Charlotte's Brooklyn: The Storytellers
Listen to a few of the voices of those who remember Charlotte's Brooklyn. Their memories and perspectives paint a vivid picture of what was lost through urban renewal.
Once a City within a City.
The Brooklyn exhibit at the Museum uses augmented reality to bring to life the voices of those who once called Brooklyn home, and some of those voices are shared with you here. Explore the rise and demise of Charlotte’s Brooklyn neighborhood, once the most thriving and vibrant black community in the Carolinas. The exhibit spans the origins of the neighborhood in the 1800s, through its destruction by urban renewal in the 1960s and current conversations around redevelopment. This exhibit will help visitors understand the politics that further segregated the city and created the economic opportunity gap that Charlotte continues to struggle with today. What lessons can be learned from the destruction of Brooklyn and how can we use those lessons to build a more equitable future?
Brooklyn was . . .Levine Museum of the New South
Brooklyn was . . . Home to schools, churches, civic organizations, black-owned businesses, and thousands of families, Brooklyn was the cultural and economic epicenter of black Charlotte. From the late 1800s through the 1960s, this city within a city provided opportunity and sanctuary for African Americans in a segregated South.
Second WardLevine Museum of the New South
Second Ward High School opened as Mecklenburg County’s first black high school in 1923. During urban renewal, local leaders discussed converting the facility into a magnet school, but following court-ordered desegregation, the school board closed the school rather than integrate it. Fifty years later, Second Ward High School remains a source of pride among community members.
Grace AME Zion ChurchLevine Museum of the New South
Grace AME Zion Church – The Last Vestige of Brooklyn. Founded in 1886, Grace AME Zion Church is one of only four buildings that remain from Brooklyn. Squeezed out of uptown, the congregation held its last service in the 117-year-old church in June 2006, before relocating to the University City area. Use the AR app to hear church members Karen Dixon, David Haygood, Clara Lewis, and James McClellan share their memories of this historic site.
Displacing a CommunityLevine Museum of the New South
Dismantling a Neighborhood. Despite Brooklyn’s affluence, it was the poverty, health concerns, and crime that captured the headlines as city officials called for the neighborhood’s demolition. White-collar workers commuting from Myers Park and other upper-class white suburbs had to drive by Brooklyn every day on their way to and from uptown. By 1957, Brooklyn had become an “eyesore” city officials decided they could not ignore.
Looking to the FutureLevine Museum of the New South
The Legacy and Future. Efforts to keep the soul of Brooklyn alive began as urban renewal ended. Discussions around redevelopment and restorative justice are occurring in real time.
Brooklyn Visitor WallLevine Museum of the New South
A Levine Museum practice, we collect the impression, views and opinions of our visitors everyday in hopes to continue the dialogue and build community through truth and understanding.
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