eight-month term Superintendent Stevens asked parents outside the Chapel Hill tax district, who had to pay tuition after the six-month free term ended March 22, why their children left school; 71 favored a county tax for an eight-month term and 28 opposed it. About 60 elementary pupils dropped out after the free term, and two-thirds of the roughly 500 pupils lived outside the district. The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 12, 1929, p. 1
  23. Citizens' committee founds the Mary B. Pratt Library for Chapel Hill children A committee chaired by Mrs. R. H. Wettach raised about $1,300 for a children's library in a room given by the Chapel Hill school, with juvenile books lent by the University library under L. R. Wilson. The committee named it the Mary B. Pratt Library for the late Mrs. Pratt, who had sketched plans for such a library, and set it to open that summer. People: Louis Round Wilson The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 24, 1929, p. 1
  24. The Chapel Hill school district sells $15,000 in school bonds On June 25, 1929, the Chapel Hill special tax school district sold the $15,000 bond issue its voters had recently approved. Ten bids came in; the Hanchett Bond Company of Chicago took the bonds at 5 1/2 percent with a $77 premium, to be repaid from 1932 to 1949. The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 28, 1929, p. 1
  25. The Chapel Hill school board turns away children from country districts Faced with crowded elementary grades, Superintendent C. A. Hoyle told the parents of more than 30 children from the White Cross, Damascus, Blackwood, Andrews and Smith Level districts that they must withdraw, and after two meetings with parents the school board confirmed the exclusion. The Weekly named tuition or consolidating country schools with Chapel Hill's as the only other answers. The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 11, 1929, p. 1
  26. The Mary Bayley Pratt Memorial children's library opens in the Chapel Hill school The children's library that citizens founded with gifts in the spring of 1929, named the Mary Bayley Pratt Memorial Library, moved from the Episcopal parish house into a sunny basement room of the Chapel Hill school, furnished with shelves and tables made for it, with the school librarian, Miss Evans, in charge. It held 600 to 700 donated or lent books, and Mrs. Logan gave $500 for a George B. Logan memorial collection. The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 27, 1929, p. 1
  27. Chapel Hill school board cuts its teacher salary margin over the state scale The Chapel Hill school board readjusted its salary schedule to bring teachers' pay nearer the state basis: a Grade A teacher would start at $990, 10 percent above the state's $900, and rise to a $1,400 maximum. The change was expected to cut the salary budget by $1,500 to $2,000 and might let the board restore departments it had dropped a year before. The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 30, 1930, p. 1
  28. Chapel Hill school reports a 180-day term and a growing high school At the Chapel Hill school's commencement, Superintendent C. A. Hoyle reported 204 high school and 277 elementary pupils for the year, a gain of 35 in the high school and a loss of 17 below it, and a term of 180 days against 170 the year before. Eighteen seniors received diplomas. The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 6, 1930, p. 1
  29. Community Club tuberculosis clinic examines 65 white and Black residents A free tuberculosis clinic arranged by the Community Club's health committee examined 65 people in the basement of the Chapel Hill school building, white residents the first three days and Black residents the last three. The examiners found 52 negative, 5 suspected, 5 probable and 3 positive cases, two of the positives among Black patients. People: S. A. Nathan The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 4, 1930, p. 5
  30. The Chapel Hill school opens with music and physical training restored The Chapel Hill school opened on September 8, 1930, with 214 pupils in the high school and about 355 in the elementary grades. Music and physical training, dropped three years before, were restored with two new teachers, Katherine Brown and Minnie Sue Flynn. The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 12, 1930, p. 1
  31. Chapel Hill re-elects its aldermen in a record town vote Chapel Hill voters returned the sitting board of aldermen and Mayor Zeb P. Council, and chose C. P. Hinshaw over L. J. Phipps by 37 votes for judge of the Recorder's Court. The 730 ballots, cast in the school athletic building known as the "tin can," were far more than in any earlier town election, the Weekly said. People: Brodie Thompson, R. D. W. Connor, Ralph M. Trimble, Peter L. Burch, Zeb P. Council, Clarence P. Hinshaw The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 8, 1931, p. 1
  32. The Mary Bayley Pratt Children's Library lends 17,181 books in a year Between June 1930 and June 1931 the children's library in the Chapel Hill school lent 17,181 books, 6,337 more than the year before and an average of 31 for each school child. It owned 700 books and had the use of 700 more belonging to the University library and the school. The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 9, 1931, p. 1
  33. The Chapel Hill school enrolls a record 610 pupils The Chapel Hill school counted 610 pupils, 67 more than the year before, with an average attendance of 575 for the first month against 515 in 1930. The school had expected crowding because the new state school law sent it pupils from surrounding schools. The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 23, 1931, p. 5
  34. American Legion post holds an old-time fiddlers' convention in Chapel Hill The Chapel Hill post of the American Legion held an old-time fiddlers' convention in the school auditorium, with prizes for fiddlers, banjo-pickers, ballad singers and string groups, followed by square dancing. A large crowd came; one novelty was a gourd fiddle seized at a still in western North Carolina. People: Luther James Phipps, Lamar Stringfield The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 15, 1932, p. 5
  35. J. Minor Gwynn is named principal of the Chapel Hill school The school board unanimously chose Gwynn, an assistant professor of education released by the University, to succeed Superintendent Hoyle, who returned to teaching; the title of superintendent was dropped, though the principal would head both the high school and the elementary school. He took office September 1. People: J. Minor Gwynn The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 27, 1932, p. 1
  36. The Chapel Hill school board drops six teachers and the school secretary Soon after Superintendent Hoyle resigned, the board, chaired by W. S. Roberson, told six teachers and the secretary they would not be re-elected, after a committee inquiry into the school; no economy was involved, as the next budget kept the same pay scale. The Weekly reported that many parents thought the notices came too late and too suddenly for the teachers to find other places. People: W. S. Roberson, R. E. Coker, Edgar Wallace Knight, Eric A. Abernethy, Milton E. Hogan, Carl T. Durham The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 27, 1932, p. 1
  37. The Chapel Hill school board turns down parents who asked it to keep teachers it had dropped After about thirty citizens met at the school on June 10, 1932 and asked the board to retain for one more year the teachers it had not re-elected, a committee led by Rev. A. S. Lawrence put the request to the board in the week of June 20. The board held to its decision; the parents had argued that notice given at the end of May left the teachers no time to find other places. People: Alfred Stratton Lawrence, W. S. Roberson The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 24, 1932, p. 1
  38. The Chapel Hill school board adopts a textbook rental plan for the first four grades By September 2, 1932 the Chapel Hill school board had decided to rent textbooks to pupils in the first four grades, at $2 to $3 a year, as Durham, Greensboro and Reidsville did; buying books remained optional. The school bought back usable second-hand texts on Book Days, September 13 and 14, and began renting books that week. People: J. Minor Gwynn The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 2, 1932, p. 1
  39. The Children's Library counts 24,152 books lent to school children in a year The Mary Bayley Pratt Children's Library reported that school children had borrowed 24,152 books for home use the year before, about 40 for each child, and that it had bought only 115 books, too few for the 680 children in the school. The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 28, 1932, p. 3
  40. Chapel Hill Democrats organize a Roosevelt-Garner Club Citizens meeting at the school building on the evening of Friday, October 7, organized the Chapel Hill Roosevelt-Garner Club, with R. A. Eubanks as president and W. E. Thompson as vice-president, and called on all Democrats to join and roll up the party's majority in the precinct on November 8. People: Robert A. Eubanks, W. E. Thompson The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 14, 1932, p. 1
  41. Chapel Hill parents organize a Parent-Teacher Association Parents of Chapel Hill school children were called to the school auditorium on the evening of November 22 to organize a Parent-Teacher Association. By January the new association was meeting, with Clarence Heer explaining the state budget cuts that threatened the schools, and the Orange County council of P.T.A.s, meeting at Efland, welcomed the news of its founding. The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 18, 1932, p. 1
  42. 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 Gwynn The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 2, 1933, p. 1
  43. The State School Commission rules that Chapel Hill is too small to be a special school unit The State School Commission ruled that a community needed a school population of 1,500, not the 1,000 written into the new school law, to become a special administrative unit and vote itself a supplementary tax, turning down Chapel Hill's petition for the time being. The Weekly called it a crushing blow and said about 35 communities were affected. The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 16, 1933, p. 1
  44. Chapel Hill's school board sets an 18.5-cent tax for the October 12 vote and names H. F. Munch acting superintendent With the approval of the county commissioners, the county board of education and the town council, the Chapel Hill board of education fixed at 18.5 cents on $100 the special tax to be put to the district's voters on October 12, to raise teachers' pay and add a ninth month to the state's eight. It chose H. F. Munch of the University's school of education, a former high school principal, to run the school while J. Minor Gwynn was on leave. People: J. Minor Gwynn The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 1, 1933, p. 1
  45. Chapel Hill voters approve a local tax for a ninth month of school Voting against a registration of 1,239, Chapel Hill's special school district cast 729 votes for an extra levy of 18.5 cents on the $100, giving its children a ninth month beyond the state's eight-month term and its teachers a small salary supplement. The Weekly gave chief credit for the turnout to a committee of women headed by Mrs. Crockford and Mrs. Harrer, and listed Durham, Rocky Mount, Roanoke Rapids and Southern Pines as the only other places with nine-month terms that year. The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 20, 1933, p. 1
  46. The Chapel Hill school library reports circulation near 25,000 At the annual meeting of the Mary Bayley Pratt Library Association on March 28, the school library reported a circulation of about 25,000 for the year, up from 19,000 in 1929-30, and Mrs. Urban T. Holmes was elected president. The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 30, 1934, p. 1
  47. The Mary Bayley Pratt Children's Library cuts its membership fee to $1 The Mary Bayley Pratt Children's Library at the Chapel Hill school cut its yearly membership fee from $5 to $1 in June 1934. Its appropriation had fallen from $450 in 1929-30 to $94.61 in 1933-34 while its circulation doubled from 10,181 to 20,719 books, and the books borrowed per pupil rose from 16 to more than 32. The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 12, 1934, p. 1
  48. George Howard becomes principal of the Chapel Hill school When H. F. Munch declined another year, the school board chose George Howard, a former Rowan and Edgecombe county superintendent and state director of school organization, to run the Chapel Hill school while J. Minor Gwynn stayed on leave at Yale; the University released Howard from its extension division for the year. People: J. Minor Gwynn The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 13, 1934, p. 1
  49. The PTA reports summer health examinations, including 142 children at the Black school At the Parent-Teacher Association meeting on October 16, 1934, Mrs. Paul Green and Mrs. H. D. Crockford reported that the summer round-up clinic had examined 50 pre-school and 32 enrolled children, and that 142 children had been examined at the Black school, with tonsils, eyes and teeth treated with help from the Red Cross and the welfare department. The PTA thanked Dr. S. D. McPherson for his work with the Black school's pupils. The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 19, 1934, p. 3
  50. A boys' safety patrol begins guarding crossings at the Chapel Hill school A boys' patrol, drilled by principal George Howard on the Durham model, went on duty at the most dangerous crossings near the Chapel Hill school on November 1, 1934, two days after a schoolgirl was struck by a student's car in front of the high school on West Franklin Street. She was bruised but not badly hurt, and the driver was not prosecuted. The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 2, 1934, p. 1
  51. A Chapel Hill health conference hears the Black school's principal report hungry and ill-clad pupils At a citizens' health conference in the school auditorium on November 15, 1934, called by town health officer S. A. Nathan, the principal of the Black school, Mr. Holmes, reported that 144 of his pupils had no milk to drink, 86 had no midday meal, 52 came to school poorly clothed, 124 had bad teeth and 90 bad eyes. The meeting discussed mosquito and fly control, inspection of swimming pools, a survey of the blind and crippled with an orthopedic clinic, tuberculosis clinics, and examinations of household servants, and named Dr. Nathan, Mrs. Paul Green, Mrs. H. D. Crockford and Mrs. C. W. Shields to coordinate the work. People: S. A. Nathan, Harold M. Holmes The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 23, 1934, p. 1
  52. 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. Meyer The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 1, 1935, p. 3
  53. 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. Foushee The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 10, 1935, p. 1
  54. County board of health postpones the Chapel Hill school opening for infantile paralysis After two new cases at the end of August, one of them a three-year-old Carrboro boy who died on August 31, the Orange County board of health ordered the Chapel Hill school to open on September 23 instead of September 16. At the same meeting it let its two physician members quarantine a contagious disease in an emergency until the county quarantine officer could act. People: Charles Staples Mangum The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 6, 1935, p. 1
  55. The Chapel Hill school board orders $1,000 of changes to the old school for the elementary grades By April 24, 1936 the Chapel Hill school board decided to spend $1,000 refitting the old school building, which was to hold the elementary grades from the fall once the new high school was finished. Two front rooms were to become a library, the basement library a playroom, and new music, art and handicraft rooms were planned, along with a larger cafeteria and new wiring and lights in the auditorium. The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 24, 1936, p. 1
  56. Lettie Glass becomes principal of Chapel Hill's elementary school Miss Lettie Glass, about to begin her twentieth year in the Chapel Hill school and often its acting principal, was named principal of the elementary school, which kept the old building while Superintendent J. Minor Gwynn moved to the new high school. The school budget added a teacher, restored physical education and extended art. People: J. Minor Gwynn The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 21, 1936, p. 1
  57. The old West Franklin Street high school becomes Chapel Hill's elementary school When the new high school on South Columbia Street was finished, the 1916 building on West Franklin was turned over to the elementary grades. It was renovated over the summer of 1936, with a new library and an indoor playroom, and the elementary grades used it from the opening of school on September 14, 1936, with Lettie Glass as principal; the seventh grade moved to the new building. Bernard Lee Bryant Jr., Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill (1998; Chapel Hill Historical Society, 1999), scan p. 255 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, April 24, 1936, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, August 21, 1936, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, August 28, 1936, p. 1
  58. Chapel Hill re-elects Mayor Foushee and chooses three new aldermen In a town election that drew only 551 voters of perhaps 1,200 to 1,500 qualified, John M. Foushee was re-elected mayor without opposition and L. J. Phipps kept the recorder's court judgeship over Roy McGinnis, 368 to 183. Paul Robertson (284 votes), George Hellen (281) and F. O. Bowman (264) won the three aldermen's seats over Clarence Pickard, J. T. Dobbins, Matt Thompson and Raymond Adams. People: Luther James Phipps, Clarence Pickard, Paul H. Robertson, Frederick O. Bowman, John M. Foushee The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 7, 1937, p. 1
  59. Chapel Hill voters approve $16,000 in street improvement bonds At a special election in the school athletic building, voters approved the bonds 273 to 5, with 800 registered. The money paid for curb-and-gutter already laid on several streets and was to be repaid by assessments on the owners; the vote was required by the state's new debt-limitation amendment. People: John M. Foushee The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 19, 1937, p. 1
  60. Mary Bayley Pratt Children's Library Association raises money for school library books The association's spring campaign brought in more than $185 from 822 contributors, some children giving their weekly allowances, with every family in three classrooms taking part. The association had spent $175 that year and authorized $100 more for books for the elementary school library. The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 26, 1940, p. 1
  61. Chapel Hill elementary school gets steel fire escapes and new stair treads Before the fall term the improvements the state insurance department had recommended for the Chapel Hill elementary school building were made: new treads in the stairways and steel fire escapes. The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 13, 1940, p. 1
  62. Chapel Hill teachers issue gasoline ration cards A week after issuing sugar books, school teachers led by W. J. Boger registered car owners for gasoline ration cards under the classes set by the government, and rationing board chairman Moody Durham spent the following days answering puzzled owners. In July the township's owners registered again at the Chapel Hill and Carrboro schools for coupon books under a new national plan. People: Moody W. Durham The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 15, 1942, p. 1
  63. The Chapel Hill school board adds an eighth grade under the state's twelve-year plan To meet the legislature's change from an eleven-year to a twelve-year program, the board added an eighth grade at the top of the elementary school and at first planned to drop one high school grade a year for four years. After sixteen citizens protested in a July 15 letter, the board let pupils from the Chapel Hill, Carrboro and White Cross seventh grades test into high school, and 22 of 39 qualified. People: Allison W. Honeycutt The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 17, 1942, p. 1
  64. Chapel Hill Civilian Defense Council holds a public mass meeting At a public meeting at the elementary school, Civilian Defense coordinator Guy B. Phillips reported that 85 volunteers had helped with rationing and 125 with Red Cross work, called for more, and warned that civilians might be organized into work corps to plant food crops in the spring. Mrs. R. H. Wettach described the newly organized Citizens Service Corps. People: Robert W. Madry, Sterling A. (Sterling Aubrey) Stoudemire The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 27, 1942, p. 1
  65. A state Child Health Conference trains teachers at the Chapel Hill elementary school The School-Health Coordinating Service of the State Board of Health and the Department of Public Instruction, paid for by the General Education Board and the Rockefeller Foundation, ran a six-week course for 36 teachers on fellowships, with a demonstration school of about twenty Chapel Hill and Carrboro children fed and rested by approved standards. Dr. William P. Jacocks directed it; earlier summer courses had been held at Woman's College and two Black colleges. People: William Picard Jacocks The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 27, 1943, p. 1
  66. W. J. Boger resigns as principal of the Chapel Hill elementary school The school board accepted with regret the resignation of W. J. Boger, principal for five years, who left for a larger school in Washington, N.C. Superintendent A. W. Honeycutt took over the principal's duties, and Mildred Mooneyhan was named assistant principal. People: Allison W. Honeycutt The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 13, 1943, p. 1
  67. Chapel Hill holds a public hearing on extending its town limits At a public hearing in the elementary school building, Chapel Hill residents argued strongly on both sides of extending the town limits. Town auditor E. E. Peacock said taking in the suburbs, which already had town fire, police and health service without paying for it, would cut the tax rate from $1.58 to $1.42; the meeting broke up with no decision. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 22, 1945, p. 1
  68. The Chapel Hill Rotary Club breaks ground for a public skating rink Rotary playground chairman Roy M. Homewood broke ground on a bulldozer for an open-air cement skating rink behind the Chapel Hill elementary school. The club had set aside $1,000 for it in 1942, and the rink was finished in January 1946. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 1, 1945, p. 1
  69. Preston R. Weaver applies to move his son from Northside School to the white Chapel Hill Elementary School Weaver, owner of Weaver's Shoe Shop on West Franklin Street, had written the Chapel Hill school board asking how his son, who had finished the third grade at Northside, could enroll at Chapel Hill Elementary; the board sent him its change-of-school application and rules with almost no comment, and he was filling out the form on July 16. One of the Black parents who had sued the board over unequal school facilities, Weaver said he was acting on his own and not for any person or group. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 19, 1956, p. 4
  70. Preston Weaver applies to move his son to Chapel Hill Elementary School Preston Weaver, a Black shoe repairman in Chapel Hill and the father of nine, formally applied to the Chapel Hill school board to have his son, who had finished the fourth grade at Northside School, admitted to the fifth grade at Chapel Hill Elementary School, then open only to white pupils. The board was investigating the application at the end of June. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 27, 1957, p. 1
  71. Chapel Hill Elementary pupils play carols with professional musicians at the school Christmas program At the Chapel Hill Elementary School Christmas programs on December 17, 1957, directed musically by Adeline McCall, supervisor of music in the Chapel Hill schools, children playing psalteries, violins and bells accompanied the carols with two harpists, violinist Dorothy Alden and flutist Dorothy Hickok. The programs also staged the play Alias Santa Claus. The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 20, 1957, p. 1 (Christmas program photograph)
  72. Chapel Hill marks United Nations Day by planting a tree at the elementary school A United Nations Day tree, given by the Chapel Hill Garden Club, was planted on the front lawn of the elementary school by foreign students and local Scouts, after the Lincoln High School band played and alderman Paul Wager spoke on the United Nations in a changing world. Rabbi Efraim Rosenzweig and Father Francis Murphy gave the prayers. People: Paul W. Wager Chapel Hill High School student newspaper, October 31, 1958, p. 1

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Indexed works

The index has no works about Chapel Hill School itself yet. The surveys and maps below cover where it stands. Search the index for Chapel Hill School, or tell us about a book or record we have missed.

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Chapel Hill School alone: the architectural surveys that cover its town or the county, and maps drawn while it stood. Several of the surveys can be read free online at NC Digital Collections.

The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, North Carolina: 1795-1975

Little-Stokes, Margaret Ruth · 2006

Margaret Ruth Little-Stokes's survey of Chapel Hill's town and campus buildings from 1795 to 1975, published by the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill in 2006. Chapters run from the first campus buildings through David Swain's romantic campus to midcentury modernism, followed by area surveys of the campus, east and west Chapel Hill, downtown, Northside and the suburbs.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

The town and gown architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975

Little, M. Ruth · 2004 · Preservation Society of Chapel Hill

M. Ruth Little's 2004 architectural history of Chapel Hill and the university campus from 1795 to 1975, written for the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill. A 99-page survey with a bibliography.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Chapel Hill historic sites survey : final report.

Gatza, M. B. · 1992 · Chapel Hill Planning Department

M. B. Gatza's final report of the 1992 Chapel Hill historic sites survey for the town Planning Department, with contributions by Beverly C. Kawalec and Catherine Bishir. It covers historic buildings and districts in Chapel Hill in 80 pages.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Chapel Hill township survey final report

Lally, Kelly A. · 1992

Kelly A. Lally's October 1992 final report on the architectural survey of Chapel Hill township, including Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Besides the report and a bibliography, most of its 56 pages form an annotated index of the historic buildings surveyed.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

When Chapel Hill was a village

Love, Cornelia Spencer, 1892-1981 · 1976 · Chapel Hill Historical Society

Cornelia Spencer Love's recollections of Chapel Hill as a village, published by the Chapel Hill Historical Society in 1976 with drawings by John V. Allcott. Love lived from 1892 to 1981, and the book covers Chapel Hill biography, the town's social life and customs, and the faculty of the university before 1962. viii and 87 pages with illustrations.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, North Carolina at 5-Year Intervals, 1793-1998

Bryant, Bernard Lee · 1999 · Chapel Hill Historical Society

Bernard Lee Bryant's compilation of who occupied each structure on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill at five-year intervals from 1793 to 1998, issued by the Chapel Hill Historical Society in 1999 as a photocopy of his original computer printout on cotton paper. 191 leaves.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC
Show 5 more surveys and maps

Map of Chapel Hill as it was in 1875 to 1885

Carter, H. D. (Henry Dennis), -1941 · 1934

Henry Dennis Carter's reconstruction, drawn as a blueprint in 1934, of Chapel Hill as it stood between 1875 and 1885, showing the buildings of the village. A note on the map says the information came from old residents who gave it to Mary L. Thornton.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC

[Map of Chapel Hill and vicinity].

Harris, Hunter Lee, 1866-1893 · 1888 · Hunter Lee Harris?

Dating from 1888 and attributed to Hunter Lee Harris, a map of Chapel Hill and its vicinity, reproduced as a photocopy measuring 22 by 37 centimeters. Harris died in 1893, which brackets the drawing to the late nineteenth century. An early depiction of the streets of the village and the land around it.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC

[Map of Chapel Hill].

1895

Pen-and-ink manuscript map of Chapel Hill dated 1852, with a table of measurements, showing the University campus, the village around it, street widths and layout, and the town limits. Later notes attributed to Kemp P. Battle give the longitude and latitude of landmarks as measured from atop New East Hall in 1880.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina.

1925

Sanborn Map Company fire insurance map of Chapel Hill, June 1925, on eleven sheets, with Carrboro also drawn. Sanborn maps recorded the outline, construction and use of each building for fire insurers, so the set shows both towns block by block in the mid 1920s.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

Map of Chapel Hill & vicinity.

1933

Street and property map of Chapel Hill and the surrounding country, revised to 1 January 1933 and printed in the town. Topics include streets, real property and the historical geography of Chapel Hill along with maps of the University of North Carolina in its 1793 to 1962 period. A useful sheet for tracing lot lines and street names as they stood at the start of the 1930s.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC

Found a book OCPL doesn’t own? You can often borrow it through interlibrary loan at OCPL.

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    Where to look on the shelf

    These books don’t necessarily mention Chapel Hill School, but they cover where it stands, its kind of building and the land, family and burial records behind it, and they are where a search for a place like this usually goes next. All are at OCPL, most in the Wall Collection.

    Histories of the town and county

    • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 975.656 STO Chapel Hill: A Pictorial History Stolpen, Steven · 1978

      Steven Stolpen's pictorial history of Chapel Hill, one of the Donning Company's photographic town histories, published in Norfolk, Virginia in 1978. Photographs and portraits carry the story of the town and the university, including references to Thomas Wolfe's years as a student at Carolina. 156 pages with illustrations.

    • Foundational · 975.656 RYAN Orange County Trio: Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro, North Carolina, Histories and Tour Guides Ryan, Elizabeth Shreve · 2004

      Elizabeth Shreve Ryan's combined histories and tour guides for Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro, the three towns of Orange County, with the University of North Carolina treated alongside Chapel Hill. Each town gets a narrative history and a tour of its streets and buildings. Published by Chapel Hill Press in 2004, 369 pages with illustrations and maps.

    • Start here · NC 371.097 PENDER A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 Pender, Irene Oliver · 1983

      Irene Oliver Pender's history of the public schools of Orange County from 1752 to 1983, covering more than two centuries of schooling in Hillsborough, Efland, Cedar Grove and the rural districts of the county. Published in 1983, 186 pages with illustrations.

    Buildings and surveys

    • Foundational · NC 720.975 BIS A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Piedmont North Carolina Bishir, Catherine W. · 2003

      Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern's field guide to the historic buildings of the North Carolina Piedmont, arranged county by county from Wake and Franklin in the east to Mecklenburg and Gaston in the west. The Orange County section takes in Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro along with the rural county, with entries on individual buildings and maps for finding them. Published 2003, 596 pages with illustrations and maps.

    • Foundational · NC 917.56 HIS Historic Buildings and Landmarks of Chapel Hill, N.C Chapel Hill Historical Society · 1973

      A pocket-sized guide to the historic buildings and landmarks of Chapel Hill, prepared by the Chapel Hill Historical Society and printed by Creative Printers in 1973. Forty pages with illustrations and maps, 14 by 22 cm. Topics include architecture, historic buildings and historic districts in Chapel Hill, and the guide is useful for a walking tour of the older parts of town.

    Land, family and burial records

    • Foundational · NC 333.3 DUNAWAY Chapel Hill, N.C. History of Town Lots (1790-1930s) Dunaway, Stewart E. · 2014

      Deed transcripts for the town lots of Chapel Hill and adjoining land from 1790 to the 1930s, compiled by Stewart E. Dunaway. Each transcript keeps only the working facts: grantor and grantee, price, acreage and the metes and bounds of the parcel. Self-published in 2014 as Issue 1G, 702 pages with maps and facsimiles.

    Research sources

    Sources cited in this site’s history, National Register documents, and places to get research help. Research guide: Investigate a school or community institution.

    Historic sites, markers, and maps

    Records of the time 85

    Show all 85

    Collections and databases

    Local help 5

    Nearby

    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