{{Short description|American academic and administrator}} {{Infobox person | name = Charles Madison Sarratt | image = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = June 21, 1888 | birth_place = Gaffney, South Carolina, U.S. | death_date = March 24, 1978 | death_place = Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. | death_cause = | other_names = | known_for = | education = | alma_mater = Limestone College<br/>Cornell University | employer = | occupation = Academic | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | political_party = | boards = | spouse = Mary Dora Houston | children = Dr Madison "Houston" Sarratt | parents = Robert Clifton Sarratt<br/>Frances Amos | relatives = }} '''Charles Madison Sarratt''' (1888–1978) was an American academic and administrator. He was the co-author of a textbook on mathematics. He was the chair of the department of mathematics at Vanderbilt University from 1924 to 1946, dean of students from 1939 to 1945, vice-chancellor from 1946 to 1958, and dean of alumni from 1958 to 1978.
==Early life== Sarratt was born June 21, 1888, in Gaffney, South Carolina.<ref name="gaffneyman">{{cite news|title=Gaffney Man Made Head of Vanderbilt U. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/78085221/?terms=%22Charles%2BMadison%2BSarratt%22 |newspaper=The Gaffney Ledger |date=February 9, 1946 |page=1 |via = Newspapers.com|access-date = August 24, 2015 }} {{Open access}}</ref><ref name="ncpedia">{{cite web |title=Vanderbilt University – Sarratt Student Center |url=http://events.tennessean.com/venue/detail/330306599/Vanderbilt_University_Sarratt_Student_Center |website=The Tennessean | access-date=23 August 2015}}</ref> His father, Robert Clifton Sarratt, served in the South Carolina House of Representatives and the South Carolina Senate.<ref name="investedlife">{{cite news|title=Invested Life |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/79300989/?terms=%22Charles%2BMadison%2BSarratt%22 |newspaper=The Gaffney Ledger |date=April 7, 1978 |page=3 |via = Newspapers.com|access-date = August 24, 2015 }} {{Open access}}</ref> His paternal family was of Welsh descent.<ref name="noblehistory27">{{cite news|last1=Sarratt|first1=Noble|title=History of the Sarratt Family|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/78039745|access-date=August 14, 2016|work=The Gaffney Ledger|location=Gaffney, South Carolina|date=June 2, 1927|pages=5–6|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration }}</ref> His mother, Frances Amos, was the daughter of Confederate veteran and Inman cotton plantation owner Charles McAlwreath Amos and granddaughter of Charles Amos, the co-owner of the Cowpens Iron Works and a slaveholder in the antebellum era.<ref name="granberrymrssarratt">{{cite news|last1=Granberry|first1=R. C.|title=Mrs Sarratt Is Capable, Successful in Business|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/78032775/?terms=%22Robert%2BClifton%2BSarratt%22|access-date=August 14, 2016|work=The Gaffney Ledger|location=Gaffney, South Carolina|date=February 26, 1953|page=9|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration |quote=Grandfather made the cloth for all his slaves.}}</ref>
Sarratt graduated from Limestone College.<ref name="limestonegrad">{{cite news|title=Limestone Grad Is Chosen Head of Vanderbilt U. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/78083672/?terms=%22Charles%2BMadison%2BSarratt%22 |newspaper=The Gaffney Ledger |date=January 1, 1946 |page=1 |via = Newspapers.com|access-date = August 24, 2015 }} {{Open access}}</ref> He then graduated from Cornell University, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1911.<ref name="sarrattworkswith">{{cite news|title=Sarratt Works With Students At Vanderbilt |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/78103251/?terms=%22Charles%2BMadison%2BSarratt%22 |newspaper=The Gaffney Ledger |date=July 22, 1948 |page=8 |via = Newspapers.com|access-date = August 24, 2015 }} {{Open access}}</ref> He went on to receive a master's degree from Syracuse University in 1915.<ref name="sarrattworkswith"/>
==Academic career== Sarratt taught in the College of Engineering at Syracuse University from 1913 to 1916.<ref name="gaffneyman"/> He joined the faculty in the department of mathematics at Vanderbilt University in 1916.<ref name="ncpedia"/><ref name="vanderbiltofficialdrsarratt">{{cite news|title=Vanderbilt Official: Dr. Sarratt Is Visiting Mother |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/78043381/?terms=%22Charles%2BMadison%2BSarratt%22 |newspaper=The Gaffney Ledger |date=July 27, 1961 |page=1 |via = Newspapers.com|access-date = August 24, 2015 }} {{Open access}}</ref> He became the dean of men in 1922.<ref name="sarrattworkswith"/> Two years later, in 1924, he was appointed chair of the department of mathematics,<ref name="sarrattworkswith"/> and served as chair for the next twenty-two years.<ref name="vanderbiltofficialdrsarratt"/> In 1939, he became dean of students.<ref name="sarrattworkswith"/> In 1946, he was appointed as vice-chancellor.<ref name="gaffneyman"/><ref name="sarrattworkswith"/> He also served as chancellor pro tempore in 1946.<ref name="vanderbiltofficialdrsarratt"/> From 1958 to 1978, he was retired, yet served as dean of alumni.<ref name="investedlife"/><ref name="vanderbiltofficialdrsarratt"/> He was known as "Mr Vanderbilt" or "Dean Sarratt," even after he retired.<ref name="investedlife"/>
With Columbia University professor Thomas Alexander, Sarratt was the co-author of ''Alexander Sarratt-Arithmetics'', a three-volume mathematics textbook published in 1924.<ref name="gaffneyman"/><ref name="frontmatter">{{cite journal |title=Front Matter |journal=Peabody Journal of Education |volume=3 |issue=5 |jstor=1488743 | date = March 1926 |pages=301–303 }}</ref>
==Civic activities== Sarratt was a member of the American Mathematical Society.<ref name="sarrattworkswith"/> He was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, and Sigma Nu.<ref name="sarrattworkswith"/> He served on the board of directors of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce.<ref name="vanderbiltofficialdrsarratt"/> He was President of the American Red Cross.<ref name="vanderbiltofficialdrsarratt"/> He was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 1967.<ref name="tnsports">{{cite web |title=SARRATT, DR. CHARLES MADISON |url=http://tshf.net/halloffame/sarratt-dr-charles-madison/ |website=Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame | access-date=23 August 2015}}</ref>
In 1960, Sarratt chaired a committee of black leaders like Stephen J. Wright and Walter S. Davis and white businessmen to put an end to the Nashville sit-ins.<ref name="nashvilleway106">{{cite book |last1=Houston |first1=Benjamin |title=The Nashville Way: Racial Etiquette and the Struggle for Social Justice in a Southern City |date=2012 |publisher=University of Georgia Press |location=Athens, Georgia |isbn=9780820343266|oclc=940632744 |pages=106–107}}</ref>
==Personal life== Sarratt married Mary Dora Houston in 1922.<ref name="gaffneyman"/> They had a son, Madison "Houston" Sarratt,<ref name="gaffneyman"/> who married Martha Haley Davis, the daughter of William Lipscomb Davis.<ref name="houstonsarratttowed">{{cite news|title=Houston Sarratt To Wed Miss Davis |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/78033013/?terms=%22Charles%2BMadison%2BSarratt%22 |newspaper=The Gaffney Ledger |date=March 5, 1946 |page=3 |via = Newspapers.com|access-date = August 24, 2015 }} {{Open access}}</ref> thumb|right|Sarratt Student Center on the campus of Vanderbilt University.
==Death and legacy== Sarratt died on March 24, 1978, in Nashville.<ref name="ncpedia"/> The Sarratt Student Center on the campus of Vanderbilt University has been named for him since 1974.<ref name="honorforusall">{{cite news|title=Honor For Us All |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/78071540/?terms=%22Charles%2BMadison%2BSarratt%22 |newspaper=The Gaffney Ledger |date=September 18, 1974 |page=3 |via = Newspapers.com|access-date = August 24, 2015 }} {{Open access}}</ref><ref name="vanderbiltstudent">{{cite web |title=Sarratt Student Center |url=http://www.vanderbilt.edu/studentcenters/explore/virtual-tour/ |website=Vanderbilt University | access-date=23 August 2015}}</ref> Inside, the Sarratt Gallery is also named for him.<ref name="sarrattgallery">{{cite web |title=Sarratt Gallery |url=http://www.vanderbilt.edu/sarrattgallery/about |website=Vanderbilt University | access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref> Moreover, his bust is on display there.<ref name="ncpedia"/><ref name="vanderbiltstudent"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarratt, Charles Madison}} Category:1888 births Category:1978 deaths Category:People from Gaffney, South Carolina Category:Cornell University alumni Category:Syracuse University alumni Category:Vanderbilt University faculty Category:Mathematicians from South Carolina Category:Mathematicians from New York (state) Category:20th-century American people