Charlotte's Historic West End

Published in the Charlotte Observer Nov. 14, 1969, this is the full text of the proposed plan for desegregation of Charlotte’s schools that the Board of Education presented to the United States District Court

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w1oPgwKT2mnfPb-33NLShZtV1el-YOJ4/view?usp=sharing

Letter from Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools reassigning Mrs. Emily Ivory, an African American teacher, to Double Oaks Elementary after the court-ordered desegregation was imposed. Donated by her daughter Darnell Ivory.

Feb. 20 1970 special section that discusses the particulars of the school busing case before the court

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XCmQz7C0Spwzn1CRNXV3G406jarrSkIY/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10guO-bL_f2piOw2YgTvOVUQBq1dyxFj-/view?usp=sharing

After years of appeals and court challenges, Judge McMillan announces that the case is closed and he does not intend to reopen it. The paper is filled with in-depth analysis of the history of the case.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y6qbzkon0vo3nXGm1bKNTYWA_9Ae8fvM/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16DAb-BES-mMINSQtwK6Ia8fDqbLm5UFq/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tbRbz-aS3J2mwyu0JEt6flfFcn5B4kL2/view?usp=sharing

Story about Charlotte’s first graduating class of seniors that attended all 12 grades of integrated classes, in 1982.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Qt8Ruz8LIkHa-r78R18sa7j8eTollFlO/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j42Fob5EW1iaMzTDrDnr3sELBJFtJfi9/view?usp=sharing

In 1999, Judge Robert Potter ordered Charlotte schools to stop busing by race, effectively ending school desgregation in Mecklenburg County

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1icHNvnO0i5-ZXLDT304ht4Bxf2PByacT/view?usp=sharing

2016 New Yorker article about the saga of desegregation and resegregation of Charlotte’s schools and neighborhoods through the lens of the killing of Keith Lamont Scott.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-desegregation-and-resegregation-of-charlottes-schools

2018 Newsweek cover story detailing the resegregation of America’s schools and beginning with the national attention around Charlotte’s busing case.

https://www.newsweek.com/2018/03/30/school-segregation-america-today-bad-1960-855256.html

Letter from the NC State Highway Commission notifying Emily Ivory of 1631 Van Buren Ave in McCrorey Heights that her property would be acquired by right-of-way. Donated by Emily’s daughter, Darnell Ivory.

Article from the Charlotte Post about the Northwest Expressway coming through McCrorey Heights, with the Ivory home at 1631 Van Buren Ave. visible in the picture. Donated by Darnell Ivory.

Map from 1966 Charlotte Observer article detailing the proposed highways that would begin construction shortly to surround the city’s downtown core.

Site where federal redlining maps can be seen and examined https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/#loc=5/36.721/-96.943&opacity=0.8

2018 article from The Guardian about how infrastructure projects in the US in the 1960’s - 1980’s exacerbated and created racial inequality in cities.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/feb/21/roads-nowhere-infrastructure-american-inequality

ThinkProgress.org piece about how the rage and protests after the Keith Lamont Scott shooting in 2016 can be traced back to the inequities perpetuated and symbolized by the city’s highways.

https://thinkprogress.org/charlotte-rage-charlotte-roads-1ee83a4753a4/

Apr. 4, 1962 Charlotte Observer article about how residents of McCrorey Heights objected to the path of the proposed Northwest Expressway

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ylT1l3p7JRLpdKVDnqmFLb_-1Qv-VdpG/view?usp=sharing

Feb. 20, 1968 Observer article about the impact of the expressways on schools in Charlotte, especially on the West End.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uWSF6OiRlsMkreXPfWov7srx0dd_wXth/view?usp=sharing

March 2, 1970 Observer article about the design and utility of the various expressways around Charlotte being constructed at the time.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19gzVMuGx0Q4S-33IFYlRBUHfiW2yJulF/view?usp=sharing

Flickr album of photos showing damage sustained by the coordinated bombing attacks in 1965. Used courtesy of Special Collections at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmx6NgGA

Flickr album of letters written to and by Reginald Hawkins related to the bombing attacks on Nov. 22, 1965. Donated to the project by Special Collections at University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

https://flic.kr/s/aHskLUVUFH

Alfred Alexander describes his childhood memories of the bombing at the home of Kelly Alexander in Nov. 1965 in an interview with the University of NC at Charlotte. Used courtesy of UNCC Special Collections.

https://soundcloud.com/user-903488555/alfred-alexander-bombing-interview

Flickr album of maps shown in the Charlotte Observer in Nov. 1965 detailing locations of bombs and occupants of the homes

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmyVYwS9

Charlotte Observer special article published the morning of the bombings

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ESBjSE9u1mYRU3-b9A1JxGreRdEEpges/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W6Q9ddCX9YUhwj9uiJI3SYmkCyfud434/view?usp=sharing

Observer article about the 1971 bombing of Julius Chambers’ downtown law offices, which brought back memories of the coordinated attacks in 1965

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cjpMNe1BDje8Q0vZ2-3ZD8CggJ3onXHB/view?usp=sharing

Article in the Charlotte Observer reflecting on the 50 year anniversary of the bombing attacks

1966 Observer editorial discussing how residents displaced by the Northwest Expressway (mostly black residents) were not even compensated for their moving expenses because it was a city project while those moved by the North-South Expressway (mostly white residents) were since it was funded by the state.

A Flickr album of Johnson C. Smith University students seated at lunch counters demanding service, and marching to uptown Charlotte to ask for equal treatment. https://flic.kr/s/aHsmzJmtfE

Charlotte Observer article about the lunch counter protests led by JCSU students in the wake of the Greensboro sit-ins, February 1960 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HGgLYaaZEpDZ0VmxdzaD8Lqk4y_qWF13/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13J-i2Lugsr_Wzg9TKqLhZQSO6Ha0YEa1/view?usp=sharing

Article from the JCSU University Student reporting on the students who marched from the campus to uptown Charlotte to back passage of the Civil Rights Bill. https://drive.google.com/file/d/12ALmOeSvBxcKIwCLNea8BlqlPC1B3-O7/view?usp=sharing

Charlotte Observer article recounting Dr. King’s 1966 visit to Johnson C. Smith University https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aArd8XaVLMaV2j32-_cN0cSwmtWKdGnN/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gZHg7Md7lj6Ot1AcyMgzzlZnGsHI3dRt/view?usp=sharing

Flickr album of images of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speaking at JCSU in 1966, with Dr. Reginald Hawkins, JCSU President Dr. Rufus Perry, and others visible. Photos taken by James Peeler and available via the Peeler Collection at JCSU, the Special Collections of UNC-Charlotte, and the Carolina Room of the Public Library. https://flic.kr/s/aHsmzJt2w1

Commonly referred to as Green Books, these travel guides for African Americans during the Jim Crow era listed establishments in cities and states across the U.S. that welcomed black customers. As compiled by the NC Historic Preservation Office and NC State University graduate students, here is a list of the Green Book locations in the West End.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19ZKNO_mxRk-fiHWAtwzmyF6zAqJMTRwf/view?usp=sharing

CharlotteFive podcast profile of JCSU Student leader Charles Jones, a long-time West End resident who rode with the Freedom Riders and led JCSU students on a march from campus to desegregate lunch counters in 1960.

https://www.charlottefive.com/charlottefive-podcast-charles-jones/

in 1963, Black Nationalist leader Malcolm X spoke on the campus of JCSU and then at the Hi-Fi Club at 2700 Estelle Street in Washington Heights. Here is footage of that speech: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2wkr9q

Article written in the wake of the protests following the killing of Keith Lamont Scott by Charlotte police that discusses the “myth” of racial harmony and the “peaceful path” to civil rights that exists around Charlotte’s history.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/charlotte-race-history/501221/

https://soundcloud.com/user-903488555/gentrification-josephdelaine

Joseph DeLaine, McCrorey Heights resident and son of civil rights pioneer Rev. Joseph DeLaine, speaks about gentrification in the West End in an interview conducted by JCSU on 9/16/17

https://soundcloud.com/user-903488555/hattie-leeper-gentrification

West End resident "Chatty Hattie" Leeper, the first black woman on Charlotte radio in the 1950's for WGIV, talks about the impact of gentrification on her community in an interview conducted by JCSU on 3/30/18.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16pDRXddoHRdiXBViJ9AyDtracpleqfDF/view?usp=sharing

Observer article detailing the benefits and drawbacks of the gentrification process going on in the Biddleville and Smallwood neighborhoods in the West End.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZK2CbN11OnJWIK_jy5yqNxvGvWv1U2Hg/view?usp=sharing

1966 Observer article where councilman Fred Alexander predicts the rise of a “ghetto” on the West End of Charlotte.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CEkTR8UUgaOqsjgMw2EKa2pckK0VabyZ/view?usp=sharing

1975 Observer article about the state of the Westside, which was already showing signs of decline and neglect.

Charlotte historian Tom Hanchett discusses the historical context of gentrification and its impact on African American neighborhoods in Charlotte in an interview conducted by JCSU on 1/16/17.

https://soundcloud.com/user-903488555/michael-doney-five-points-realty-gentrification

Michael Doney, realtor at Five Points Realty on Beatties Ford Road, speaks about the perception of gentrification from a business/real estate standpoint in an interview conducted by JCSU on 11/20/18

https://www.charlottefive.com/beloved-community/

An example on the Charlotte Five site showing an example of the climate where certain language is used by media and real estate companies to push home buying/renting in the Biddleville and Smallwood neighborhoods.

https://clclt.com/charlotte/residents-get-proactive-in-the-fight-against-gentrification-on-the-west-side/Content?oid=3811309

Creative Loafing article about the response of neighborhood residents and groups to the gentrification concerns on the West End and the lack of affordable housing in Charlotte.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qV7tNK4hcEpbOXvT182tYCQLllnDrUDQ/view?usp=sharing

Observer article ahead of the financial collapse of 2008, when the West End was already poised to be “revitalized.”

https://soundcloud.com/user-903488555/gentrification-in-washington-heights-mattie-marshall

Washington Heights neighborhood advocate Mattie Marshall discusses the impact of gentrification on her community in an interview conducted by JCSU on 8/17/17

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NnUXW4b9NqzgPzZj6t26K1QHN5gvi04k/view?usp=sharing

2015 summary report of the Charlotte Comprehensive Neighborhood Improvement Program for the West Trade/Rozzelle’s Ferry zone that comprises the West End

http://www.charlottemagazine.com/Charlotte-Magazine/April-2018/Spare-the-Land/

Charlotte Magazine profiles the West Side Community Land Trust, an organization dedicated to helping residents secure mortgage loans, build credit, and open black-owned businesses in the West End.

https://soundcloud.com/user-903488555/history-of-black-settlement-in-charlotte-tom-hanchett

Historian Tom Hanchett discusses the history and patterns of black settlement in Charlotte in an interview conducted by JCSU on 11/16/18

Collection of articles from the Charlotte Observer from 1938 - 1983 about the settlement of African Americans in Charlotte https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nmVNtkcE1VL8l6sy3CyXznHSwI682FSp?usp=sharing

Collection of interviews with residents of the Brooklyn neighborhood compiled in 2004 and 2007 by students at UNC - Charlotte https://brooklyn-oral-history.uncc.edu/about/

Research guide providing history and resources on Brooklyn created by Atkins Library at UNC - Charlotte https://guides.library.uncc.edu/c.php?g=621704&p=4626874

Observer article from January 2019 about the gentrification of the Cherry neighborhood https://www.wfae.org/post/finding-home-cherry-residents-struggle-effects-gentrification#stream/0

Research guide providing history and resources on the Cherry neighborhood, created by Atkins Library at UNC-Charlotte

Research guide providing history and resources on the Greenville neighborhood, created by Atkins Library at UNC - Charlotte https://guides.library.uncc.edu/c.php?g=621704&p=5192974

Historian Tom Hanchett gives an overview of the history and importance of the West End in an interview conducted by JCSU on 11/16/18. https://soundcloud.com/user-903488555/intro-to-the-west-end-tom-hanchett

PBS Charlotte documentary on the history and culture of the West End from February 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AX-IpD_0So&feature=youtu.be

Tim Gibbs talks about what it means to be from the West End in a brief clip, from an interview recorded by JCSU on 11/1/2017. https://soundcloud.com/user-903488555/character-of-the-west-end-tim-gibbs

Charlotte Observer article from August 2017 about the changes happening in the North End neighborhood, a predominantly African American area in Charlotte bordering on the Historic West End https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/development/article165057842.html

Interview with Vermelle Diamond Ely, longtime Brooklyn resident, conducted on June 17, 1993 and included in Behind the Veil: Documenting African-American Life in the Jim Crow South Digital Collection, John Hope Franklin Research Center, Duke University Libraries. https://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/behindtheveil_btvnc02018/

Reginald Hawkins discusses the bombing of his home on Madison Avenue in an interview held in the Special Collections at UNCC. Photo courtesy of the Carolina Room at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Library. https://soundcloud.com/user-903488555/reginald-hawkins-bombing-interview