Henry E. Chambers
Encyclopedia
Henry Edward Chambers, Sr. (March 28, 1860 – March 8, 1929), was an educator and historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

 from New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

, known principally for his 1925 work, History of Louisiana: State and People, a principal source for much on the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Background

Chambers was born to Captain Joseph Chambers and the former Maria Charles. His paternal grandfather was Anthony Chambers, who came from Ireland; his paternal grandmother was Nancy Palmer of Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

. Maria Charles was a daughter of Caleb and Sarah Charles of Lovell
Lovell, Maine
Lovell is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 974 at the 2000 census. Lovell is the site of Kezar Lake, a resort area.-History:...

 in Oxford County, Maine
Oxford County, Maine
Oxford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine with a population of 57,833 as of the 2010 U.S. census. Its county seat is Paris.Part of Oxford County is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine, metropolitan New England City and Town Area while a different part of Oxford County is...

, and a descendat of John Charles, pioneer settler in 1636 of Charlestown, Massachusetts
Charlestown, Massachusetts
Charlestown is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and is located on a peninsula north of downtown Boston. Charlestown was originally a separate town and the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; it became a city in 1847 and was annexed by Boston on January 5, 1874...

. Many of Chambers' descendants fought in the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

.

Chambers, a Presbyterian, graduated from Boys' Central High School and the Roman Catholic-affiliated Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...

 in New Orleans and years later obtained his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 from Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

 in Baltimore, Maryland, which in 1876 became the first American institution to grant such credentials. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...

 received a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins in history and the new field of political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

. Chambers studied at Johns Hopkins under Wilson's instruction.

In 1883, Chambers married the former Ellen White Taylor of Crystal Springs
Crystal Springs, Mississippi
Crystal Springs is a city in Copiah County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 5,873 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Crystal Springs is located at ....

 in Copiah County
Copiah County, Mississippi
As of the census of 2000, there were 28,757 people, 10,142 households, and 7,494 families residing in the county. The population density was 37 people per square mile . There were 11,101 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile...

 in southwestern Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

. Her father was killed in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 in the 1863 Battle of Tebbs Bend
Battle of Tebbs Bend
The Battle of Tebbs' Bend was fought on July 4, 1863, near the Green River in Taylor County, Kentucky during Morgan's Raid in the American Civil War. Despite being badly outnumbered, elements of the Union army thwarted repeated attacks by Confederate Brig. Gen...

 near Franklin
Franklin, Louisiana
Franklin is a city in and the parish seat of St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 8,354 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Morgan City Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

 in St. Mary Parish
St. Mary Parish, Louisiana
St. Mary Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Franklin. As of 2000, the population was 53,500.The Morgan City Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of St. Mary Parish.-Geography:...

, Louisiana. Their sons were John Taylor Chambers, a United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 officer, who married Marion Monroe, the daughter of Frank Adair Monroe, the chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court
Louisiana Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Louisiana is the highest court and court of last resort in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The modern Supreme Court, composed of seven justices, meets in the French Quarter of New Orleans....

, and Henry Edward Chambers, Jr., who wed the former Fanita McMillan of San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...

, a descendant of pioneer Texas families.

Educational career

Before he was eighteen, Chambers began teaching in rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...

 schools in Louisiana from 1877 to 1881. Soon he was a job hopper, having in 1881–1882 undertaken the principalship of Mineral Springs High School in Mineral Springs
Mineral Springs, Arkansas
Mineral Springs is a city in Howard County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 1,264 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Mineral Springs is located at ....

 in Howard County
Howard County, Arkansas
Howard County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of 2010, the population was 13,789. The county seat is Nashville. Howard County is Arkansas's 74th county, formed on April 17, 1873, and named for James Howard, a state senator...

 near Texarkana in southwestern Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

. The following academic year, he was principal of the male and female academies in Monticello
Monticello, Arkansas
Monticello is a city in Drew County, Arkansas, United States. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 9,327. The city is the county seat of Drew County. It is the home of the University of Arkansas at Monticello.-History:...

 in Drew County in southeastern Arkansas. He was superintendent of the Monticello graded schools from 1883 to 1884 and then the superintendent in Beaumont
Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 118,296 at the 2010 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the...

, Texas, from 1884 to 1885. Chambers returned to New Orleans to become principal of the McDonogh No. 12 School, having remained in that position from 1885 to 1887. Then he was a teacher at his alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...

, Boys' Central High School in New Orleans from 1887 to 1890, 1896 to 1900, and 1902 to 1905. In the intervening years, he was assistant professor of science at Tulane University from 1890 to 1893. He spent the 1893–1894 year at Johns Hopkins and was principal of Monroe High School in Monroe
Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe is a city in and the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,107, making it the eighth largest city in Louisiana. A July 1, 2007, United States Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 51,208, but 51,636...

 in Ouachita Parish
Ouachita Parish, Louisiana
-National protected areas:* Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge* D'Arbonne National Wildlife Refuge -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 147,250 people, 55,216 households, and 38,319 families residing in the parish. The population density was 241 people per square mile...

, Louisiana, from 1894 to 1896. He was affiliated with Northwestern State University
Northwestern State University
Northwestern State University, known as NSU, is a four-year public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the University of Louisiana System.NSU was founded in 1884 as...

 in Natchitoches
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Natchitoches is a city in and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe. The City of Natchitoches was first incorporated on February...

, the normal school
Normal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...

 in Louisiana from 1900 to 1902.

During the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...

, the 38-year-old Chambers was a sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....

 of the First Troop, Louisiana Cavalry, but the war ended after four months and before the Louisiana troops reached Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

.

Chambers edited the publication Progressive Teacher from 1885 to 1889. From 1893–1894, he was the editor of Louisiana School Review. For ten years, he was a director of the Louisiana State Chautauqua
Chautauqua
Chautauqua was an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with...

, a "summer camp" educational organization also promoted by John Keeny
John Keeny
John Ephraim Keeny, known as J.E. Keeny , was a pioneer educator who served from 1908 to 1926 as the president of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana,-Background:...

, a president of Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University, often referred to as Louisiana Tech, LA Tech, or Tech, is a coeducational public research university located in Ruston, Louisiana. Louisiana Tech is designated as a Tier 1 school in the national universities category by the 2012 U.S. News & World Report college rankings...

 in Ruston
Ruston, Louisiana
Ruston is a city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,546 at the 2000 census. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Its economy caters to its college population...

. In 1902, Chambers was the state Chautauqua president. Chambers was affiliated with the University Club, Louisiana Education Association, National Education Association
National Education Association
The National Education Association is the largest professional organization and largest labor union in the United States, representing public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college students preparing to become...

, Louisiana Historical Society, Mississippi Valley Historical Association (now the Organization of American Historians
Organization of American Historians
The Organization of American Historians , formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S...

), American Historical Association
American Historical Association
The American Historical Association is the oldest and largest society of historians and professors of history in the United States. Founded in 1884, the association promotes historical studies, the teaching of history, and the preservation of and access to historical materials...

, and Sons of the American Revolution
Sons of the American Revolution
The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution is a Louisville, Kentucky-based fraternal organization in the United States...

.

Later years

Faced with potential deafness, Chambers in 1905 at the age of forty-five ended his long educational career. For the next seven years until 1912, he operated his Chambers Advertising Agency, Inc., in New Orleans. He was then affiliated with the Vallière Manufacturing Company from 1914 until his death, having been treasurer and vice president of that company.

Chambers' other varied works, often published by either G. P. Putnam or Johns Hopkins University Press
Johns Hopkins University Press
The Johns Hopkins University Press is the publishing division of the Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and holds the distinction of being the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The Press publishes books, journals, and electronic databases...

 included Twenty Lessons in Bookkeeping (1885), A School History of the United States (1887), Questions in American History, The Constitutional History of Hawaii (1896), West Florida and Its Relation to the Historical Cartography of the United States (1898), and Legend of the God Votan (1906). Chambers also wrote short stories
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 and essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...

s. He was affiliated with the New Orleans Chess Club and once played the world champion, José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. One of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play...

, when the latter visited New Orleans. Chambers died of a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...

in New Orleans at the age of sixty-eight.
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