Coon, Charles L. (Charles Lee), 1868-1927

Coon was a student at the Philadelphia Textile School, ca. 1917-1919. He apprenticed at Braemar Mills, Pascoag, R.I., and was superintendent at L.W. Packard Co., Ashland, N.H., from 1929-ca. 1965.

From the description of [Textile notes]. 1917-1928. (American Textile History Museum Library). WorldCat record id: 49302253

Historian, of Wilson (Wilson Co.), N.C.

From the description of Papers concerning the Germans of North Carolina, 1752-1927. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 19490622

Educator, educational historian, and child labor reformer Charles L. Coon taught in Lincoln County and Charlotte, N.C., and served as superintendent of schools in Salisbury, N.C., 1903; as superintendent of African American normal schools in North Carolina, 1904-1906; as chief clerk of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 1907; and as superintendent of schools in Wilson and Wilson County, N.C., 1907-1927.

From the description of Charles L. Coon papers, 1775-1931. WorldCat record id: 23045583

Charles Lee Coon (1868-1927) was an educator, educational historian, and child labor reformer. Born 25 December 1868 near Lincolnton, N.C., Coon was the eldest of nine children of David A. Coon and Frances (Hovis) Coon. The family was of German ancestry and the name Coon was originally spelled Kuhn. Coon joined the Lutheran Church at age twelve and attended the neighborhood schools and Concordia College in Conover, N.C. He edited the Lincoln Democrat, 1895-1896, and was a journalist for the Charlotte Observer, 1896-1899. In the 1890s, he also taught school in Lincolnton, at Concordia College, and in Charlotte, N.C. While in Charlotte, he was engaged in historical research for Daniel A. Tomkin's History of Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte: From 1740 to 1903 . Coon was married to Carrie Louise Sparger of Mount Airy, N.C., on 21 October 1903. They had three children: Frances Elizabeth, Mary Moore, and Charles Lee Coon.

Coon served as superintendent of schools in Salisbury 1899-1903, and in 1903 went to Knoxville, Tenn., to do publicity work for the Southern Education Board, editing 20 issues of Southern Education . From 1904 to 1906, he acted as superintendent of North Carolina African American normal schools, and during 1907 was chief clerk in the office of the North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction. In 1907, Coon moved to Wilson, N.C., and remained there as a public school administrator for the rest of his life, serving as superintendent of Wilson City Schools, 1907-1927, and as superintendent of Wilson County Schools, 1913-1927. He was president of the Wilson Welfare League in 1914; secretary of the North Carolina Child Labor Committee, 1906-1916, president of the North Carolina Teachers Assembly in 1911, and was a member of the editorial board of the North Carolina Historical Review, 1924-1927. He authored numerous newspaper and magazine articles, addresses, teachers' manuals, and was the editor of educational documents published as The Beginnings of Public Education in North Carolina, 1790-1840, and North Carolina Schools and Academies, 1790-1840 . He received the LL. D. degree from the University of North Carolina in 1926 and was president-elect of the State Literary and Historical Association of North Carolina when he died on 23 December 1927.

From the guide to the Charles L. Coon Papers, 1775-1931, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)