Posts
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
No comments:
Post a Comment