 1887 - 1981 (94 years)
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| Name |
Philip Robert Weltner |
| Birth |
18 Jul 1887 |
New York, NY  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Occupation |
Abt 1932 |
Chancellor, University of Georgia |
| Death |
5 Sep 1981 |
Atlanta, GA |
| Notes |
- From Murrow Brice Morris:
We adored Uncle Philip, especially his sense of humor. He and Aunt Sally sat in the same pew at church, and he and my sister Marion would pass notes back and forth.
My recollection is that, while I was growing up, Uncle Philip took on failing organizations and put them back on their feet: Oglethorpe University, the dry cleaners.
In his later years, after Aunt Sally had died and the other children had married and moved away, Philip, Jr., took care of his father. While I was at home with my father in 1956-58, we used to meet Uncle Philip and Philip for dinner now and then at the Rose Bowl, where they ate most nights, I think, for home cooking.
***
The Atlanta Journal
Monday, September 7, 1981
Page 4-A
Philip Weltner
We never have enough heroes. We should value them, mourn them when they pass.
Dr. Philip Weltner was one. He died Saturday at age 94 after a long and varied career involving him in education, prison reform, charitable giving, and in myriad other forms of public service.
His longtime friend, attorney John Sibley, observed that Weltner "never followed the beaten path. He always looked for a new and better one."
He chose some unorthodox paths. In 1912, Weltner posed as an escaped convict and turned himself in, so that he could do time on a Georgia chain gang and see for himself how much reform our prison system needed. He set up a detention center in Atlanta for juveniles while serving as probation officer, so that youngsters would not be tossed into jail. He was the executive director of the Atlanta Housing Authority when the first public housing project in the entire country was constructed. In later years, at an age when most people are retired, he served for more than two decades as a consultant to Coca-Cola's Robert Woodruff advising Woodruff on literally millions of dollars of charitable giving.
Woodruff described Weltner as a "tremendously valuable" community resource, saying that the "enthusiasm and dedication with which Dr. Weltner approached any undertaking, whether in the public or private sector, was refreshing. His record of accomplishment is unparalleled."
But perhaps Philip Weltner will be remembered primarily as an educator. He was a leader for educational reform in the state in the 1920s and 1930s, pushing for the creation of a State Board of Regents to improve supervision of state colleges and universities. Later, he was the first person appointed to that Board of Regents, then became chancellor of the University System of Georgia and still later served as president of Oglethorpe and labored successfully to improve that university.
Members of the Board of Regents of the University System passed a resolution praising Philip Weltner years ago, in the 1930s. It is hard to improve on the words of that praise. "With a clear mind and a pure heart," said the testimonial to Weltner, "he has given unsparingly of his energy and talents to educating the minds of the young people of Georgia to think straight, and has implanted in their hearts that love of justice and righteousness which is the chief aim of true education."
***
|
| Person ID |
I0237 |
Hull |
| Last Modified |
15 Aug 2020 |
| Family 1 |
Sally Cobb Hull, b. 3 Jul 1887, Athens, GA d. 30 Mar 1957, Atlanta, GA (Age 69 years) |
| Marriage |
3 Sep 1913 |
Atlanta, GA |
| Children |
| | 1. Callender Hull Weltner, b. 30 Aug 1915, Atlanta, GA d. 15 Mar 1989, Atlanta, GA (Age 73 years) |
| | 2. Philip Weltner, Jr., b. 10 Jul 1918, Atlanta, GA d. 2 Dec 1997, Atlanta, GA (Age 79 years) |
| | 3. May Pope Weltner, b. 10 Jan 1921, Atlanta, GA d. 15 Oct 2000, Atlanta, GA (Age 79 years) |
| | 4. Marion Augusta Weltner, b. 11 May 1924, Atlanta, GA d. 30 Apr 2017, Watkinsville, GA (Age 92 years) |
| | 5. Charles Longstreet Weltner, b. 17 Dec 1927, Atlanta, GA d. 31 Aug 1992, Atlanta, GA (Age 64 years) |
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| Photos |
 | Sally Weltner, Philip, Callender, May
From newspaper feature |
| Family ID |
F081 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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