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1974 - Leading the Way on School Integration

October 15, 1974 - Nationally, Charlotte becomes known as the city that made integration work. School children write letters to Boston's newspaper, the Globe, and share their stories. After the letters appear in the Globe, the children are invited to visit Boston, a city still grappling with the problems of integration. 

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1948 - Kuester Dies

Maarch 12, 1948 - While planning this year's Meck Dec Day celebration, Charlotte loses its most enthusiastic promoter. Clarence Kuester dies of a heart attack. LeGette Blythe's play, Shout Freedom, will be performed in Kuester's memory as citizens remember Mecklenburg's 1775 Declaration of Independence. But nothing can ever replace the man lovingly nick-named "Booster" Kuester.

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March 12, 1948

1942 - The Carolina Israelite

The modern, or reform, Jewish congregation separates from Temple Israel, which is more traditional. The new temple will be called Beth El. While many Charlotte Jews will distinguish themselves through civic and charitable work, no one will cause more controversy than Harry Golden. Although once a writer for the Charlotte Observer, Golden begins publishing his own paper, The Carolina Israelite, from his home in the Elizabeth neighborhood. He will win both national acclaim and disdain for his editorials against racial segregation.Temple Beth El

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1954 - Ike Visits Charlotte

May 18, 1954 - More than 60,000 people crowd into Charlotte's Freedom Park to hear President Dwight Eisenhower speak. His visit is part of the annual Meck Dec Day commemoration. Choirs sing as citizens celebrate Mecklenburg's 1775 declaration of independence from British rule. President Eisenhower at Freedom Park

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1963 - MLK in Charlotte

May 31, 1963 - A young, energetic black preacher named Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks in Charlotte to a gathering of six black high schools. Just 10 days earlier, Johnson C. Smith University students marched downtown to protest segregation, laws that separate people according to race. Black and white civic leaders responded to the protest by agreeing to have lunch together. Dr. King commends the solution that has begun to chip away at segregation in Charlotte's public places.

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1914 - Archduke Killed

July 28, 1914 - The European nation of Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, one month after a Serbian kills the Archduke of Austria-Hungary. World War I begins. The deadliest war in history to date, it will last nearly five years. The U.S. will remain uninvolved, or neutral, for three years.

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1921 - Governor Morrison

Cameron Morrison is the third Charlottean to serve as North Carolina's governor. His tireless campaign for better roads will earn him a nickname: the Good Roads Governor. In 1926, he will build a farm southeast of Charlotte and call it Morrocroft. It will have 750 cattle, 300 pigs, and 50,000 chickens. Within 50 years, the Morrocroft farm will give rise to some of Charlotte's most prestigious suburbs: Southpark, Barclay Downs and Foxcroft.Governor Cameron Morrison

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1938 - A Room of Her Own

In a boarding house on East Boulevard, author Carson McCullers is at work. She will win national acclaim when her novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, is published in 1940. McCullers is one of many writers who spend time in Charlotte during their careers.

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1914 - Women's Suffrage

November 9, 1914 - Across the nation, a movement called Suffrage has been gathering support since Revolutionary days. Women are allowed to vote in some states, but not in North Carolina. Today, Charlotte's Selwyn Hotel hosts the state's first suffrage convention. Only when the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution passes will women win this crucial right in 1920.Suffragettes

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1922 - Charlotte Airwaves

April 10, 1922 - With 100 watts of power, WBT signs on the air. It is one of the nation's first radio stations. By the 1930s, WBT will be broadcasting the popular adventure series, The Lone Ranger. Country music artists who hope to find success play and sing as devoted listeners tune in. By 1992, WBT will broadcast its signal with 98,000 watts of power, nearly 100 times more than when it began.

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