Joseph Lenoir Chambers (December 26, 1891January 10, 1970) was an American writer, biographer, historian, and Pulitzer prize-winning newspaper editor. He served in the

American Expeditionary Forces The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the United States Army, U.S. Army. The AEF was establis ...

, and briefly commanded a combat company, during World War I. In 1960, as editor of ''

The Virginian-Pilot ''The Virginian-Pilot'' is the daily newspaper for Hampton Roads, Virginia. Commonly known as ''The Pilot'', it is Virginia's largest daily. It serves the five cities of South Hampton Roads as well as several smaller towns across southeast Virgi ...

'' of

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

(now owned by

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), he won the Pulitzer for Editorial Writing, for his series of editorials in favor of

school desegregation In the United States, school integration (also known as desegregation) is the process of ending race-based segregation within American public, and private schools. Racial segregation in schools existed throughout most of American history and ...

, especially in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. A native of Charlotte,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, he was elected to the North Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame in 1991. Author Alex Liedholdt published a book on Chambers, ''Standing Before the Shouting Mob: Lenoir Chambers and Virginia's Massive Resistance to Public School Integration,'' in 2008.

Background and education

Joseph Lenoir Chambers was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on December 26, 1891, to father, Joseph Lenoir Chambers Sr., and mother Grace Singleton Dewey Chambers. He attended Woodberry Forest preparatory school, graduating in 1910. Chambers was a scholar who also played varsity sports and edited the campus newspaper, while attending the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

. He was a member of the

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

fraternity and received his A.B. in 1914. After graduation, he taught English at Woodberry for two years, until 1916, before enrolling at the

Columbia School of Journalism Columbia most often refers to: * Columbia (personification), the historical personification of the United States * Columbia University, a private university in New York City * Columbia Pictures, an American film studio owned by Sony Pictures * ...

, in New York; he graduated in 1917. In 1960, he was awarded an honorary Legume Doctorate, from the University of North Carolina.

Military service

His first, brief job, in journalism, was with the '' New-Republic'' news service, in Washington, before leaving to enlist in the military, during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Chambers served as 1st lieutenant, with the 52nd Infantry of the 6th Division, United States Army, and later at Division Headquarters, in the

in France and Germany (1917–1919). He commanded a combat company in France, for a short time. He met Cornelia (Nell) Battle Lewis, while she was part of the canteen service with the American Expeditionary Force, (1918–1919), and they had a brief romance, however, not long after returning to the states, the relationship ended.

Career

On returning from his military service, Chambers served as the director of the

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

of North Carolina news bureau, until 1921; the position made him responsible for keeping the state's newspapers informed of the activities of the university. He also served as a reporter, city editor, and then associate editor for the ''

Greensboro Daily News The ''News & Record'' is an American, English language newspaper with the largest circulation serving Guilford County, North Carolina, and the surrounding region. It is based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and produces local sections for Greensbor ...

'', in Greensboro, North Carolina. In 1929, he joined the Norfolk ''

Virginian-Pilot ''The Virginian-Pilot'' is the daily newspaper for Hampton Roads, Virginia. Commonly known as ''The Pilot'', it is Virginia's largest daily. It serves the five cities of South Hampton Roads as well as several smaller towns across southeast Virgi ...

'', as associate editor, under Louis Isaac Jaffe. He married, Roberta Burwell Strudwick, the papers society editor, in 1928. In 1944, Chambers became the editor of the papers afternoon edition, the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch, and after the death of Louis Jaffe, he served as the editor of the ''Pilot'', a difficult promotion for Chambers, saying he always thought of his new office as belonging to Jaffe. However, Chambers continued in the progressive tradition of his former mentor, pushing for five-years, for Virginia to comply, and integrate the state's public schools after the 1954

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the ...

courts decision. James Lindsay Almond, governor, had closed the secondary schools a Massive resistance ploy, to avoid compliance. In 1960, Chambers won the

Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing The Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Journalism. It has been awarded since 1917 for distinguished editorial writing, the test of excellence being clearness of style, ...

, for "'his series of editorials on the school integration problem in Virginia," as exemplified by " The Year Virginia Closed the Schools", published January 1, 1959, and "

The Year Virginia Opened the Schools ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...

", published December 31, 1959. While working with the ''Pilot'', Chambers also wrote his book, ''Stonewall Jackson,'' a two-volume biography of the Civil War general, published in 1959. After his retirement in 1960, he authored ''Salt Water & Printer's Ink: Norfolk and Its Newspapers'' (1967), a history of the newspaper industry in Norfolk.

Civic engagement

Chambers was a member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the National Conference of Editorial Writers. He continued to stay involved in historical and civic activities, after retirement. He was a trustee of Woodberry Forest, Norfolk Academy and the Norfolk Public Library, and was a member of the Virginia Historical Society. From 1966 until 1969, he served on the advisory committee to establish the New Market Battlefield Historical Park.

Selected works

A collection of Chambers works and papers are held at the University of North Carolina, as part of The Southern Historical Collection at the Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library. A selection of his works are listed below. * ''The first year after war the war: being a recapitulation of the activities of the University of North Carolina during the year 1919'', Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press, 1920. * ''Stonewall Jackson,'' Volume I, W. Morrow, 1959. * ''Stonewall Jackson,'' Volume II, W. Morrow, 1959. * ''Seven days I to the last march'', Morrow, 1959. * ''Excellence in a democracy'', Golden Fleece, 1959. * ''The South and the nation: at the 167th commencement exercises of the University of North Carolina, Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill, June 5, 1961'', University of Chapel Hill, 1961. * ''Notes on life in occupied Norfolk, 1865'', Virginia Historical Society, 1965. * ''Salt water & printer's ink: Norfolk and it's newspapers, 1865-1965'', co-author with Joseph E. Shank, Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press, 1967. * ''History as an avocation'', Virginia Historical Society, 1968.

External links

NC Journalism Hall of Fame entry on Lenoir Chambers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chambers, Lenoir 1891 births 1970 deaths 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American male writers United States Army personnel of World War I American male journalists American male non-fiction writers Journalists from North Carolina Journalists from Virginia Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing winners Writers from Charlotte, North Carolina Writers from Norfolk, Virginia 20th-century American male writers Activists for African-American civil rights