Advanced Search
Johnson C. Smith students protest the deaths of three students. Johnson C. Smith students burn an effigy of South Carolina's governor to protest the deaths of three students in Orangeburg, SC.
April 4, 1968 - Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee by James Earl Ray. Marchers demonstrate in downtown Charlotte after King's death.
1968 - Jackie Harrison graduates from predominantly white Harding High School.
Second Ward High was established as Charlotte’s first black high school in 1923. It served grades 7-12. Teenagers from all over the county attended the school until West Charlotte High School was built in 1938. The school was closed in 1969 as part of the city’s integration plan.
The fence dividing Elmwood Cemetery is taken down. The fence dividing Elmwood Cemetery into separate black and white sections is taken down. The only black city council member, Fred Alexander, leads the fight to bring down the fence that separates black and white people even in death.
York Road High School was completed in 1956, the last all-black school constructed. The school was never actually located on York Road, but it was given this name so that people could find it. It began as a junior high, but added grades until it became a senior high in 1959.
J. H. Gunn School served children and adolescents in the eastern part of Mecklenburg County. It housed students from first grade to graduation. Closed for a period, it was reopened as J. H. Gunn Elementary School.
Plato Price School served children and adolescents in the western part of Mecklenburg County. It housed students from first grade to graduation. The school was closed as part of the school system’s integration plan, and the building was eventually torn down.
May 1969 - The Concerned Parents Association responds to the integration ruling.
Sterling School began as Pineville Colored School and served students in southern Mecklenburg County. By 1958, the name had been changed to Sterling School. The school still operates today as Sterling Elementary School.
Torrence-Lytle School served the children and adolescents in the northern part of Mecklenburg County. It housed students from first grade to graduation. The building is now the site of the David Waymer Center, a recreational facility that is managed by the Parks and Recreation Department.
This decade ushers in the conclusion of the emotionally-charged school desegregation plan in Charlotte. Watch Judge McMillan discuss the impact desegregation has had on the Charlotte community and how the Chambers family was affected by the Swann case.
January 1, 1970 - New Year's Dinner with Anita Stroud. Anita Stroud continues her work serving New Year’s Eve dinner to "her children."
Rev. Colemon Kerry, Jr., pastor of Friendship Baptist Church, is defeated in the Charlotte Mecklenburg School Board election by anti-busing opponents. He was the first and only black member to serve on the board, having been appointed in the late 1960s to fill a vacancy.
June 20, 1970 - The House of Prayer on McDowell St. is torn down as part of urban renewal in Second Ward.
July 5, 1970 - Rev. Colemon Kerry, Jr., leads the dedication of the new Friendship Baptist Church on Beatties Ford Road.
July 1970 - Second Ward High School, the first high school for black children in the county, is demolished as part of urban renewal.
September 1970 - First pairing of a black and a white police officer as partners.
Black policemen had received full status in 1949.
In 1970 black policemen are paired with white partners for the first time.
