Next Step:

Get Arnolds schedule so we can go to Carolina Room and note key information
Bus to Main Library, Carolina Room:
The 11 bus NO LONGER runs through UNCC as of October
1) My Location University of North Carolina at Charlotte: Main Office, Charlotte, NC
Walk 0.6 mi 12 mins to UNCC- Mary Alexander Rd & Van Landingham Rd
2) 11 towards Inbound10:32 AM - 11:16 AM
Tryon St & 6th St 310 N Tryon St, Charlotte, NC 28202
Links to get started:
Subject Librarian: Amanda Binder
Cat Runden: compliance specialist IRB (crunden@uncc.edu)
City Data - Washington Heights (Statistics)
http://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/Washington-Heights-Charlotte-NC.html
map of neighborhood (centered around park)
population: 1,541
overwhelmingly African American citizens
Regional Links to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Area (compilation of lists of links)
http://www.meckdec.org/links
Washington Heights Kids Friendly Page
http://www.cmhpf.org/kids/neighborhoods/WashHts.html
Began as a streetcar suburb not an inner city neighborhood for middle-income black
residents. C.H. Watson in 1910s and the importance of electric trolley. Advertisements
for suburbs , people drawn to Independence Park, architects John Nolen and the
Olmsted Brothers. No zoning laws, but suburbs meant to not have any factories near
them- but only for members of the Caucasian race. Rising black middle class desired
benefits of living in suburbs.
Biddle University, later Johnson C. Smith university.
June 10, 1913, Freehold Realty used former farmland to lay out suburbs of what would
become Washington Heights, supposedly in honor of educator Booker T. Washington.
Davis Avenue (renamed Dundeen Street)- for Charlotees pioneer black professor Dr.
George E. Davis. Tate Street- black Charlotte barber and community leader, Thad L.
Tate. Sanders Avenue- for either J.T. Sanders or Dr. D.J Sanders (who had just
completed tenure as first black president of Biddle University). Douglas Street for
abolitionist Frederick Douglas.
Freehold Realty sold the suburb through services of C.H. Watson. He was one of
Charlottes black leaders involved in trying to get the government to create a reform
school for delinquent black youth. 1915, he organized massive celebration for

anniversary of end of civil war and slavery The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Freedom of
the Negro in the County of Mecklenburg and the City of Charlotte, North Carolina"
Neighborhood Website
http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/Historic_Washington_Heights
its vision is to make a friendly neighborhood that allows access to various businesses
and other opportunities outside of the suburb (used to be a street-car suburb)
Neighborhoods in Charlotte (also online version)
http://uncc.worldcat.org/title/neighborhoods-in-charlotte/oclc/4800127&referer=brief_results
Charlotte: Its historic neighborhoods
http://uncc.worldcat.org/title/charlotte-its-historicneighborhoods/oclc/36319938&referer=brief_results
Sorting out the New South City: Charlotte and its Neighborhoods
http://uncc.worldcat.org/title/sorting-out-the-new-south-city-charlotte-and-itsneighborhoods/oclc/31514176&referer=brief_results
New towns for old : achievements in civic improvement in some American small towns and
neighborhoods
http://uncc.worldcat.org/title/new-towns-for-old-achievements-in-civic-improvement-in-someamerican-small-towns-and-neighborhoods/oclc/246000&referer=brief_results
An African American album : the Black experience in Charlotte and Mecklenberg County
http://uncc.worldcat.org/title/african-american-album-the-black-experience-in-charlotte-andmecklenberg-county/oclc/28181350&referer=brief_results
More Research Online Archives
http://www.ncdcr.gov/archives/Public/DigitalCollectionsandPublications.aspx
Journals that mention Washington Heights
http://library.digitalnc.org/cdm/search/searchterm/washington%20heights/field//mode/any/conn/a
nd/order/datea
Carolina Room Information
Washington Heights Neighborhood Plan, adopted by Charlotte City Council 25th February 2002
first street car suburb designed for middle income black Charlotte residents
June 10, 1913: plat map was recorded by Freehold Realty Company
changed from Elizabeth Heights to Washington Heights in honor of Booker T
Washington (national black leader)
Highest point in Charlotte, thus Washington Heights
Late 1930s- Early 1940s: Beatties Ford bursted with commercial activity

these were close to the terminus of the streetcars so it was called The End
1938: the streetcars stopped
Businesses placed in old homes is an unique characteristic of Beatties Ford
Road Corridor

Charlotte and Its Neighborhoods by Tom Hanchett

*note that this text is the same as the text on the kids Washington Heights website
Not an inner city neighborhood but a streetcar suburb
There were some two dozen black college professors and public school principals.
Chief among them were Dr. George E. Davis, who had been the first black teacher at
Biddle University in the city, and Dr. Henry L. McCrory, the institution's energetic young
president. Both also invested in real estate. The city also boasted eighty-seven black
ministers, and a dozen black doctors, many of whom helped staff black Good Samaritan
Hospital.
C.H. Watson planned the The 15th Anniversary of the Freedom of the Negro in the
County of Mecklenburg and the City of Charlotte, North Carolina
He also wrote the book Colored CHarlotte
Sorting out the new south city: Charlotte and Its Neighborhoods by Tom Hanchett
Jim Crow laws impacted the shaping and segregation between white and black
neighborhoods
Edward Dilworth Latta said in 1903 that blacks have no place for recreation; the whites
have places like Academy of Music, courthouse, etc; so he would make a small picnic
for black people on some company-owned land at the end of its trolley line
He didnt do this out oc the complete goodness in his heart; since 1891 the
Dilworth pleasure ground had been shared by both races and the whites wanted
the blacks out in 1903
March 9, 1907: segregated seating on all trolleys throughout NC
Homes were eagerly bought, purchasers were mainly black middle-class like JM and
Bessie Springs (owner of downtown tailoring and cleaning)
1910s: Lethia Jones bought 3 lots to rent and 1 for herself; she was one of the citys
leading business women (in charge of Charlottes first beauty salon that served while
people)
Many people bought land as investment and lived elsewhere
1931: some residents worked for the Southern Railway Company (railroad work was
important for blacks as they had job security, pay scales, and the chance to travel)
Many of the current buildings in the neighborhood were standing since the 1910s 1920s
other black communities started popping up around Washington Heights like
Douglasville
Blacks in the neighborhoods seemed to have little class segregation

What we need now for our Prezi:

current pics of neighborhood

pics of historians or others who helped
Old Excelsior club pics/ WH pics
Photo of neighborhood sign
images of documents
clip or recorded interview with Mattie Marshall