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1967 - The Charlotte Redevelopment Authority begins the demolition of First Ward. Some residents move to traditionally black neighborhoods.
Alexander Street School was opened around 1918 to serve the children of the uptown neighborhood of First Ward. The school was closed in 1968 and converted into the Alexander Street Neighborhood Center, run by the City of Charlotte.
June 3, 1972 - Phil Berry is the first black to be elected to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board.
A local banker, Berry will become board chair four years later.
Earlier Rev. Colemon Kerry had been appointed to the board, but lost when he ran for a seat.
1973 - Leroy "Pop" Miller becomes the first black principal at formerly all-white East Mecklenburg High School. He becomes as beloved at East Mecklenburg High School as he was at West Charlotte.
November 1979 - Ron Leeper is elected to the city council.
September 6, 1992 - The Carolina Panthers become Charlotte’s football team.
November 3, 1992 - Watt and Clayton are elected to Congress.
November 3, 1992 - Jackie Harrison Barrett becomes the first African American woman to be elected sheriff.
January 18, 1993 - Thereasea Elder is awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. Medallion (award).
June 28, 1993 - "Light for Justice" candlelight vigil held at Marshall Park.
A number of Charlotte's anti-crime organizations come together with politicians, police officials, ministers, and residents to hold a "Light for Justice" candlelight vigil at Marshall Park.
Late 1996 - Protests erupt over the shooting of James Willie Cooper.
January 5, 1997 - The Panthers beat Dallas in the NFC Divisional Playoffs.
April 20, 1997 - The Beatties Ford Road Branch of the Public Library is opened.
May 22, 1990 Rev. George Battle visited a Charlotte-Mecklenburg student who had been hurt in a school bus wreck. A long-time school board member, Battle served as head of that board for many years while he continued to lead Gethsemane AME Zion Church.
Matthew M. Peek, MA, CA
Military Collection Archivist, Special Collections Section, State Archives
NC Dept. of Natural and Cultural Resources