Charlotte Mecklenburg Library

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Great Depression 1929-1939

1932 - Music Easing Sorrow

Even though the country is in the midst of a terrible economic downturn, the performing arts survive. The Charlotte Symphony Orchestra is founded. It will be followed in 1948 by the city's opera company. These and other cultural organizations will entertain and enrich the lives of Charlotteans for years to come.

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1932 - Keeping the Mills Open

Millions are out of work during these Depression years. But the president of the Chadwick-Hoskins Mill, Ben Gossett, has an idea. He asks President Herbert Hoover for help. The Red Cross will get 50,000 bales of cotton that are sitting in shut-down factories. Mill workers will weave cloth and sew it into clothing for the needy. This is a way to provide jobs and goods for people who have lost everything.

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1933 - Lakewood Closes

Charlotte's Lakewood Park closes. For years, countless people have ridden the streetcars to this westside park. But after a storm washes away the dam across the lake, there is no money to make repairs.Casino at Lakewood Park

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1933 - Play Ball

 July 8, 1933 - In Charlotte's first interracial baseball game, the white Highland Park Mill team meets the North Charlotte Black Yankees. The Charlotte Observer reports that Highland Park wins, 11-10. But the Charlotte News reports that the Black Yankees win, 10-7!

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1936 - Charlotte's First Airport

Mayor Ben Douglas' dream has come true. West of the city, Charlotte's airport opens. Fifty years later, Charlotte Douglas International Airport will grow into a hub that handles 500 flights each day and millions of passengers each year.Douglas Municipal Airport

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1936 - Father of Bluegrass

February 17, 1936 - The Father of Bluegrass music, Bill Monroe, makes his first recording in a Charlotte warehouse. By 1939, this country music legend will become a regular guest on WBT's radio programs. He will record nearly 60 songs in Charlotte.

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