Charlotte, North Carolina
History Institutions
The Charlotte Museum of History. Accessed February 27, 2024. https://charlottemuseum.org/.
The Charlotte Museum of History is an eight-acre campus with six galleries of rotating museum exhibits, which include topics such as Charlotte’s history with drawn cartoons, and black education in Mecklenburg County during segregation. The museum also features the Alexander Rock Homesite, an 18th century colonial plantation whose owner helped drafted North Carolina’s first constitution.
The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts+Culture. Accessed February 28, 2024. https://www.ganttcenter.org/.
The Harvey B. Gantt Center is a museum and cultural center that celebrates the historical contributions that Africans and African-Americans have had on American culture, particularly with a focus on Charlotte and North Carolina. The center also acts as an art museum, displaying a wide range of paintings and artwork created by African-Americans.
Historic Rosedale. Accessed February 28, 2024. https://www.historicrosedale.org/.
Historic Rosedale is a plantation house that was built in Charlotte in 1815, and the restored structure is open to visitors, along with a recreated blacksmith shop and its verdant and blooming gardens. In recent years, the museum has put more effort into properly representing the African-Americans that were enslaved at this location.
Levine Museum of the New South. Accessed February 28, 2024. https://www.museumofthenewsouth.org/.
The Levine Museum of the New South is a history museum that focuses on the Charlotte metropolitan area, and features numerous rotating museum exhibits. The ones currently being featured an exhibition which gives a historical overview of Charlotte since Native and European settlement, as well as one that details the history of the Grier Heights community.
Mecklenburg Historical Association. Accessed February 28, 2024. https://www.meckdec.org/.
The Mecklenburg Historical Association is a historical society that seeks to preserve and publicize the history of Mecklenburg County, which is done through regular meetings, publications, and work with various historic sites. The association, which meets four times a year, can also assist those who are researching Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.
Libraries
“Archives.” James B. Duke Memorial Library. Accessed February 28, 2024. https://library.jcsu.edu/archives/.
The James B. Duke Memorial Library is located on the campus on Johnson C. Smith University, a historically black university, with its physical archives preserving documents related to the institution itself. However, its digital archive contains an abundance of information related to the history of African-Americans in Charlotte, which include photographs, publications, and audiovisual recordings.
“Archives & Rare Books.” J. Murrey Atkins Library. Accessed February 28, 2024. https://library.charlotte.edu/archives-rare-books.
The J. Murrey Atkins Library is located on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and when it comes to its archival collections, they contain manuscripts of individuals and families as well as local organizations, as well as the university’s official and unofficial records. The collections also contain photographs and maps, local government documents, and oral history recordings.
“Archives and Special Collections.” Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. Accessed February 27, 2024. https://www.cmlibrary.org/services/archives-and-special-collections.
The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library includes several collections, such as the North Carolina History and Culture Collection, which contains materials related to the history of North Carolina, Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, as well as an expansive Genealogy Collection. The library also contains both physical and digital archives, as well as a Rare Books Collection.
Newspapers
The Charlotte Post. Accessed February 28, 2024. https://www.thecharlottepost.com/.
The Charlotte Post is an African-American weekly newspaper which covers local and national news and entertainment from a Black perspective. In addition to that, the newspaper relays news regarding health and local businesses, shares recipes on food for readers to make, and gives reviews on various products.
The Charlotte Observer. Accessed February 28, 2024. https://www.charlotteobserver.com/.
The Charlotte Observer is the largest newspaper in the city of Charlotte, as well as the second largest in the Carolinas, and covers local news, sports, as well as arts/culture. Other things that are printed in it include obituaries, information about local businesses, and opinion pieces.
Charlotte Weekly. Accessed February 28, 2024. https://www.thecharlotteweekly.com/.
The Charlotte Weekly is a weekly newspaper that was founded in 2002, which consists of three different editions, the South Charlotte Weekly, the Union County Weekly, and the Matthews-Mint Hill Weekly. The newspaper almost exclusively focuses on local news, but it also prints obituaries and opinion pieces.
“The Evening Bulletin (Charlotte, N.C.).” DigitalNC. Accessed February 28, 2024. https://www.digitalnc.org/newspapers/the-evening-bulletin-charlotte-n-c/.
The Evening Bulletin was a defunct newspaper that was published in Charlotte between the years 1800 to 1899, with online issues being available at DigitalNC. In terms of its contents, it was relatively standard for the time, carrying local and national news, advertisements for products, and work requests.
Queen City Nerve. Accessed February 28, 2024. https://qcnerve.com/.
Queen City Nerve is a newspaper that likes to brand itself “Charlotte’s Alternative Newspaper,” as it primarily covers art and music, though local news is also incorporated. In terms of the art & music it focuses on, plays, stage performances, and African-American artwork seems to be focused on the most.
“The Western Democrat (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870.” The Library of Congress. Accessed February 28, 2024. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84020712/.
The Western Democrat was a defunct newspaper that was published in Charlotte weekly from 1852 to 1870, and branded itself as a publication dedicated to politics, literature, agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and news. Aside from the reporting of local news, the newspaper dedicated a lot of its space to advertisements for local goods, services, and property, including weekly wholesale price lists.
Books
Byers, Jeff. Plaza-Midwood Neighborhood of Charlotte. Images of America. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2004.
This book covers the history of Plaza-Midwood, one of Charlotte’s early streetcar suburbs that epitomized the New South vision of the city. It incorporates a lot of photographs which highlight the neighborhood’s architectural and societal diversity, as well as the citizens that lived in it.
Ely, Vermelle Diamond, Grace Hoey Drain, and Amy Rogers. Charlotte, North Carolina. Black History Series. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2001.
This book focuses on the history of African-Americans living in Charlotte during the 20th century, with a specific focus on the Second Ward High School, built in 1923, and demolished in 1969. The history of this school is described in great detail utilizing references from the museum which bares the school’s name, which has an expansive photo archive.
Gaillard, Frye. The Dream Long Deferred: The Landmark Struggle for Desegregation in Charlotte, North Carolina. Columbia , SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2006.
This book details the fifty-year long struggle to desegrate Charlotte, with a specific focus on the city’s school system. The book details how it began with the verdict in Brown v. Board of Education in the 1950s, and truly ended at the end of the 1990s, though the author argues that the process is reversing itself today.
Hanchett, Thomas W. Sorting Out the New South City: Race, Class, and Urban Development in Charlotte, 1875-1975. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 2020.
This book describes how the city of Charlotte transformed from a rural courthouse village in the late 19th century to becoming to the hub of America’s textile industry in the latter half of the 20th century. The author also argues that the racial and economic segregation became ingrained into Charlotte during this time as a result of a decades-long process.
Hanchett, Thomas W., and Ryan L. Sumner. Charlotte and the Carolina Piedmont. Images of America. Charleston , SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2003.
This book serves as an adaptation of the authors’ historical exhibit, “Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers: Charlotte and the New South,” which describes the evolution of Charlotte and the Piedmont Region from Emancipation to Civil Rights. It particularly focuses on the African-American experience and the evolving character of life in the urban and rural south, as well as the changing roles of southern women, and the causes and consequences of industrialization.
Kratt, Mary Norton. Charlotte, North Carolina: A Brief History. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2009.
This book covers the history of the city of Charlotte, from when the land it lays upon was inhabited by the Catawba, all the way to the modern day. The topics that are perhaps covered most in this book are the city’s relationships to slavery, as well as industry.
Rogers, John R., and Amy T. Rogers. Charlotte NC: Its Historic Neighborhoods. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 1996.
This book covers the history of Charlotte from the perspective of its historic neighborhoods, which include Dilworth, Myers Park, Elizabeth, Belmont, and the now non-existent Brooklyn. Particularly, the book examines the economic and social challenges these neighborhoods experienced over the years, supplemented with the photographs of families who lived in them.
Sumner, Ryan L. Historic Photos of Charlotte. Nashville, TN: Turner Publishing Company, 2006.
This book captures the photographic history of Charlotte from the late 19th century up to the modern day, with most of the photographs displayed being in black and white. The photographs mainly focus on daily life, government, historic people and events, as well as the buildup of the city itself.
Williams, Stephanie Burt. Wicked Charlotte: The Sordid Side of the Queen City. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2006.
This book covers the darker aspects of Charlotte’s history, which include tales of gangsters, the crime-ridden city it became as a result of a gold rush, and several mysterious deaths. The book is very local-oriented, as shown through the references that only someone living in the city would truly grasp.
Films
“Hidden Valley Kings in Charlotte, NC.” YouTube. History Channel, April 9, 2009. Accessed February 28, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3MyCr7Skkw.
This documentary film is part of a series called Gangland on the History Channel, and details the history of the Hidden Valley Kings, a neighborhood-based gang in Charlotte founded in 2001. The film details the group’s formation, the lives of those who were and are a part of it, and the encounters the gang has had with law enforcement.
“Trail of History: Charlotte on the Homefront.” YouTube. Central Piedmont Community College, December 20, 2016. Accessed February 27, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArN-oL8FUDM.
This documentary film details the connections Charlotte had with World II, both when it comes to the home front and abroad. To accomplish this, the program interviews civilians who assisted in manual labor at places such as shell factories, as well as veterans.
By Frank Leo
