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✊🏾 BHM 2026 Notables by QCT | Post #10 Law, Legacy & Liberation: Builders of Black Progress ⚖️🎨🏛️🗞️
✊🏾
BHM
2026 Notables by QCT | Post #10
Law, Legacy & Liberation:
Builders of Black Progress ⚖️🎨🏛️🗞️
Two trailblazers whose brilliance shaped both the legal and artistic landscapes of Black Charlotte and beyond:
🔹 John
T. Sanders
(c. 1860–after 1936)
John
T. Sanders became Charlotte’s first practicing Black attorney in
1906, breaking racial barriers in a deeply segregated legal system.
Largely self-taught, he was soon known as the “Colored
Financier”
for his astonishing business empire: multiple drugstores, a hotel, a
restaurant, a movie theater, a newspaper (Charlotte
Advertiser),
and real estate holdings that fueled the rise of neighborhoods like
Washington
Heights.
A civic force, he co-founded the Cedar
Grove Cemetery
and championed the long-sought Colored
YMCA
in the 1930s. Today, Sanders Avenue near Johnson
C. Smith University
preserves his pioneering legacy in law, business, and uplift.
🔹 Dr.
Selma Hortense Burke
(1900–1995)
Mooresville-born
Selma Burke carved her place in American memory through sculpture and
service. Her 1940s bas-relief of President
Franklin D. Roosevelt—completed
from life—was widely believed to inspire the U.S. dime design but
credit was given to John Sinnock; the U.S. engraver.
Founder of the Selma
Burke Art Center
in Pittsburgh, she elevated generations of Black artists and
challenged exclusion in the arts. In 1980, she unveiled her
monumental bronze statue of Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
in Charlotte’s Marshall
Park,
fusing artistic genius with civil-rights legacy.
🎉 Honor
their legacy during the
👉🏾 28th
Annual QCT Charlotte Pilgrimage Toursm
– February 2026
🎟️ Tickets & info:
charlottepilgrimagetour.com
#BHM2026 #BlackCharlotte #JohnTSanders #SelmaBurke #CharlotteHistory #CivilRightsLegacy #WashingtonHeightsCLT #BlackSculptor #ColoredFinancier #QCTHeritage #BlackExcellence #HistoricCharlotte #CharlotteTours
📚 Sources:
https://meckdec.org/publications/DandelionNov-Dec04.pdf
https://www.amistadresearchcenter.org/artist/selma-burke
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/selma-burke
https://www.ncpedia.org/burke-selma-hortense
https://www.blackartistforward.com/post/selma-burke-s-flowers
https://newstoriesoldtowns.com/2016/09/29/dr-selma-burke/
✊🏾 BHM 2026 Notables by QCT | Post #09 Cultural Architects of Emancipation Memory & Mission 📖🎶🏛️
✊🏾
BHM
2026 Notables by QCT | Post #09
Cultural Architects of
Emancipation Memory & Mission 📖🎶🏛️
🔹 Marie
Louise Clay Clinton (1871–1934)
Educator, Fisk
Jubilee Singer, and national missionary leader, Marie L. Clinton
helped shape Black youth and religious life across the A.M.E. Zion
Church. After settling in Charlotte in 1901, she founded the Buds
of Promise Juvenile Society and led it for nearly 30 years.
She also directed the Industrial Home for Colored Girls
and represented Zion women internationally. Her legacy lives on in
Marie L. Clinton Day, still observed by A.M.E. Zion
churches each January.
🔹 Charles
H. Watson (c.1870–unknown)
Editor of the 1915 booklet
Colored Charlotte, Watson documented 50 years of Negro
achievement since Emancipation. He co-developed Washington
Heights, Charlotte’s first Black streetcar suburb, and
opened Watson Park, one of the few Black recreation
areas of the era. A trustee of Charlotte’s Colored Library, he
promoted uplift through publishing, housing, and civic pride.
🎟️ Walk
where they led during the
👉🏾 28th
Annual QCT Charlotte Pilgrimage Toursm
– Feb 2026
📍 Tickets: charlottepilgrimagetour.com
📚 Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_L._Clinton
https://goodnewsfirstchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/January2024-Final.pdf
https://amezion.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/MarieLClinton_Program_2024_Final.pdf
https://kids.kiddle.co/Marie_L._Clinton
https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25431/files/dirmeck_009690_000001.pdf
https://openlibrary.org/books/OL26452071M/Colored_Charlotte
https://charlotteudo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/SAMPLE_OaklawnPark_LocalDistrictDesignationReport_Final.pdf
https://guides.library.charlotte.edu/c.php?g=621704&p=5213318
✊🏾 BHM 2026 Notables by QCT | Post #06 Ink & Infantry: Builders of Black Voice and Valor 📰🎖️🔥
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BHM 2026 Notables by QCT | Post #06
Ink & Infantry: Builders
of Black Voice and Valor 📰🎖️🔥
Two extraordinary men turned press and patriotism into tools of empowerment during Charlotte’s fragile post-Reconstruction years:
Col. C.S.L.A. (Charles Samuel Lafayette Alexander) Taylor (c.1849–1934)
• Born enslaved in the Carolinas; educated in Quaker schools post-emancipation
• Worked as a shoemaker, musician, barber, dance instructor & fireman 🚒
• Elected Charlotte alderman (3rd Ward) in 1885, giving Black citizens a voice in city governance
• Founded Charlotte Light Infantry—one of NC’s first all-Black National Guard units
• Rose to lieutenant colonel in the Spanish–American War—among the state’s highest-ranking Black officers
• Spent decades building Black civic power in military, public service, and firefighting
• Buried with honor at Elmwood/Pinewood Cemetery among Charlotte’s Black trailblazersW.C. “William Caswell” Smith (1854–1937)
• Founder & editor of the Charlotte Messenger—Queen City’s first Black secular newspaper 📰
• Amplified Black voices and exposed injustice starting in the 1880s
• Advocated moral leadership, civic discipline & political organizing via the press
• Documented segregation and economic racism in Charlotte life
• His legacy endures in the Black press tradition and public history circles
🎉 Honor their work and walk their paths this February on
the
👉🏾 28th
Annual QCT Charlotte Pilgrimage Toursm
2026
🎟️ Reserve now: charlottepilgrimagetour.com
#BHM2026 #BlackCharlotte #ColTaylor #WCSmith #CharlotteMessenger #QCTHeritage #BlackPress #ReconstructionVoices #NCBlackHistory #VeteranLeadership #HiddenHistory #ElmwoodCemetery #CharlotteTours #TrailblazersOfValor
📚 Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._L._A._Taylor
https://legeros.com/history/ebf/
https://www.charlottenc.gov/CS-Prep/City-News/The-Neptunes-Black-Firefighters
https://guides.library.charlotte.edu/c.php?g=450481&p=3075952
✊🏾 BHM 2026 Notables by QCT | Post #07 Healing, Diplomacy & Faith: Anchors of Uplift 🩺🌍✝️
✊🏾
BHM
2026 Notables by QCT | Post #07
Healing,
Diplomacy & Faith: Anchors of Uplift
🩺🌍✝️
This Black History Month, we honor two visionary sons of the 1859 generation—builders of medicine, global service, and spiritual fortitude in the face of deep racial adversity:
Dr. John Taylor “J. T.” Williams (1859–1924)
• Born free in Cumberland County, NC, and educated at Myers Street School & Lincoln University
• Among NC’s first Black physicians (Leonard Medical School, 1891); performed surgeries at Good Samaritan Hospital 🏥
• Owned the Queen City Drug Store in Old Brooklyn (2nd Ward) and mentored Black medical talent
• Served as Charlotte alderman, U.S. consul to Sierra Leone, and co-founded the Mecklenburg Investment Company
• Rooted in Grace A.M.E. Zion and the thriving Myers Street community
• Legacy lives on at J. T. Williams Middle School, carrying his name and missionBishop George Wylie Clinton (1859–1921)
• Born in Lancaster, SC; educated in Freedmen’s Bureau schools
• Rose to lead the A.M.E. Zion Church from Salisbury, NC
• Editor of The Star of Zion and leading church historian
• Founded Clinton College in Rock Hill, SC—expanding access to Black higher learning
• Vocal anti-lynching advocate and spiritual force against Jim Crow
• His faith-infused leadership empowered generations of Black Carolinians
🎉 Explore
their lives and legacy this February during the
👉🏾 28th
Annual QCT Charlotte Pilgrimage Toursm
2026
🎟️ Get tickets at:
charlottepilgrimagetour.com
#BHM2026 #BlackCharlotte #JTWilliams #GeorgeWylieClinton #AMEZionLegacy #QCTHeritage #DiplomatsAndDoctors #CharlotteFaith #HiddenHistory #ClintonCollege #LeonardMedicalSchool #CharlotteTours #BuildersOfUplift
📚 Sources:
https://www.cmstory.org/exhibits/mecklenburg-people/john-williams
https://www.museumofthenewsouth.org/digital/historic-brooklyn/williams-grace-mic/
https://charlotteledger.substack.com/p/historical-heavyweights-a-19th-century
https://meckmed.org/wp-content/uploads/MCMS-History-Part-2-Combined-4.pdf
http://landmarkscommission.org/2016/12/15/mecklenburg-investment-company-building/
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/200218511/george-wylie-clinton
https://afamwilsonnc.com/2016/01/
https://umbrasearch.org/catalog?per_page=100&q=%22Clinton%2C+George+Wylie%2C+1859+1921%22&search_field=keyword&sort=creator_disp
✊🏾 BHM 2026 Notables by QCT | Post #08 Architects of Equity in Old Brooklyn 🏛️📐✂️💼
✊🏾
BHM 2026 Notables by QCT | Post #08
Architects of Equity in Old
Brooklyn 🏛️📐✂️💼
Meet two of the most visionary institution-builders to shape Charlotte’s historic Black Second Ward—pillars of dignity, enterprise, and community uplift in the face of Jim Crow segregation:
🔹 W.W. “William Warren” Smith
(1862–1937)
Hailed as Charlotte’s first Black
architect, W.W. Smith was a master builder whose vision
extended beyond bricks and mortar. In 1921–22, he designed the
iconic Mecklenburg Investment Company (MiCo)
building—a three-story commercial hub in Second Ward’s Old
Brooklyn neighborhood. Financed by a cooperative of elite Black
businessmen, the MiCo served as a rare beacon of Black economic
self-determination, housing offices for lawyers, physicians, barbers,
insurance agents, fraternal lodges, and civic groups. More than a
structure, MiCo was a monument to progress and resilience during the
nadir of American race relations. Smith’s work still echoes today
as a symbol of what Black enterprise could achieve under pressure.
🔹 Thaddeus “Thad” Lincoln Tate
(1865–1951)
A master strategist in business and uplift, Thad
L. Tate served as treasurer of the MiCo and was instrumental
in grounding Black civic prosperity in the Second Ward. But he also
left his mark by founding Charlotte’s Colored YMCA branch,
a sanctuary where young Black men could find athletic training,
literacy programs, spiritual mentorship, and social stability. His
barbershop, situated in the heart of Old Brooklyn, drew some of
Charlotte’s most powerful white leaders—including Gov. Cameron
Morrison, department-store magnate William Henry Belk, and real
estate mogul Edward Dilworth Latta. That racially transcendent
clientele was a testament to Tate’s unmatched reputation for
excellence and discretion. He became a quiet power broker at the
intersection of race, respectability, and commerce—an unsung
architect of interracial dialogue and long-term community investment.
🕯️ From blueprints to barbershops, from commerce to community, these two men carved out platforms for Black advancement in the shadow of oppression.
🎟️ Come walk the path they paved during
the
👉🏾 28th
Annual QCT Charlotte Pilgrimage Toursm
– February 2026
📍 Tickets:
charlottepilgrimagetour.com
Footnote: The term “African-American” did not gain widespread usage until the late 1980s. During the era of the MiCo and Old Brooklyn, terms such as “Black,” “Negro” and “Colored” were the formal nomenclature used by and for Black communities. These historical terms are retained here for authenticity and context.
#OldBrooklyn #BlackArchitecture #BlackYMCA #CharlotteHistory #MiCoBuilding #ThadTate #WWSmith #HistoricSecondWard #BlackEnterprise #BHMCharlotte #QCT2026 #HeritageAndHope
📚 Sources:
https://www.museumofthenewsouth.org/digital/mecklenburg-investment-co-building/
https://www.brooklyncollectiveclt.org/history
https://landmarkscommission.org/2016/12/15/mecklenburg-investment-company-building/
https://charlotteledger.substack.com/p/brick-by-brick-he-built-structures
https://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/people/P000291
https://lostcharlotteblog.wordpress.com/2015/02/23/william-w-smith/
Sunday, February 15, 2026
✊🏾 BHM 2026 Notables by QCT | Post #05
✊🏾
BHM 2026 Notables by QCT | Post #05
Building Legacy Through
Education & Uplift 🏫📜🕊️
Meet two men who turned classrooms, Congress, and community institutions into engines of empowerment for generations to come:
Henry Plummer Cheatham (1857–1935)
• Born enslaved in Henderson (Vance County), NC; educated at Freedmen’s schools & Shaw University
• U.S. Congressman for the 2nd District (1889–1893), known for advocating:
▪️ Federal aid to education
▪️ Pensions for Black Civil War veterans
▪️ National action against racial violence
• After Congress, led the Colored Orphan Asylum at Oxford for decades, extending his legacy through care and institution-buildingDr. George Edward Davis (c.1850–1909)
• Born in Wilmington, NC; became first Black professor at Biddle Memorial Institute (now Johnson C. Smith University) in 1885
• Taught natural sciences and mentored Charlotte’s emerging Black intellectual class
• Invested in housing near the campus and helped shape Charlotte’s early Black neighborhoods 🏘️
• A cornerstone figure in transforming Charlotte into a beacon of Black higher education
🎓 Walk in their footsteps on the
👉🏾 28th
Annual QCT Charlotte Pilgrimage Toursm
2026
🎟️ Tickets & info at:
charlottepilgrimagetour.com
#BHM2026 #BlackCharlotte #HenryCheatham #GeorgeEdwardDavis #QCTHeritage #BlackEducators #BlackSecond #NCBlackHistory #CharlotteLegacy #InstitutionBuilders #BlackHigherEd #HiddenHistory #CharlotteTours #LegacyInAction
📚 Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_P._Cheatham
https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/henry-plummer-cheatham-1857-1935/
https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/cheatham-henry-plummer
https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2023/12/20/henry-p-cheatham-1857-1935-g-94
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_E._Davis
https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2024/01/16/george-e-davis-1862-1959-l-103
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