This collection (ca. 1909-2002) contains documents related to the career of David Jordan Whichard II of Greenville, N.C., longtime editor of The Daily Reflector and president and chief executive officer of the newspaper's publishing firm. Whichard also served on many professional boards such as the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association, the N.C. Press Association, the Associated Press Board of Directors, the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees, the ECU Board of Trustees, the UNC System Board of Governors, and on the board for Wachovia Corporation. All of these activities plus other business-related and civic-related activities are reflected in the correspondence, minutes, reports, publications, financial records, and clippings in this collection.
David (Dave) Jordan Whichard II was born on March 20, 1927, in Greenville, North Carolina, to David Julian Whichard and Virginia Young Suther Whichard. Whichard completed officer training school for the U.S. Navy at the University of Mississippi, served in the U.S. Navy from 1945 to 1946, and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1948 with a bachelor's degree in journalism.
After graduation, Whichard returned to Greenville and began working as a reporter at the The Daily Reflector newspaper founded by his grandfather David Jordan Whichard I. He rose through the ranks to become the editor in 1954 and president and chief executive officer of the newspaper's publishing firm in 1965. In the 1960's the firm began publishing other community newspapers throughout eastern North Carolina.
Whichard was very active in the journalism field serving as president of the Southern Newspapers Publishers Association and the North Carolina Press Association and served on the Associated Press Board of Directors (1990-1996). In 1995, he was inducted into the UNC Journalism Hall of Fame.
Besides journalism, Whichard was very involved with higher education. He served on the Boards of Trustees at East Carolina University (1963-1973) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1991-1999) which he also chaired, and on the UNC System Board of Governors (1973-1989). Business-related boards he served on included Wachovia Corporation, and Management Profiles Board which was a start-up company he helped to develop in Florida. Whichard was also very active in St. Paul's Episcopal Church, and in improving the quality of life in Greenville. He was recognized as Greenville's Citizen of the Year in 1981.
David Jordan Whichard II was married first to Kathyrn Ward Van Nortwick and they had children Kathryn Oliver Whichard Poston, David Jordan Whichard III, and Virginia Suther Whichard Caudill. His second wife was Judith Kirkpatrick Whichard. He died on August 9, 2015, at his home in Grimesland, Pitt County, North Carolina.
Sources:
Obituary for David Jordan Whichard II. Retrieved from: https://www.wilkersonfuneralhome.com/obituaries/obituary-listings?obId=605565>
Sketch of David Jordan Whichard II's life found in Heritage Hall website at East Carolina University. Retrieved from: https://collectio.ecu.edu/heritagehall/People/David-Jordan-Whichard-II
Public Records found at familysearch.org.
Gift of David Jordan Whichard II
Gift of Judith K. Whichard
Processed by Elizabeth "Betsy" Stables in 2014 and Samantha Sheffield in November 2016.
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.
Currently unable to provide access to 5.25 inch floppy disks due to lack of required hardware. For more information, contact Special Collections at specialcollections@ecu.libanswers.com.