The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library is excited to honor the historical and cultural contributions of African Americans to American History during the month of February and beyond.

Black History Month was officially granted national recognition in 1976 by President Gerald Ford as an evolution of Negro History Week, founded in 1926 by American historian and educator Carter Godwin Woodson and celebrated annually during the second week of February. The purpose of Negro History Week was to bring attention to and give everlasting life to the significant contributions of African Americans who have been seemingly underrepresented or omitted from conversations that influenced American history. Carter said, “If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated.”

Today, Black History Month lives on as a vibrant commemoration of the excellence and achievement of African Americans past and present.

The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library invites you to join in Black History Month celebrations in the following ways:

1. Attend a Black History Month event
Enjoy many educational and fun family-friendly events at our branches throughout the month of February. Find an event near you here.

2. Join the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room group on Facebook
The Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library's special collection of historical and genealogical resources, is committed to posting daily about lesser known and notable black Charlotteans throughout the month of February.  Keep up with their current features here.

3. Just keep reading
Looking for black history reads for children, teens, young adults or adults? We have you covered. At Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, there is a list for everybody, and we challenge you to read one to five African American books this month.

4. Create with books at Jam to Jazz Storytime
Head over to University City Regional Library on February 24, 2020 from 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. to listen to stories and extend learning through a variety of hands-on activities. Attendees can make their own instruments to play along with the Storytime band! Learn more.

5. Test your Black History Month knowledge (teens only)
No adults allowed! Teens are invited to the new South Boulevard Library on Thursday, February 27, 2020 from 6-7 p.m. to enjoy snacks and trivia on famous black inventors, modern icons and popular culture. Register here.

To find a complete list of the Library’s Black History Month events, click here.

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Citations:
“This is How February Became Black History Month” by Julia Zorthian, Time.com

Celebration of women’s contributions to and successes in American history was first observed in Sonoma, California’s school district in 1978. The celebration consisted of  week-long festivities that included a parade and a “Real Woman” essay contest that recognized women’s achievements in culture, history and society.  

By 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued a presidential proclamation declaring the first week of March as National Women’s History Week. The following year, the U.S. Congress established National Women’s Week as a national celebration. In 1987, the National Women's History Project petitioned for a month-long celebration, which the organization was successfully granted. 

International Women’s Day has been observed since 1911 and sponsored by the United Nations since 1975. 

View scan of "Story of That Suffrage Float" article from the November 1, 1914 Charlotte Observer

View "Some of N.C.'s First Women to Vote Look Back" article from the August 20, 1995 Charlotte Observer

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Citations:

“Women’s History Month.” History.com. Accessed February 2020. https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/womens-history-month 

Library Branch Channel Leader and Interim Director of Libraries, Dana Eure, made a guest appearance on WCNC's Charlotte Today on Thursday, February 13, 2020 and shared six titles on the theme “Romance is in the air.” 

CLICK HERE TO SEARCH TITLES

Adult fiction

Intercepted by Alexa Martin

Marlee thought she scored the man of her dreams only to be scorched by a bad breakup. But there's a new player on the horizon, and he's in a league of his own... Marlee Harper is the perfect girlfriend. She's definitely had enough practice by dating her NFL-star boyfriend for the last ten years. But when she discovers he has been tackling other women on the sly, she vows to never date an athlete again. There's just one problem: Gavin Pope, the new hotshot quarterback and a fling from the past, has Marlee in his sights. Gavin fights to show Marlee he's nothing like her ex. Unfortunately, not everyone is ready to let her escape her past. The team's wives, who never led the welcome wagon, are not happy with Marlee's return. They have only one thing on their minds: taking her down. But when the gossip makes Marlee public enemy number one, she worries about more than just her reputation. Between their own fumbles and the wicked wives, it will take a Hail Mary for Marlee and Gavin's relationship to survive the season.
 

Tempest by Beverly Jenkins

Dr. Colton Lee, a physician in the Wyoming Territory, discovers that his mail-order bride is not only a competent and independent frontierswoman, but a good shot as well.
 

Adult nonfiction

The More or Less Definitive Guide to Self-Care by Anna Borges

An A to Z, mental health-centric handbook that distills the "self-care internet" to four distinctive realms of self-care: physical, mental, social, and spiritual.
 

Young Adult fiction

Frankly in Love by David Yoon

High school senior Frank Li takes a risk to go after a girl his parents would never approve of, but his plans will leave him wondering if he ever really understood love--or himself--at all"—
 

Youth fiction

I am Love: A Book of Compassion by Susan Verde

Explores many aspects of love that can help one weather any storm, including that love is comfort, effort, connection, and taking care of oneself.
 

Love and the Rocking Chair by Leo Dillon

Before the baby arrives, a couple orders a rocking chair, and as the family grows and changes, the rocking chair is always there, a center of love and continuity.

“Would you like to live in the United States?” my fiancé asked me over the phone. I knew he had a job interview that morning and I didn't want to wait until our lunch date to hear how it had gone. But I was not expecting that question.

“Can they wait until after the wedding?” I inquired. 

Our wedding was less than 3 months away so, in my defense, it was the biggest thing on my mind at the time. We had already started renting the place we would eventually move into! But at that point, the question felt more like a dare than a life question. I’ve always loved a good challenge and traveling so I thought, why not?

In retrospect, when you face a question like that, it is easy to get carried away imagining all the opportunities you will get and skimp over the things that you will miss: your family, your job--not just your job, but being able to work and having people to talk to. Things that truly matter to you. 

I thought about that a lot my first November in the U.S., when the holiday blues took over me. As usual, it was my mom who presented a solution. “Is there a library over there? Maybe there’s a book club or something you could join,” she suggested. I looked into it and took it as a sign when I saw the one book I brought with me to the States was the next one that Main Library’s Book Club would discuss the following week. Again, I asked myself, “Why not?”

The day of the book club meeting, I jumped onto a bus and found myself surrounded by cheerful, welcoming people a few hours later. They were passionately sharing their thoughts about the book we’d been reading. This was what I’d been missing.

Over the next 18 months, I travelled around the States with my husband and his job. I collected eight different library cards along the way. I read everything I wanted that I initially thought I didn’t have time for. I read to learn which values are closest to this country’s heart. I read to have access to the stories of people I hadn’t yet encountered. I fell in love with the library and, to this day, it remains, in my opinion, one of the best things about America.

Eventually, we returned permanently to Charlotte. When it was time to find an apartment, we decided on one that had a Library within walking distance. I was able to join a new book club and return to my original book club as well.

Making friends as an adult isn’t easy, but I encourage anyone who is looking to try a library book club. There’s something about discussing the inner lives of fictional characters that brings out the truest of ourselves, and that’s when we really connect. What I learned about America while reading by myself I could now test. I could ask questions out loud and laugh about things with people that weren’t judgmental—as I was afraid they might be—but eager to teach me and welcome my “outsider” perspective. 

I began building confidence. It took some months, but I eventually received my employment authorization. I started applying for jobs, then applying arnica gel on my ego every time I didn’t get a callback. "It’s tricky when nobody recognizes the name of your college," I told myself. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself,” my mom told me. “If getting out of the house is what you need, then volunteer,” she added. So, I did.

I started volunteering in a Tech-Tutor position at the Sugar Creek Library branch. While I wasn’t making money from volunteering, I can’t describe what feeling useful outside the house again did for my emotional and mental wellbeing. I didn’t last long volunteering, though. Shortly after that, I finally received a call offering me a staff position with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. 

In a way, it’s come full-circle and, today, I get to give back a little of the plenty I’ve received from the Library. My favorite thing about working for the Library is, after helping people find the information they need, giving them a hand navigating a job or college application website, or connecting newcomers with an English conversation club where they can practice a new language without feeling ashamed of their accent, is telling them, “Yes, this is your Library. Come and make the best use of it -- it’s free and we’re here for you.”

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This blog was written by and posted with permission by Alex Ibarra, library services specialist, of Charlotte Mecklenburg Library's Mountain Island branch.​

Children's Services Leader, Jesse Isley, made a guest appearance on WCNC's Charlotte Today on Monday, August 5, 2019 and shared six back-to-school titles for kids, teens and adults. 

Click here to search titles

Children’s picture books:

Your First Day of Circus School by Tara Lazar, illustrated by Melissa Crowton

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages! It's the most amazing day on earth: the first day of school! It can be a daunting prospect, but don't worry - your big brother can show you the ropes. Join a nervous boy and his enthusiastic older brother as they navigate the highs and lows of a first day at school . . . except this school is a big top, and the teacher is named Miss Stupendous, and the cafeteria can be a zoo, literally! It turns out, school isn't so scary when you can let off steam during recess (on a steam train) and walk on stilts to all of your classes. With a bit of help from family and some new friends, you'll make it to the top of the class in no time! This charming take on school readiness will delight new school-goers and take a bit of the fear out of those first-day jitters.

Back to School with Bigfoot by Samantha Berger and Martha Brockenbrough

The school year is about to start, and Bigfoot is worried about all the things that could go wrong--but he also remembers that all his friends will be there.

Youth fiction:

Mia Mayhem vs. the Super Bully by Kara West

Mia is excited about her first superspeed training class, but a bully on her relay team leads her to lose her shadow and, worse, to snap at her friends.

Teen fiction:

Panic by Lauren Oliver

In the poor town of Carp, New York, a group of teens enters a high-stakes game that involves a series of secretive, possibly deadly challenges throughout the summer, with the winner receiving more than $50,000--enough money to start a new life.

Adult fiction:

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

A darkly funny coming-of-age novel and a richly plotted suspense tale told through the distinctive voice of its heroine, Blue van Meer. After a childhood moving from one academic outpost to another with her father (a man prone to aphorisms and meteoric affairs), Blue is clever, deadpan, and possessed of a vast lexicon of literary, political, philosophical, and scientific knowledge--and is quite the cinéaste to boot. In her final year of high school at the élite (and unusual) St. Gallway School in Stockton, North Carolina, Blue falls in with a charismatic group of friends and their captivating teacher, Hannah Schneider. But when the drowning of one of Hannah's friends and the shocking death of Hannah herself lead to a confluence of mysteries, Blue is left to make sense of it all with only her gimlet-eyed instincts and cultural references to guide--or misguide—her.

From radios in cars and TVs in restaurants comes the sound of baseball – the buzz of the crowd, the call of a vendor, the crack of the bat. In the 300 block of South Graham St., the wall of Truist Field (formerly BB&T BallPark) runs right along the sidewalk. Four images are painted on it in commemoration of past Charlotte baseball teams and fields.



Latta Park

A playing area for baseball was cleared in Dilworth, Charlotte’s first suburb.

The Charlotte Baseball Club challenged amateur clubs from other cities to games in Charlotte and accepted challenges from other towns. The team’s poor performance one year prompted this sardonic boast in the May 13, 1892 Observer: “There are people who say it can beat the Pineville nine, that is, if Pineville has a nine.”

Wearn Field/Hayman Park

The Wearn name commemorates a whole family. Joseph Henry Wearn and Company were in the lumber business. Members of the family formed “the Wearn Nine” as an amateur team. J. H. Wearn (1861-1936) became

president of the first professional team in Charlotte and the field was named after him. The league it belonged to folded in 1917.

“Hayman” refers to Felix Hayman, the son of German-Jewish immigrants who, like his father, was a butcher (the family name was sometimes listed without the first “A,” indicating that the first syllable was pronounced with a long “I” sound). He restarted minor-league baseball in Charlotte by organizing the team for the South Atlantic, or “Sally,” League in 1919. Years after his death in 1932, people told stories about his baseball sense, his business flair and his charity work. The story goes that Felix once traded a turkey from his butcher shop for a player (Charlotte Observer, February 1, 1931, Sec.1, p.8).

 

Clark Griffith Park/Jim Crockett Memorial Park

In 1941, the Charlotte Hornets were acquired by Clark Griffith, owner of the Washington Senators, and began to play in a new stadium on 400 Magnolia Ave. in Dilworth. The Senators became the Twins and they pulled their minor league team out of Charlotte in 1972.

Charlotte went three seasons without a professional baseball team until the Baltimore Orioles relocated their AA farm team here in 1976. The stadium changed its name following the death of Jim Crockett, who had brought the team to Charlotte. His daughter, Frances Crockett, ran the team until 1987, seeing it through a fire that destroyed the wooden stadium in March of 1985. The Crocketts sold the team in 1987, which changed its name to the Charlotte Knights and moved to play in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

Buster Sloan served as groundskeeper at Griffith Park from its opening until his death in 1978. Sloan and family lived in an apartment under the bleachers. Fans could smell the chicken frying on their stove (Charlotte Observer, June 27, 1978).

Knights Stadium

Beginning in 1990, the Charlotte Knights began play in Knights Stadium in Fort Mill. In 1997, the team began its association with the Chicago White Sox and moved up to AAA affiliation, which remained the case to the end of their time in Fort Mill and into the uptown era as well.

Other Teams

Up to 1976, all these teams were called the “Charlotte Hornets,” and up to 1954, they fielded white players only. African American baseball players organized their own teams as early as 1876. (Charlotte Observer, July 2, 1876, p.4) The “Brown Hornets” shared Griffith Park with the other Hornets. Textile mill workers also organized their own baseball teams and leagues. The story of their so-called “Outlaw” League is told in an online exhibit of materials from the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.

Want to learn more about baseball in North Carolina? The Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room has the Hank Utley Baseball Collection. In this collection you will find interesting documents and artifacts that were used in Utley’s book about the notorious “Outlaw” baseball league that formed in the late 1930s. There are newspaper clippings, interviews, biographies, statistics and photographs/negatives.

Midwood Elementary School was founded in 1934 and was located on 1817 Central Ave. in Charlotte, North Carolina. Midwood Elementary reached its prime years during the 1950s with 1,000 students enrolled. Several decades later in 1983, the school began to fall into disrepair and closed. After a 1985 arson fire at Albemarle Elementary, seventy workers brought Midwood Elementary back up to code in a speedy three days so children could attend a relatively-local school.

 

                               Midwood Elementary School, 1935

               Courtesy of the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room

Midwood Elementary School, 2019

Courtesy of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmark Commission

By the early 2000s, Midwood Elementary was an alternative school for students who dropped out of traditional schools for academic or personal reasons. Another part of the building served as a hot lunch program for the elderly and was also home to Teenage Age Parents Services (TAPS), a group dedicated to keeping pregnant teen girls in school.

                                     Midwood Elementary School

                                Drum and Bugle Corps, 1938-1939

               Courtesy of the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room

 

In 2012, the former Midwood Elementary School building became home to the International House. Founded by the Charlotte Area Clergy Association as the Community College and International Ministry of Charlotte, Inc. in 1981, the organization changed its name to “International House” in 1989. International House opened a multicultural campus to house Language Academy, League of Women Voters and All Ethiopian Community Center, among others. These organizations provided a variety of services, including direct services such as foreign-language conversation hours, cultural events, citizen workshops and legal services, to Charlotte’s growing international population.



 

         Midwood Elementary School, Miss Marion Price and her

               Kindergarten Group, Sponsored by our PTA, 1958.

              Courtesy of the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room

This scrapbook provides patrons a look back at Midwood Elementary during its active years. Clippings celebrate student and staff achievements and thank you notes show how much Midwood’s teachers were appreciated.

To learn more about Midwood Elementary, the Midwood scrapbook, and our other collections, please visit us at www.cmstory.org/ or on the third floor of Main Library.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

On Friday, July 26, deserving middle and high school students in the Charlotte community had the opportunity to consider that question on a larger scale. Students who participated in the “Bigger than High School” event hosted at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s (UNCC) Cato College of Education were able to explore and discuss various career options with professionals in rotating five-minute increments. Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Outreach Coordinator Jasmine McNeil partnered with Jimmeka Anderson with the Urban Education Collaborative, at UNCC to bring the event to life, hoping to spark excitement and curiosity in local students about their futures.

Program participants were challenged to think about life beyond high school and were introduced to African American business professionals who represented a variety of careers from leadership in the banking industry and educational leadership to social work, marketing, communications and even the possibility of serving the community as a librarian, through speed mentoring. The youth were also able to ask questions to panels of African American PhD students, UNCC undergrad students, participated in a tour of the campus and so much more.

Parents and guardians of program participants attended parent sessions where they learned about financial aid, Library resources, College 101 and spoke with a high school guidance counselor. One parent noted that the Library resources session was her favorite of the day because she wasn’t aware of all the tools the library had to offer. Other speakers, parents and guardians stated this event was helpful and something they wish they could’ve experienced when they were younger.

As a keepsake, students received take-home booklets with a yearbook theme.

The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Outreach Department would like to give a special thanks to the Library staff that participated and demonstrated several of the Library’s FOREWARD culture principles such as WE OVER ME, LOVE WHAT YOU DO, THINK AND ACT FORWARD and BE A HERO. Thank you to: Asha Ellison, De’Trice Fox, Shannon Page, LaShai Thompson and Holly Summers for your amazing contributions to the Bigger than High School Event.

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This blog was written by Jasmine McNeil, outreach coordinator at Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.