A descendant of the Choctaw Chief, Pushmataha, Charles Guyton Anderson III was always proud of his Oklahoma heritage. He considered himself a sixth generation Oklahoman, since his family originally migrated to the state in the 1830's. Raised in Oklahoma City in the 1930s, Guyton graduating from Classen High School in 1948.
He received his undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia and continued his studies at Vanderbilt and Harvard before receiving his Ph.D. at Georgetown University. He also studied abroad in Canada, England and France before earning a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Sao Paulo, Brazil. His teaching career spanned 35 years in the Washington, D.C. area where he taught Latin and French.
Proficient in seven languages, Guyton was truly a citizen of the world, enjoying a great deal of travel particularly in Europe where he had many friends. But he also never forgot about his Oklahoma roots. Upon returning to his family's Putnam Heights home in Oklahoma City, he immersed himself in the historic neighborhood's revitalization.
After his death in 1998, a gift in his estate plan created an endowment to support the Putnam Heights Historic Preservation District, ensuring the neighborhood's maintenance and future growth. The gift was made with proceeds from the sale of his family's Putnam Heights home, where they had lived for more than 50 years.