Charles Howard Candler Sr. (December 2, 1878 – October 1, 1957) was an American businessman and author. He was one of the few people that his father,

Asa Candler Asa Griggs Candler Sr. (December 30, 1851 – March 12, 1929) was an American business tycoon and politician who in 1888 purchased the Coca-Cola recipe for $238.98 () from chemist John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta, Georgia. Candler founded th ...

, first trusted with the secret formula used to make

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

, which then included

coca leaves Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. Coca leaves contain cocaine which acts as a mild stimulant when chewed or ...

Biography

Candler was born in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, the first born of Asa and Lucy Elizabeth Candler (née Howard). He was given the middle name Howard to honor his maternal grandfather, merchant George C. Howard. As a youngster, he attended the

Georgia Military Institute The Georgia Military Institute (GMI) was established on in Marietta, Georgia, United States, on July 1, 1851. It was burned by the Union Army during the American Civil War, Civil War and was never rebuilt. The current GMI is a reactivation of th ...

and then the Emory College at Oxford. Candler studied two years of medicine at the Emory School of Medicine and was a student at

Bellevue Hospital Medical College The New York University Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the university, the other being the NYU Gr ...

for another year before deciding to join his father at Coca-Cola. According to Emory College's list of famous alumni, Candler graduated in 1898. During 1900, Charles Howard Candler visited

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and learned that Coca-Cola was already being sold in the cities he toured,

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. He was in Canada to study the possibility of shipping the soda to that country. During 1916, Candler succeeded Asa Candler as president of the Coca-Cola Company. He left the post soon after but returned four years later, running the company from 1920 to 1923, when the company was under the ownership of Ernest Woodruff, who had bought it from the Candler family. Candler, along with Robert W. Woodruff (Ernest's son), remains one of only two people to have been president of Coca-Cola twice.

Personal life

Candler married Flora Glenn Candler, who was a prominent patron of the arts. Together with her brother, Thomas K. Glenn, they gave the funds to build Glenn Memorial Methodist Church on the Emory University campus. Candler's gifts to Emory, totaling around $13 million, included a new administration building and half-interest in Asa G. Candler Inc. Following his death, an endowment was established in his memory to create the Charles Howard Candler Professorships.

Home

Candler's mansion, located at the Druid Hill section of Atlanta, is currently the

Callanwolde Fine Arts Center Callanwolde Fine Arts Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community arts center that offers classes and workshops for all ages in visual, literary and performing arts. Special performances, gallery exhibits, outreach programs and fundraising gala ...

and hosts community arts classes as well as various social events every year.

Professorship

Candler served Emory University as chair of its board of trustees for 28 years, succeeding his father in 1929 and serving until his death in 1957. His widow endowed the Charles Howard Candler professorships for faculty members who have distinguished themselves through outstanding teaching and internationally recognized scholarship.

Writings

Candler was the writer of a biographical book on his father, titled "Asa Griggs Candler", which was first published in 1950 and then republished, in 1997, as "Asa Griggs Candler: Founder of Coca-Cola" by his son, Charles Howard Candler Jr, who is now a prominent professor and writer who has written three books himself.

References

Charles Howard and Flora Glenn Candler Papers
at Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Candler, Charles Howard 1878 births 1957 deaths Coca-Cola people Businesspeople from Atlanta American male writers American businesspeople Georgia Military Institute alumni Emory College alumni Bellevue Hospital Medical College alumni Candler family Emory University School of Medicine alumni