A history of Caroline county, Virginia :: :: University of Virginia Library

The son of Dr. Joseph A. Chandler and Emuella Josephine
White, was born at Guineys in Caroline county on October
29, 1872. He was educated in the College of William and Mary
and in Johns-Hopkins University, receiving the degrees of A. B.
and A. M. from the former and Ph. D. from the latter. Richmond
College, now University of Richmond, conferred the honorary
degree of LL. D. upon him in 1904.

Dr. Chandler's life has been devoted to the cause of education.
On graduating from the College of William and Mary he became
principal of the public schools of Houston, Va., from which
position he was called to a professorship in Morgan College,
Baltimore. Here his superior talents were quickly recognized
and he was made dean of the faculty and a little later acting

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president. Returning to his native State in 1900, Dr. Chandler
became an instructor in Richmond Woman's College, from which
position he was called to a professorship in Richmond College.
In 1909 Dr. Chandler was made superintendent of the public
school system of the city of Richmond, which position he held
until he was called to the presidency of his alma mater in 1919.

In the midst of his busy educational career Dr. Chandler
has found time to write and the product of his mind and pen
has been of a high order. Among his books may be mentioned,
Representation in Virginia (1896), History of Suffrage in Virginia
(1899), Geography of Virginia (1902), Makers of Virginia History
(1904), Makers of American History (joint author) 1904, Our
Republic (joint author), 1910. Dr. Chandler also has the distinction
of having been editor for Silver, Burdett & Co., editor of
The Virginia Journal of Education, Director of History for the
Jamestown Exposition in 1907, and Chief of the Rehabilitation
Division for Disabled Soldiers under the Federal Board for
Vocational Education.

Dr. Chandler was married to Lenore Burton Duke, of Churchland,
Va., on July 10, 1897 and had issue three sons. His wife
died in 1920. He is a member of the Virginia Historical Society,
American Historical Association, Society for Preservation of
Virginia Antiquities, National Education Association, Kappa
Alpha, Phi Beta Kappa, Westmoreland Club of Richmond and
other distinguished societies.

In every educational movement in Virginia during the past
twenty-five years Dr. Chandler has been an acknowledged
leader. His experience as the head of a great public school
system, as professor, as editor of school text books, as editor
of the Virginia Journal of Education, and as President
of the College of William and Mary have phases of the educational
life of the State. The development combined to
give him an unusually wide acquaintance with all of the
public school system of Richmond under his guidance was
an outstanding achievement, and marked him for the high honor
of the presidency of William and Mary. As the head of this
ancient institution his labours have been as fruitful as were his
efforts in the Capitol City of the State. From an enrollment of
130 in 1919 to nearly one thousand in 1924 is but one item in the
story of the remarkable progress of the college under his guidance.
Finances, faculty, and standards have kept pace with the growth

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of the student body. His enthusiasm has inspired all with whom
he has been associated.

Believing in progressive ideals and methods, he has been
among the first to sense the deficiencies of the old regime and
lead in a reform. As a result his influence has been felt far and
wide in the United States, and as an officer of the National
Educational Association, his counsel has been sought in the
questions vitally affecting the educational policies of the country.

Dr. Chandler was one of the few who, two or three decades
ago, took an active interest in the preservation and study of
Virginia history. He is one of the leading authorities on the
constitutional history of Virginia, and his treatises on the History
of Suffrage in Virginia, and Representation in Virginia are most
comprehensive and exhaustive. As Director of History at the
Jamestown Exposition in 1907 he prepared one of the most
attractive exhibitions on the grounds, due to his familiarity with
the history of the State. It is not too much to say that he has
been as great a factor in the upbuilding and development of education
in Virginia as any other man of his time.