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| Date Born: October 17, 1891 |
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Date Died: June 25, 1957 |
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| Place Born: York County, SC |
Place Buried: Gastonia, NC |
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| Residence: Gastonia, NC |
Occupation: Lawyer |
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Robert Gregg Cherry (17 October 1891 – 25 June 1957) was the Democratic governor of the state of North Carolina from 1945 to 1949. A veteran of World War I and former mayor of Gastonia, North Carolina, Cherry inherited an economy facing material and labor shortages as a result of the ongoing Second World War. One of his primary focuses during his term was the improvement of mental health care at state-run facilities. Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro, North Carolina, is named for him. Even though he was born in South Carolina, Robert Gregg Cherry grew up in Gastonia with his material grandparents after his mother died. He received his A.B. and his law degree from Trinity College (now Duke University) in Durham. In World War I, he served as captain of the Gastonian Company A, One Hundred Fifteenth Machine Gun Battalion, a group he organized. After the war he served as mayor of Gastonia, member of the House of Commons, and ran for Governor in 1944. When he took office in 1945, he faced wartime problems of shortages of equipment, material, and manpower. Governor Cherry had a primary goal of expanding the facilities at the state-owned mental hospitals. Succeeding in that effort, he also pushed for the establishment of a state medical care program by the North Carolina Good Health Association. As a result of the formation of the association, construction of general hospitals and medical clinics grew. In other areas, he was successful in accomplishing an increase in school expenditures and in adding 4,000 miles of new hard-surfaced roads. Governor Cherry returned to Gastonia after his term in office and practiced law until his death in 1957. |
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