John Armstrong Chaloner School

C. 1924-1970

Photographed By Michael Buckner, May 3, 2023

1. John Armstrong Chaloner School Marker

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John Armstrong Chaloner, author, industrialist, and philanthropist, was born in New York City in the home of his maternal ancestors, the prominent Astor family. The family name, originally spelled Chaloner, was first brought to America by the Reverend Isaac Chanler, a Baptist clergyman who migrated to Charleston, S.C., from Bristol, England, in 1710. Chanler's grandson, the Reverend John White Chanler, who was ordained in the Episcopal church, married Elizabeth Winthrop, the daughter of Benjamin and Judith Stuyvesant Winthrop, descended respectively from the first colonial governors of Massachusetts and New Amsterdam. His son, John Winthrop Chanler, married in 1861 Margaret Astor Ward, the only child of Emily Astor and Samuel Ward, the original "Uncle Sam" of American folklore. After the death of her mother, Margaret Astor Ward was reared by her grandfather, William Backhouse Astor, who declined to entrust his infant granddaughter to a son-in-law whom he considered unworthy of managing an Astor and, more especially, an Astor's fortune. The Astor family approved of her marriage to Chanler, a promising young New York lawyer. Although his family lacked the huge fortune of the Astors, by birth, education, social position, and personality he was an acceptable

April 6, 2022

2. John Armstrong Chaloner School

match for an Astor heiress. Elected as a Democrat to Congress in 1862, he served for three terms until his opposition to Boss Tweed of Tammany Hall cost him the support of his party in 1868. He never again sought public office, but he did remain active in party affairs and participated in the rehabilitation of the Democratic organization following the overthrow of its corrupt leadership.

In the early 1900s, black education was neglected by the government of North Carolina. The state was segregated by race in every public area and schools were no exception. Many of the state’s leaders were avowed white supremacists. They underfunded white schools, but black schools received even less than their white counterparts. Many rural areas were nearly without schooling for black students. The Rosenwald Fund was created to ease this problem. Rosenwald schools were institutions for black students built with a combination of Northern philanthropy and funds raised by black activists on the local level. More than 800 schools were built in North Carolina, more than in any other state. By building schools and supporting teachers, the Rosenwald Fund helped to transform the prospects of black

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students and education in North Carolina.