Evolving Exhibits

Goodbye!

tefaulkenbury — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 19:36:45 +0000

Well, it’s been fun working in Special Collections at UNC Charlotte. I’ve been able to dig around in primary sources, create exhibits, and contribute to a dynamic department. Now, it’s time for me to move on to the next thing! Luckily for you, the exhibit pieces aren’t going anywhere! Special Collections is open every weekday…check it out!

Also, feel free to check out my web exhibits!

Race and Education in Charlotte

Presidential Visits to Charlotte

More from West Charlotte High School, 1971

tefaulkenbury — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 19:44:27 +0000

The class of 1971 at West Charlotte High School embraced their newly diversified school even as public clamor over busing continued. Many Charlotteans supported busing, and many others opposed the practice. The students, however, largely understood the significance behind the transition. They put it best in their own words:

“The Students of West Charlotte High School have been given a unique opportunity to show their commitment to change. As an all-black school, we saw the racial question from a unique vantage point. Now we are different, black and white – TOGETHER. There have been problems, but the important thing is integration worked.”

You can check out several issues of The Lion (West Charlotte HS Yearbook) at UNCC Special Collections.

Charlotte – “When the World Flipped”

tefaulkenbury — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 14:21:00 +0000

An interesting CNN article on Charlotte and the economic/demographic changes since 2007:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/06/06/census.charlotte/index.html?hpt=hp_bn1

West Charlotte High School, 1971

tefaulkenbury — Mon, 30 May 2011 15:27:09 +0000

One year later, in 1971, West Charlotte High School looked quite different. In 1970, the school continued to operate as a de facto segregated institute. In between that school year and the new one beginning in 1971, the Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education Supreme Court decision upended the long-standing racial boundaries in Charlotte’s public schools. The decision called for busing to be used a vehicle to integrate schools. Students would be bused across town to ensure racial diversity in schools (see previous posts for more detailed information).

The 1971 West Charlotte High School yearbook reflected the momentous change that took place over the last year. Rather than cling to the ways of the past, the students on the yearbook staff praised the integration of their school and viewed it as an important step on the path to achieving racial equality. They hoped their positive outlook would inspire their parents and the rest of Charlotte’s citizenry to embrace rather than reject busing as a means of school integration.

Below are some of the images taken from the West Charlotte High School 1971 Yearbook called The Lion. Enjoy! Next week I will post more great photos from the same yearbook.

West Charlotte High School, 1970

tefaulkenbury — Wed, 25 May 2011 14:40:33 +0000

In 1970, sixteen years after the Supreme Court declared segregated schools to be unconstitutional, West Charlotte High School, Second Ward High School, Myers Park High School, and every other school in the city continued to operate on a segregated basis. Although city leaders and school administrators in Charlotte and across the country slowly (very slowly) began to dismantle racial restrictions on schools allowing for students of any race to attend school together, schools remained segregated. In essence, it could be said that many schools desegregated, but had not yet integrated. The difference between the two words is not semantic, but rather speaks to the issue at the heart of the problem. School enrollment was based on neighborhood racial composition. So, the affluent and white area surrounding Myers Park dictated that Myers Park High School would continue to be dominantly white, even though technically, the school desegregated. That also meant that schools operating in African American areas of the city remained, largely, black schools. The problem, then, was that vast inequality still existed between black and white schools, even though the year was 1970 and all schools had theoretically desegregated. Black schools were often neglected physically and monetarily and the students lacked educational benefits that their fellow white students received on the other side of town.

So, what to do? How could this problem be fixed? The city could not uproot the entire population and integrate neighborhoods across the county. But at the same time, if left to its own devices, schools would never be integrated because neighborhoods were not integrated. Stay tuned for future blog posts to learn more….

For now, check out some of these images from the West Charlotte High School yearbook in 1970. The next year, in 1971, the students would look quite different…

“White” Schools and “Colored” Schools

tefaulkenbury — Wed, 11 May 2011 18:50:40 +0000

The Mary Boyer Postcard Collection at UNC Charlotte Special Collections contains hundreds of vintage postcards depicting buildings, scenes, and people from Charlotte, North Carolina. Among the postcards are several with images of Charlotte’s schools. As the previous post indicates, white schools held significant advantages over black schools. There were several white high schools, but only two black high schools. One was Second Ward HS (featured below) and the other was West Charlotte HS. WCHS continues to operate today, but Second Ward HS closed in 1969. Some of the “white” schools still stand, including Central HS which is now a part of the campus at CPCC.

Evidence of Inequality, Circa 1948

tefaulkenbury — Mon, 02 May 2011 18:47:24 +0000

In 1948, the local NAACP commissioned Dr. Martin D. Jenkins from Howard University to conduct a survey of Charlotte’s public schools. At that time, it was noticeable to all that black schools lagged far behind the county’s white schools. With better facilities, more subjects, more teachers, less students, and more funds, “white” schools held many advantages over African American schools. Conservatives denied that terrible inequalities existed and maintained that schools were “separate, but equal.” Before the Brown decision came six years later, schools operated on a segregated and unequal basis. Dr. Jenkins investigated these conditions and wrote a detailed report of his findings.

Listed below are two tables that depict certain differences between white and black schools. This evidence helped identify specific evidence for how segregation hurt black schools and students. The entire report can be found at UNCC Special Collections here.

“Integration is for Fools and Swindlers…”

tefaulkenbury — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:15:46 +0000

White supremacy has a long history in North Carolina. As the schools began to desegregate in 1957, and as the debate intensified in the late 1960s over busing to integrate schools, some resistance was more inflammatory than others. The Ku Klux Klan hated the idea of integrated schooling and resisted it across the South. Though perceived as a racist and violent group by most, this fringe group still received attention as the debate continued.

At UNCC Special Collections, the papers of Robert E. Scoggin hold many publications, documents, and other primary source materials related to the KKK. Scoggin was a member of the South Carolina KKK and served as Imperial Dragon for a time. His collection is a useful resource for anyone interested in white supremacist literature during the civil rights era.

This magazine spread is from the Fiery Cross, the KKK news publication. May 1969.

Maybe Standing Up Will Help…

tefaulkenbury — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 20:34:27 +0000

Just today, I began to explore more of the Harry Golden Papers at UNCC Special Collections…and I found some neat stuff! The Golden Papers constitute the largest collection held at the university. If you’re looking for some good primary source materials to dig into, I highly recommend the Golden Papers.

Harry Golden seemingly had his hand in every important issue of his day. He actively supported civil rights during the mid-twentieth century and wrote several books on the subject. Along with his many published books, he edited The Carolina Israelite and involved himself in Democratic politics. He knew everyone and it it appears that everyone knew him (maybe not everyone, but many people worth knowing!).

Based on a tip from our Special Collections Librarian, I looked into the famous “Golden Vertical Negro Plan” for part of my research. I had heard of this before, but not in great detail. I found the original Carolina Israelite this famous satire appeared and found the contents fascinating. In 1956, with the Brown v. Board of Education decision fresh on everyone’s mind in North Carolina, Governor Luther Hodges used stalling tactics to keep the state’s schools from allowing black children to attend school with white children. The Pearsall Plan, which was discussed in an earlier blog, was the means by which this could be “legally” accommodated.” Golden saw through the hypocrisy and formed his own “plan” that would solve the problem and allow for pain-free desegregation.

Golden noted that whenever blacks and whites stood together, there seemed to be no problem. Whether it was standing in line at the store, the bank, or anywhere in society, Golden pointed out that rarely did trouble ensue when different people simply “stood” together. It was only when African Americans tried sitting down somewhere when white feathers ruffled. So for school integration to work, Golden proposed that all desks be removed so that children would stand to learn all day, every day. Standing beside one another, as Golden saw it, would naturally end all the trouble of desegregation since black and white children would not be seated next to each other. “Since no one in the South pays the slightest attention to a VERTICAL NEGRO, this will completely solve our problem.”

A la Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” Golden used satire to illuminate and poke fun at the race question in North Carolina’s public schools.

Below, you can read the original piece. The left edge is cut off because the paper on that side cannot be scanned without damaging the paper in the bound volume. The original exists in the Harry Golden Papers at UNCC Special Collections.

Of Cartoons and Caricatures

tefaulkenbury — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 17:20:43 +0000

Segregation, school integration, and other contentious issues gripped Charlotte and the rest of the South for decades. Opinions were varied and widespread; some were thoughtful and others hateful. Eugene Payne, the political cartoonist for the Charlotte Observer during much of the era, documented the local atmosphere through his work. He often satirized the ongoing debates on segregation, especially relating to the local school board. Through his wit, imagination, and sharp understanding of deeper meanings, Payne’s work adds to the scholarship and documentation that helps to classify this important period in Charlotte’s history.

These original sketches can be found in the Eugene Payne Cartoon Collection at UNC Charlotte Special Collections.