Articles by Will Schultz

Modern Era

Robert L. Doughton (1863-1954)

1916-1945

Robert L. Doughton (1863-1954) represented North Carolina’s ninth congressional district (centered in Alleghany and Ashe counties) from 1933 until 1953. Although he had a reputation as a fiscal conservative, Doughton was nonetheless an important ally of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal.

Education

Charter Schools in North Carolina

1990-present

Charter schools are an educational reform intended to bring freedom of choice to public education. The North Carolina charter school movement has grown rapidly in recent years.

New Deal/ Great Depression

Robert Rice Reynolds (1884-1963)

1916-1945

Robert Rice Reynolds (1884-1963), popularly known as “Buncombe Bob,” represented North Carolina in the U.S. Senate from 1933 until 1945. The flamboyant Reynolds began his political career as a staunch New Dealer before turning to isolationism and extreme nationalism.

Business and Industry

Cotton Textile Institute

1916-1945

The Cotton Textile Institute (CTI) played a key role in implementing the New Deal in North Carolina. CTI, a national organization of textile manufacturers, was headquartered in Charlotte and included prominent North Carolina industrialists such as Charles Cannon and Ben Gossett.

Modern Era

Graham A. Barden (1896-1967)

1916-1945

Graham Arthur Barden represented North Carolina’s Third Congressional District, which covered the Outer Banks and several coastal counties, from 1934 until 1960. His reaction to the New Deal was a typical North Carolinian one: initial support, giving way to deep suspicion.

New Deal/ Great Depression

William Dudley Pelley (1885 –1965)

1916-1945

William Dudley Pelley (1885-1965) was a notorious American fascist who lived for a decade in Asheville, North Carolina. As leader of the Silver Shirts, Pelley preached a toxic brew of anti-Semitism, nationalism, and mysticism.

New Deal/ Great Depression

Vermont C. Royster (1914 – 1996)

1916-1945

Vermont Connecticut Royster (1914-1996) served as editor of the Wall Street Journal from 1958 until 1971. He helped make the Journal’s editorial page a forum for conservative thought. His Pulitzer Prize-winning editorials used folksy, plainspoken language to express his individualist philosophy.

Churches

Sacred Heart Cathedral

1916-1945

Sacred Heart Cathedral is the Mother Church for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh, making it the spiritual center for Catholics in eastern North Carolina. It is the smallest cathedral in the continental United States. Sacred Heart’s parochial school was desegregated in 1953, a year before the Brown v. Board of Education decision.