Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers (Part 1)
Reinventing Charlotte and the Carolina Piedmont in the New South (After the Civil War, the South began to rebuild its economy and society which began to shape our New South.)
Overview
"Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers:Reinventing Charlotte and the Carolina Piedmont in the New South" is a multi-sensory, multimedia, interactive, permanent exhibition featuring the stories of all the people who have shaped the “New South” since the Civil War. Even as the dust from conflict was settling, Southerners began creating a “New South” and re-inventing the Southern economy and society. The core exhibition features five “environments” that portray some of the New South’s major re-inventions over the past century-and-a-half. Each environment is separated into parts for your enjoyment. This virtual exhibit is Part 1.
Farming Transformed, 1860s-1920s
At the end of the Civil War, slavery was outlawed and replaced by a new farm system called sharecropping. Newly freed African Americans and poor whites farmed for very low wages. Everyone in a sharecropping family worked to make ends meet. During this time, African Americans gained new rights with the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. Some white southerners used local laws, intimidation, and violence as a way to keep African Americans from exercising their rights.
Cotton Gin & SharecroppersLevine Museum of the New South
"Cotton was king" in the Charlotte area, and the cotton gin revolutionized the cotton industry. Before the cotton gin's invention, it would take someone 10 hours to take the seeds out of 1 pound of cotton. Machines like this can churn out a 1,000 pounds a day.
Senator F.A. Clinton's DeskLevine Museum of the New South
Following the civil war, African American men gained the right to vote and hold office. Senator Frederick Albert (F.A.) Clinton was the first Black man to serve in the South Carolina Senate from 1868 to 1877. This is his desk.
Birth of a NationLevine Museum of the New South
Racist backlash to the progress of African Americans manifested itself in the form of violent terrorist hate groups. The Birth of a Nation was a 1915 silent film which depicted racial stereotypes in history and was considered a driving force behind the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan.
Ku Klux Klan RobeLevine Museum of the New South
A symbol of organized hate during this period is found in this robe owned by Ku Klux Klan grand dragon, Robert E. Scoggin.
