The Charlotte Jewish News - June-July 2014 - Page 5
Communitv News
Harry Golden Honored, Remembered by
Those Who Knew Him Best
By Amy Krakovitz
Probably best known for his
tongue-in-cheek “Vertical Integra
tion Plan” and his best-selling
book of essays, Only in America,
Harry Golden was one of Char
lotte’s treasures in the 20th cen
tury. Publisher of the first local
Jewish newspaper, The Carolina
Israelite, Golden was active in
both Temple Israel and Temple
Beth El, as well as in his Elizabeth
neighborhood and in the local
scene.
Many residents no longer re
member him or are familiar with
his legacy. But a few local histo
rians and archivists are attempting
to remedy that.
On May 4, a plaque was
erected at the comer of Hawthorne
and 7th Sts., just a block midway
between the two homes he occu
pied while living in Charlotte: the
first on Elizabeth Ave. is now
a parking garage; the last
home he lived in, a block in
the other direction, is now
owned by May Cheung and
Shawn Gaddy and their fam
ily. Both were in attendance at
the unveiling of the plaque.
Tom Hanchett of the
Levine Museum of the New
South emceed the afternoon’s
events and introduced the lu
minaries and VIPs that were
present.
Mike Hill of the NC Office
of Archives and History ex
plained that the agency re
quires a wait of 25 years after
an individual’s death before a
plaque can be requested, clarify
ing for the crowd what took so
long in getting the plaque to Harry
Golden erected.
The afternoon of the unveiling
ceremony was a textbook Char
lotte spring afternoon with a warm
sympy sun and a light tickling
breeze. The attendees left the cor
ner of Hawthorne and 7th to walk
the block and a half to St.
Michael’s Episcopal Church, with
its sculpted gardens and blooming
azaleas, for a few words from sup
porters, friends, and acquaintances
of Golden’s.
For those not familiar with
Golden, his works are archived at
both UNCC and in the public li
brary Carolina Room. Robin
Brabham, the archivist at UNCC,
told the audience that Harry was
A good size crowd came out on that perfect spring afternoon to see the plaque
unveiled. Photo courtesy of Robert Klein.
known for using “humor and
satire to point out people’s incon
sistencies.” One famous example
is the “Vertical Integration Plan.”
Harry noticed that when people
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one block N.E.
The plaque at the corner of Hawthorne and
Streets.
stood on line, in the grocery store,
at the bank, and specifically at
Tanner’s where they would pur
chase an orange drink and red
skinned peanuts while waiting for
the bus, that no one seemed to
mind if anyone was black or white
or anything else. It seemed,
though, that folks got upset when
blacks and whites sat down to
gether, like at a lunch counter.
Harry proposed that all places
simply take their chairs out and
voila! Instant integration.
The other archivist, Tom Cole,
is from the Public Library of
Charlotte and Mecklenburg
County. The remainder of Harry’s
papers are archived in the Car
olina Room of the downtown
branch of the library.
Also from PLCMC was Sam
Shapiro, better known to most of
THE RIZZO
LAW FIRM,
PLLC
Scotl^.
us the “film guy” from the library.
He spoke of his father’s relation
ship with Golden and the years
that Golden went to the movies at
the Charlottetown Theater where
Sam worked as a teenager.
Shapiro is currently work
ing on a program for the
library about Leo Frank,
the man who was lynched
outside of Atlanta in 1915
for a murder he did not
commit. This was also a
pet subject of Golden’s, as
demonstrated in his book
A Little Girl is Dead.
Shapiro is planning on his
program opening at the li
brary in September and
there will be more infor
mation in future issues of
The Charlotte Jewish
News.
Described as “Harry Golden’s
oldest living friend,” Walter Klein,
a well known archivist and writer
in our Charlotte Jewish commu
nity, spoke briefly about a new bi
ography about Harry Golden that
will be published later this year.
Other luminaries from Char
lotte’s media were in attendance.
Jack Claiborne, retired editorial
page writer from The Charlotte
Observer, told of how much the
community appreciated Harry. So
much so that after a fire at his
house on Elizabeth Ave., the chief
of police sent a squad to help him
replenish his Carolina Israelite
mailing list. Claiborne also re
called that Harry taught Shake
speare at one of the many UNCC
satellite schools set up for return
ing GIs in the late 1940s.
Bill Walker, former anchor
from WSOC-TV, said that Harry
could make you “laugh while
thinking and think while laugh
ing,” much the same as Jon Stew
art does for us today.
If you don’t know Harry
Golden now, perhaps it’s time that
you became familiar with Char
lotte’s most original thinker. He
left a strong impression on every
one who knew him. More than 20
of his books are available at the
Levine-Sklut Judaic Library, in
cluding Only in America and A
Little Girl is Dead. ^
The Rizzo Family
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Cantor Elias Roochvarg of Temple Israel and Walter Klein, described as
"Harry Golden s oldest living friend. ” Photo courtesy of Robert Klein.