Marrow, Henry Burwell, 1887-1978

Person

Staff Only

Dates

Existence: 1887 May 4 - 1978 January 5

Biography

Henry Burwell Marrow (1887-1978) was an educator and civic leader of great note in Johnston County for much of the 20th century. He was born and reared on a farm in the Williamsburg community of Vance County, the son of Thomas T. and Carrie S. Burwell Marrow. Following graduation from Henderson High School at age 19, he attended King's Business College in Raleigh. From 1908 to 1912 he attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill where he earned an A.B. degree and also studied law. There he met his wife, Pearl Hildebrand of Hickory, whom he married in 1917.

He served as superintendent of Chapel Hill Schools from 1912 to 1915, Battleboro Schools in Nash County 1915-1917, and Smithfield Schools 1917-1921. Opening a law office in 1921, he was soon called back into the education field in 1922 when he accepted the position of School Superintendent for Johnston County, a post he held for 29 years. In the 1920s and 30s he was largely responsible for consolidating the county's 99 white schools into 17 large ones and 35 Negro schools into just six, a move that put rural schools on a more equal footing with those in towns.

Found in 4 Collections and/or Records:

George F. Woodard - Member Johnston County Board of Education, circa 1924

Item — Box: P170-P351, Folder: 6, item: p-0229

Identifier: p-0229

Scope and Contents From the Series:

This collection consists of individual photographs that have been donated, copied and preserved by the Johnston County Heritage Center. Many of these are portrait photographs of individuals and families.

Dates: circa 1924

Found in: The Johnston County Heritage Center / PHC00237, Individual Photographs Collection / Photographs

Henry Burwell Marrow Papers

Collection

Identifier: PC00002

Scope and Contents The collection contains items dating from Marrow's years in Chapel Hill (1912-1915) to his work on the state's public school laws following Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. Two letterpress books (PC 2.1 and 2.2) containing letters and memos sent out from the Superintendent's office from 1924 to 1941, provide an excellent source for studying the school consolidation movement of the 1920s and the subsequent impacts of the Great Depression in the 1930s.Several county maps from...

Dates: Record Keeping: 1991 October 28; 1912-1955

Found in: The Johnston County Heritage Center / Henry Burwell Marrow Papers

Henry Burwell Marrow Photograph Collection

Collection

Identifier: PHC00006

Scope and Contents

The Henry Burwell Marrow Photograph Collection contains photographs relating to Henry Burwell Marrow. Included within the collection is a photograph taken by Dorothy Hooks on May 10, 1944 of a day in the life of Short Journey schoolchildren.

Dates: Record Keeping: 1991 October 28

Found in: The Johnston County Heritage Center / Henry Burwell Marrow Photograph Collection

William Gilliam Wilson - Serving as Chairman of Johnston County Board of Education, circa 1924

Item — Box: P170-P351, Folder: 6, item: p-0222

Identifier: p-0222