Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Feb. 15, 1996, edition 1 / Page 15
Part of The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
15A BLACK HISTORY MONTH February 15, 1996 Charlotte’s black neighborhoods By Janette Thomas Greenwood SPECIAL TO THE POST Editor’s note: The following is from “The Black Experience In Charlotte-Mecklenburg,’’ written by Janette Thomas Greenwood in 1984. Following the Civil War, blacks in Charlotte began to cluster to geth'er and form their own distinctive neigh borhoods. As in most parts of the South, most blacks left the plantation and congregated in town. Even though the Reconstruction period was a as part of Charlotte. Much of Biddleville’s built environment remains. First, Second, Third wards From the earliest days of freedom, Charlotte’s blacks congregated most heavily in Second and Third wards. As previously noted, all of the city’s black aldermen, who served from 1868 to 1893, came from these three wards. A map of black residential pat terns in 1875-76 shows that while blacks lived in all four wards. Second and Third Wards were the areas of high- NEW PATIEIVTS WELCOME We Accept: • MEDICAID • MEDICARE • PRIVATE INSURANCE • MED COST • BLUE CROSS & BLUE SHIELD 741 Kenilworth Are. • Charlotte, NC FAMILY MEDICAL § CENTER OFf CHARLOTTE CT04)3T2:-0063 FASHIONS INC. THE CELLULAR PUTT FT Cellular Outlet President Orlando SaVegas ■ CeUular Phones 3^05 Freedom Mall Suite 14 ■ (Bus) (704)394-3366 •Accessories Digital Pager (704)582-5153 30 DAYS FREE AIR TIME (Local) Pay No Activation Fee ■ Pay As Low As $9.95 Access MOTOROLA FLIP PHONES MonSai 10:00AM - 9:00PM • Sunday 1:00 pm • 6:00 PM Jetaktterboily- uieight loss s us to to * LOSE 8 20 POUNDS THIS MONTH EXCT.i .sivi; • effectim; • easy Boosts Energy • Burns Fat • Cuts Cravings • Slims & Trims Call: Jack McNair (704)376-1700 • IVIOINIiV BAC;1s. CilJA K a NTIili • FORD’S USED TIRES NEW XIRES WE SALUTE BLACK HISTORY MONTH • Brake Job - Labor $25.00 • Oil Change • Labor $17.95 3401 Tuckaseegee Rd. Charlotte, NC 28208 (704)393-1109 • N.C. State Inspection 1222 Central Ave. Charlotte, NC 28204 (704)377-0870 Gertrude McMillian bathing niece Edwynna Pharr, 1925 time of some civil equality for blacks, as enforced by. Federal troops and the Freedmen’s Bureau, it was not a time of social equality; blacks were relegated to second-class citi zenship and were barred from white social institutions. As a result of segregation and because of their own sense of peoplehood which followed emancipation, blacks created their own unique communi ties. In some respects, these communities mirrored white community; schools, churches, libraries and businesses sprang up quickly. Yet black commnunities were unique, • reflecting the distinctive nature of the black experience. The black neighborhood grew in importance for its members, as the specter of Jim Crow began to appear on the hori zon at the turn of the century. Biddleviile Charlotte’s oldest surviving black neighborhood sprung up around Biddle Institute, now Johnson C. Smith University, a few miles west of downtown Charlotte. With the backing of the Northern Presbyterian Church, the Reverends S.C. Alexander and Willis L. Miller founded Biddle to train black preachers and teachers. It was originally housed in a building donated by the Freedmen’s Bureau on South Davidson Street in Second Ward. In 1868, Col. WR. Myers donated acres west of Charlotte for the college; the school was named Henry J. Biddle Memorial Institute after a donation made by Mrs. Henry J. Biddle in memory of her husband, who was killed in the Civil War. The college began operating at its present site in 1869. Soon a cluster of houses sprung up nearby, cre ating a separate village. Stephen Mattoon, a white Presbjderian minister, served as Biddle’s first president and in 1871 he purchased 55 acres of farmland across from the college on Beatties Ford Road. The Mattoons sold the land off in small parcels over the next 45 years to blacks who wanted to settle near the college. This tract was the beginning of Biddleviile. By the 1890s, it was a thriving community and in 1903 trolley service was extended to the village. In 1907, it was incorporated est concentration. Third Ward seems to have been the city’s most vital black neighborhood in the 1870s and 80s. In 1879, 54 percent of Third Ward’s population was black. Most lived in the West Morehead/Mint Street area. As a result of this heavy concen tration of black citizens, a number of community institu tions grew in this ward. Charlotte’s oldest black church, Clinton Chapel (AME Zion), was founded in May of 1865 and built on Mint Street See NEIGHBORHOODS Page 16A M-$-M Financial Services (Computerized Services For Businesses, Organizations And Individuals) TAX PREPARATION ’ • Set Up and Maintaiu Accounting; Systems • Prepare Financial Statements, Payrolls And Tax Reports • Traioing Accounting Office Pemmnel • • Secretarial Service • Copy Service • Electronic Tax Piling • • PRE-TAX PLANNING EOK 1997 • 1021 B Beatties Ford Hoad * (Tiarlotte, NC (704)377-4288 157 East Main Street, Suite 401 • Rock Hill, SC (803)324-2107 Let's Make Every Month Black History Month BREWINGTON'S HEATING k AIR CONDITIONING CO. 2332 Beatties Ford Road Charolotte, North Carolina 28216 FREE ESTIMATES On insinuation COMMERICAL & RESIDENTIAL FINANCING AVAILABLE (704)392-4680 FAX(704)392-9630 SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Cljarlotte (704) 376-0496 CdeSrating ‘Black BtisLOKy Black Lies, White Lies TONY BROWN Lessons Ln Living SUSAN B. TAYLOR Ditchdiggers Daughters YVONNE THORNTON, MD Lnvisible Life E. LYNN HARRIS The Watsons Go To Birmingham CHRISTOPHER PAUL CURTIS nihrougfi ^oo(^ NEWSST()N0 INTERNATIONAL = BOOKS - MAGAZINES - NEWSPAPERS 5622 - I2»S East Indepeiulenee 5,31-0199 AUTHENTIC sa AFFORDABLE AFRICAN K EUROPEAN APPAREL ETC. | 5630 Farm lonJ Lfv PO Box loSZS/ CkarlottC/ NIC p Charlotte’s First Authentic | And AFFORDABLE AFRICAN I And EUROPEAN Handcrafted j Awears And Accessories For Both Men And Women | • SPECIAL ORDERS • CUSTOM MADE WEARS • I We Have The Selection, Satisfacton, And The Best Service. I EMM jmmm s Texaco UCACUM RESTL'KANT McDonald's Albemarle Rd Albemarle Rd Prepare Own Tax Return? File Electronically with ^ E lectronic -CXV' 11 OFFERS: Flat Filing Fees Direct Deposit Lowest Guaranteed $28-- Federal ^7-- State (NC& SC) 10-17 Days (app.) • Refund Loans 1 - 4 Days (app.) ($34 Bank Fee) 537-9135 4949 Albermarle Rd. • M-F 10am - 7pm; Sat. 10am ■ 3pm KENNELL JACKSON: AMERICA IS ME To commemorate African-American History Month, Borders is pleased to bring author & Stanford University scholar Kennell Jackson to Charlotte for a special booksigning. ' AMERICA IS ME: A POPULAR HISTORY OF AFRICAN .AMERICANS by Professor Jackson, moves from the African origins of blacks in America right up to today and is a vibrant resource for everyone interested in the significant events and achievements of African- American culture, with engaging and accessible Q&A format. Tuesday, February 20th at 7:30PM. mm BORDERS' BOOKS* MUSIC- CAFE 3900 COLONY RD, CHARLOTTE (Next to Harris Teeter) 404-365-6261 Monday-Saturday 9AM - 11PM Sunday 11AM - TPM
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 15, 1996, edition 1
15
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75