The women of Elizabeth College Nancy O. Albert Among the early residents of our neighborhood were the young undergraduates who attended Elizabeth College. A four-year college for women, it opened here in 1897 under the auspices of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The aim of the institution was “to afford a broad and liberal culture for women; to furnish to young women an education in the classics, mathematics and sciences.” Seeking a site for a college for women, Lutheran Synod trustees Charles Banks King and C. L. Fisher sought bids from Columbia, S.C. and Charlotte. Charlotte offered 20 acres of land known as the old Torrence homestead on a hill overlooking the city, now Hawthorne Lane. Against Charlotte’s pledge of $12,800 in cash, the trustees of the institution agreed to spend between $50,000 and $75,000 toward the improvement of the property. King named the new campus Elizabeth College, in honor of his mother-in-law, Ann Elizabeth Watts. Later, the Gerard Conservatory of Music was given by Charles King’s brother-in-law, Durham tobacco magnate George W. Watts, in memory of his father. The Watts family provided most of the money for the college. The college’s time in Charlotte was brief. In 1915 King, suffering from ill health, moved 2
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HELP
WANTED Over the last two years the ECA newsletter has more than doubled in size and the
work of pulling it all together has grown along with it. In an effort to maintain both the size and quality of each issue, I’m looking for an editorial assistant to help with newsletter content. Like all ECA work, this is a voluntary position. Because we’re a quarterly publication nothing much needs to be done until close to deadline days; the peak work periods would be February 1-15, May 1-15, August 1-15 and November 1-15. The work involves email correspondence and lots of back and forth with those submitting articles, proofreading and some editing of submissions. Familiarity with dropbox use and attention to detail is a must, but no particular publishing background is needed. I just need a person with lots of enthusiasm and an interest in the Elizabeth neighborhood. If you think this is something you might enjoy please contact me directly. Nancy O. Albert noalbert@carolina.rr.com
Elizabeth Community Association Board meetings are held at 6:30 p.m.
on the first Thursday of each month at the Studio K Gallery on 7th Street. All are welcome to attend. The meeting dates for spring are March 5, April 2 and May 7.
People of Elizabeth by Nancy O. Albert My call for personal stories, memoirs and interviews for this issue brought a richness of submissions. Many thanks to all who contributed articles and photographs and a special thanks to our graphic designer Little Shiva for putting together the truly unique and very Elizabeth cover montage. The theme of the summer issue will be “There’s No Place Like Home.” Share stories and pictures of your travels and tell us why you love coming home to Elizabeth, or just tell us about all the TLC you’ve given your Elizabeth home. noalbert@carolina.rr.com
photo: Elizabeth Watts
back cover photo by Ken Magas — front cover concept (homage to Sgt. Pepper) by Nancy O. Albert, photomontage by Little Shiva
ECA Officers
ECA Board Members
Eric Davis President 704 776 3013 Greenway Avenue ericadavis0123@yahoo.com
Nancy O. Albert Newsletter Editor Beautification Co-Chair 704 779 0932 Elizabeth Village noalbert@carolina.rr.com
(Vice President — vacant) Diana Watson Secretary 704 996 9776 Kenmore Avenue dianawatson3@gmail.com Paul Shipley Treasurer 704 651 5897 Kenmore Avenue shipley_paul@msn.com
Jim Belvin Zoning & Real Estate Committee 704 334 2611 Lamar Avenue j.belvin@bluewaterdb.com
Ken Magas Website 704 877 7151 E. 5th Street ken@kenmagas.com Jeff Jackson Crime Czar jnjacks@gmail.com Janet Karner Membership Clement Avenue janetk@caro.net Officer Robert Sprague Neighborhood CMPD Liaison rsprague@cmpd.org Robert Zabel Elizabeth 8K Road Race Chair 917 873 8028 Pecan Avenue nycrcz@yahoo.com
May 15th
editorial content:
noalbert@carolina.rr.com
Sarah Bradley Communications/Social Media 704 491 3760 Laurel Avenue sarah@bluefeathermedia.com
advertising:
Beth Haenni Past President 704 562 5152 Greenway Avenue beth.haenni@gmail.com
size: 6.53” x 7.53” (1306 x 1506 pixels)
Kristan Magas Park & Recreation Liaison 704 488 0051 E. 5th Street kdm2201@gmail.com
ECA Special Projects
deadline summer 2015:
Suzanne Henry Social Chair SuzkHenry@gmail.com Jenna Opiela Social Chair/Children’s Events 704 906 8379 Greenway Avenue jennaopiela@gmail.com Tom Smith ECA Business Liaison/Ad Czar 630 886 2039 Kenmore Avenue tom.smith@fedex.com Ric Solow Beautification & Trees Co-Chair 704 906 1967 E. 5th Street ric@solowdesigngroup.com
tom.smith@fedex.com ------------------------------------full page ad
half page ad
size: 6.53” x 3.715” (1306 x 743 pixels) quarter page ad
size: 3.205” x 3.715” (641 x 743 pixels) biz card ad
size: 3.205” x 1.8065” (641 x 361 pixels) classified ad
1 column wide, 4 lines deep with 1 line bold, 3 regular specs: full size b&w jpeg or pdf, 200 dpi, NO WORD DOCS! Ad placement is at the designer’s discretion.
Kris Solow Beautification Co-Chair 704 806 4456 E. 5th Street ksolow@carolina.rr.com
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The Carolina Room at the Main Library has copies of Elizabeth College yearbooks from 19011913. They have recently been beautifully digitized and can
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By 1912 there are many more graduates, and the yearbook, now called The Elizabethan, is much more sophisticated in design. The young women now sport the piled up hairstyles and white shirtwaists we associate with “Gibson girls”, and the concept of “votes for women” is mentioned. But the college’s days in Charlotte were coming to an end, though its name lives on as the city’s Elizabeth neighborhood. And although its buildings and official records are gone, the yearbooks provide a delightful memento of Elizabeth College and its women. be viewed at the Digital NC website: library.digitalnc.org Looking through them is like taking a journey back in time. Besides individual and group portraits, there are images of the plays and concerts the undergraduates performed. The books also feature poems, musical compositions and drawings by the young ladies.
Material for this article came from Digital NC and the NCpedia website. Another American Dream: V Cleaners by John Albert, suggested by Beth Haenni
I spoke with Kim Vu who, with her husband, owns and operates V Cleaners at Pecan Pointe. Their main location is on Central Ave. where their dry The 1901 yearbook is called cleaning facilities are located; Caps & Belles and there are Huy runs that location with only thirteen graduates. It’s eight employees and shuttles dedicated to Ann Elizabeth back and forth between the Watts and thanks the Watts two. V cleaners has been in family. “The present splendid business for 16 years; Kim runs educational plant is due to their the Elizabeth shop where she great liberality and interest in also does alterations. She says education in the South. Mrs. the community has always been Watts in her beautiful and active very supportive, especially in the life of Christian faith, gentleness, beginning, but I suspect that the purity and good-works is most communities’ support springs worthy of our emulation as equally from the Vu’s respect young women.” for their customers. I remember
images this page from The Elizabethan — photo p5 by John Albert
it to Salem, VA., where it was consolidated with Virginia’s Roanoke College for Women. At the time of the merger, each institution enrolled about 200 students. In 1921 the Virginia institution burned to the ground, and sadly, most of Elizabeth College’s records were lost. The college property at Elizabeth Avenue and Hawthorne Lane was purchased by Presbyterian Hospital, which moved into the main brick building. This building continued to serve the hospital and the School of Nursing until it was torn down in 1980 to make room for a major hospital expansion. As late as the 1950s, the Elizabeth College Alumnae Association continued to meet in Charlotte.
Public art project update by Amy Bagwell The Neighborhoods in Community pARTnership project is moving along toward a late spring installation, ahead of the project’s October deadline. We’re testing printed vinyl images on the fence around the water tower as soon as the weather gives us an above-freezing and relatively windless window. The very detailed schematic drawings for the roundabout are nearly finished and ready for city and ASC review for permits and approval, the next steps in Kim and Huy Vu this process. And we’re working on prototype wordhouses with my first visit to V’s, the faded ESL and driving instruction. original drawings, found images, Best of Charlotte clipping (they They have two children, both and objects used to underscore won several times) but mostly college graduates (“the best part and investigate the phrase from I remember that when I gave of the American Dream”, she the poem that’s in each box. her my name she immediately beamed). connected me to my son and Art silent auction and daughter-in-law. That ability she Kim has twice returned to fundraising event Vietnam where she still has says is “a gift from God.” by Kris Solow extended family; she has Both Kim and Huy were ‘boat Part of the ASC/City of sponsored three people, eight people’ refugees from Vietnam. including their families. Charlotte public art initiative She has been in Charlotte 32 that the Elizabeth community years, he for 34 years. They met Both express belief in the was awarded includes a poem American Dream. As children, in ESL classes at CPCC. She by Amy Bagwell written for the had escaped with her brother with the opportunity to study neighborhood. Finding a home and spent eight months in an English or French, they choose for the poem was solved after Indonesian refugee camp before English, as coming to America talking with Kate Vasseur of she was sponsored by Charlotte was always their parents’ dream. Studio K. She agreed to have the Catholic Social Services. “I still Wall Poem on the long, window Kim is grateful for the remember the boat number— side of her building for all to opportunities here in Charlotte read. Since the Arts and Science MH 0332”, the boat 12 feet but stresses “work hard and long held 92 people. MH for Council’s rules preclude use you will succeed.” They work Minh Hai, her village. Huy of any project funds for art on 90 hours per week and are very private property, the ECA Art refugeed in the Philippines. happy. Huy entered the shop as Committee and Kate decided Both were housed at the Doral we were concluding and added that an art fundraising event Apartments. Catholic services would be a great idea. The ECA helped them with food, clothes, only “work hard.” THE PEOPLE PAGES
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I’d heard about and seen some of their work around the city. The UNC-TV special about their piece at Trinity Episcopal School really highlighted what they do and why. Amy and I know each other from teaching at CPCC, and Graham was a student in the welding program, so working with them was fairly natural. I’m very civic-minded and always looking for projects around the city to add to the beauty of where we live, and I admire the unique way they do that. Did the Elizabeth neighborhood location appeal to you in particular?
Conversation with collaborator: Steve Gore, CPCC Welding Technology Program Chair by Amy Bagwell Editor’s note: As part of the Neighborhoods in Creative pARTnership Project, artists Amy Bagwell and Graham Carew have been collaborating with several departments at CPCC in an effort to bring both the college and its students into the process. Why did you want to get involved in a project with the Wall Poems team (Amy Bagwell and Graham Carew)? 6
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It did. Charlotte has lost a lot of its more historic areas and buildings, and I love the old feel of the Elizabeth neighborhood. We need more historic preservation at the same time that we need more public art, and I like the way this project ties the two together in a way.
gained in class not only on something 3-D, which they do in school, but on something out in the community. It gives them the chance to be civically engaged, to meet and collaborate with people practically and even, as in the case of this project, artistically. Palmer Bradshaw is the main student collaborating on this project from welding. He’s been working with Amy and Graham to make the schematic drawings necessary for permits and city approval and to map out the installation. He has a four-year degree in art and is a sculptor, so this gives him the opportunity to do coursework that has realworld results and to be involved in an art project as well.
In fact, my students have worked on a number of art and civic projects in Charlotte. The big welded hawk at Reedy Creek Park was one of our creations, and we fabricated fencing for It’s also meaningful because the Historic Rosedale Plantation, head of our Electrical Systems for which I serve on the Board of Technology (including solar Trustees. And we’re at work now power) program, Philip Briggs, on two other exciting ventures. grew up in the neighborhood. We’re creating with Providence He’s retiring at the end of this Day School and MIT a series academic year, so working on of student-powered charging this project is significant for him stations for schools that will be personally, which extends to all shipped to Tanzania, and we’re of us. building a trailer for the One World Dragon Boat team here in What can your students Charlotte. gain from working on this project?
Working on anything in the real world helps them apply the theoretical knowledge they’ve
Can you give us a brief overview of your program at CPCC?
The Welding Technology
“Study of a Hawk” by Graham Carew
board agreed and the date has been set for Friday, April 24, 6:30p.m. at Studio K. This is going to be a fun event for our neighborhood and good exposure for artists, all for a good cause!
program is a two-year certificate program from which students can emerge ready to work or go on to pursue four-year degrees. They are prepared fully for employment, and I have former students working for NASA, for the railroads, for companies literally all over the globe. And they are also prepared beyond instruction in welding, as we aim to instill in them a sense of community. I’ve been with the program for thirteen years, and I couldn’t be prouder of what we do and of our students.
placed on a mile-long route that runs from Seventh to Morehead. All the statues will be turned over to the Mecklenburg County Park On a chilly day in early December a new pair of statues and Recreation Department, was dedicated on the Little Sugar which will maintain them using Creek Greenway. These striking endowment money provided by the project’s donors. bronze statues are located next to CPCC’s Culinary building. Four years ago the first statue, This was the second time in depicting Revolutionary War 2014 that a statue had been hero Capt. James Jack was erected along Charlotte’s Trail of erected. In May the figure of Jane History, a public art project that Renwick Smedberg Wilkes, who will feature life-size cast images helped found Charlotte’s first of famous and lesserhospital in 1876 and also helped known historical create one of the nation’s first figures from hospitals dedicated to AfricanMecklenburg Americans was added. Money County’s has already been raised to past. erect statues for William Eventually Henry Belk, Thaddeus Tate 21 statues and James B. Duke, and will be fundraising has begun for Thomas Polk, the founder of the Thompson Children’s Home and Training Institute.
photo by Nancy O. Albert
More information on this program can be found at www.picasaweb.google.com/ raysosko .
There are new statues on the Greenway by Nancy O. Albert
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a friendship unique in American history.
Individual artists, ages 18 and older, from any discipline and residing in the greater Some of the above information Charlotte region were eligible comes from a December 4 to apply to participate for free. Charlotte Observer article written Adams Outdoor Advertising by Joe DePriest. provides the billboard space and ASC covers the production Local artists selected costs of reproducing selected for Charlotte-area artists’ images on vinyl to fit the billboards billboards. A jury composed of by Bernie Petit, ASC local arts and design experts selected the top submissions, The Arts & Science Council with artists ranked among the (ASC) has announced the 20 regional artists that will be part top submissions automatically receiving invitations to of the second year of ArtPop, participate. A public vote a program in which local on CharlotteCultureGuide. artists submit their work to be displayed on available billboard com from Nov. 23 through Nov. 30 determined the final space. Billboard installations participants. will begin the week of January 5, 2015, and selected artworks will be displayed throughout the year. There are no guarantees on where artists’ work will be located; selected artworks can be placed anywhere in Adams Outdoor Advertising’s Charlotte coverage area and will rotate across locations on a space available basis. Jury-selected program artists: Sy Arden, Charlotte cut paper and ink Luis Ardila, Charlotte
oil on canvas
Laura Brosi, Charlotte
polymer clay
Arthur Brouthers, Charlotte
acrylic paint, resin on wood panel
Sala Faruq, Charlotte gourd and mixed media 8
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billboard art, bowl and spiral sphere by Terry Shipley
The newest statues depict early Carolina settler Thomas “Kanawha” Spratt and legendary Catawba Indian Chief King Haigler. Spratt was a good friend to the Catawbas. He negotiated the leasing of Indian land to other Europeans and fought alongside the Catawbas in West Virginia, earning the nickname “Kanawha” from the nearby Kanawha River. King Haigler, chief of the Catawbas from 1749 until his death in 1763, led during a time of unrest and change. Raids and killings by hostile tribes, along with the influx of European settlers, challenged the Catawba culture. Though they came from different worlds Spratt and Haigler, who cast his lot with the Europeans, were able to bridge cultural barriers. King Haigler negotiated treaties with both North and South Carolina that guaranteed safety and support for his people, and protection for the settlers. King Haigler had an especially close relationship with Spratt and their statues pay tribute to
Rose Hawley, Charlotte
glass
Alice Holleman, Troutman
Something gentler, something happier by Nancy O. Albert
Deborah Triplett, Charlotte
Terry Shipley’s ceramic works seem to be everywhere these days, most recently staring down at drivers from a billboard on Wilkinson Blvd., near the road to the airport. For years, people kept saying to me, you have got to meet Terry Shipley, but for some reason our paths didn’t cross. Walking down Kenmore one September day I came upon the cylindrical forms of her yard art project hanging from a tree in front of her house. I’d also seen her works in exhibitions at Studio K Gallery. But until she offered to help Kris Solow and me seek an ASC neighborhood public arts grant, I’d never actually met her. I soon discovered that, like her ceramics, Terry herself is small, colorful and wonderful. Her ideas and suggestions were incredibly helpful and the project we worked on was one of the ones selected by the ASC.
image: Elizabeth artist Terry Shipley’s billboard.
A self-described army brat, originally from Little Rock, AR who moved all the time during
watercolor and ink
Janet Lasher, Charlotte glass and metal beads Indrani Nayar-Gall, Charlotte
intaglio, drawing and cutting on paper
Laura Rasmussen,
Huntersville mixed media
Terry Shipley, Charlotte
ceramics
Bree Stallings, Charlotte acrylic, ink and spray paint Denise Torrance, Pineville
silk painting
Jason Woodberry,
Charlotte digital illustration and photography
Artists selected by public vote: Emily Andress, Charlotte
oil painting
Rocio Llusca, Charlotte
acrylic on canvas
Ladianne Henderson,
Charlotte mixed media on paper
Leandro Manzo, Charlotte oil pigments on paper Nancy Marshburn, Davidson
pastel
photography
her childhood years, Terry has apparently found a settled life here in Elizabeth. She and her husband Paul have lived on Kenmore since 1998 and raised their son Max there. THE PEOPLE PAGES
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A tremendous opportunity to cultivate her art on a full-time basis came from the McColl Center for Art + Innovation, Affiliate Artist program in 2001. As an affiliate artist, she found herself surrounded by a group of local and international artists working in a variety of media, who inspired and challenged her. Terry’s mature style emerged over these years. She employs a wild color palette; her pieces are very organic and suggest flowers or other natural forms. Terry focuses on hand-building, rather than using a wheel, a method of working that enables her to connect best with the clay. “I exclusively handbuild,” she says “I usually start with a slab construction, flat, and make different forms I can slump clay onto or into.” This is a physically difficult and timeconsuming way of working. 10
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Terry’s public projects include tiled entry posts at Progress Park on Parkwood Ave and wall pieces at the Levine Children’s Hospital which incorporate the ideas and work from local fifth graders. She exhibits regularly at Studio K and other galleries. Now that she has a small studio in her own home, Terry is constantly at work on new projects and commissions. She describes herself as a decorative artist, and feels her ceramics celebrate human creativity. “I want something gentler, something happier.”
Burck is now living in Elizabeth. The story about the wine and the water tower was new to us, but pretty funny! He also shared with us that he and his friends used to lean against the railings in front of the Starbuck’s/comic book store (old A&P, Staley’s area, I guess) and watch pretty girls get on and off the street car.
T. Mark Meyer: This interview was conducted in January by T. Mark Meyer, son of T. J. Meyer Jr. at the suggestion of Jenkins B. Meyer, 2330 7th Street. My father is a retired textile executive. He worked for Riegel Textiles and is now More of Terry Shipley’s work can be living in Greenwood, SC. His seen at www.terryshipley.com grandfather, Jacob Henry Meyer, immigrated from Germany and Life in Elizabeth lived on Lexington. He held the in the 1930’s #3 plumbers license issued in by various members Charlotte. I am his oldest son of the Meyer family and now live in Aiken SC. T. J. Meyer has four children and Jessica Meyer: My husband and I are Elizabeth residents and six grandchildren in living in Charlotte. suggested that my husband’s grandfather write down some “Grandpa” Ted Meyer: I was of his memories from life in born March 8, 1923 and lived my first 18 years in Elizabeth – Elizabeth when he was a boy. Grandpa Ted lived in a white house at 2129 E 7th as a child. I think the house is now a law firm. His family lived upstairs and the lower level of the house was shared with an aunt or uncle’s family. By pure coincidence, Jenks and I now live just down the street on E 7th not having known where Grandpa Ted lived as a boy until after we moved in. Grandpa Ted doesn’t get back to Elizabeth as often as he’d like, but he relishes the fact that our son
photo of “Grandpa” Ted Meyer courtesy T. J. Meyer — skyline photo: Nancy O. Albert
Terry describes herself as “an accidental artist”. She discovered her love for the art at the age 42 when she took a class given at a “paint your own” pottery store. She then graduated to classes at the Jewish Community Center, which led to a nine year stint renting space from Clayworks. These experiences allowed for a more intimate study of the medium of clay. Maybe this is why Terry speaks so fondly of clay, almost as though it’s an old friend – ceramics are a comfortable, all-inclusive medium.
the first 14 years at 2129 East 7th Street and the remainder in Pecan Street. Not many people had cars and most got around on foot, bike or on the Trolley which ran from Tryon Street. There were not many trees in the neighborhood, or at least like there are now. I attended Elizabeth Elementary, Piedmont and Central High School, which I think are still standing. The only way to school was by foot or bicycle. After school we played like kids today. There were pickup baseball games in an open field where Weddington turns off 7th Street. The pickup football games were further down the street in a golf course near where Briar Creek and Railroad meet. The course had sand greens which we avoided. There was a young black fellow who showed up to play and he was chosen like the rest of us. He always wore a clean white shirt and his nickname was Snow Ball. To our surprise and his, there were not many differences between us. On the way back from football games there was a sugar cane field from which we sampled to fill our sweet tooth. I worked after school at Pinders Grocery at the corner of 7th and Pecan. People would give me a list and I returned with the merchandise. I worked Friday afternoon and all day Saturday and earned $2.31. Next to Pinders was Staley’s Drug Store
and there was an A&P Grocery Store. Sports in high school was a big deal. Everybody wanted to play football. One year I didn’t play because I didn’t have $3 for football shoes. I boxed because no uniform or shoes were needed. I finally joined the football team when I was able to buy a pair of used football cleats for $1. These can be seen in some pictures in the Central High School annual. All was not work or school. One afternoon three friends and I got fortified with some of my father’s homemade wine. We hid this from him by replacing the missing wine with water.
We climbed a big water tower near 8th street. This was never revealed to our parents. A Ford Trimotor once came to Douglas Airport. I was able to get a 15 minute ride over to downtown Charlotte for $1. My mother worked uptown at Ivey’s as a personal shipper and she earned $21 a week. My father sold candy for the Continental Candy Company and had a twodoor open Model T supplied by the company. Of all my friends, Bill Starnes and Atwood Skinner, only one became a famous citizen of Elizabeth. Stuart Childes was a WWII Cargo Pilot, a Korean War Fighter Pilot and ultimately THE PEOPLE PAGES
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an Edwards Air Base Test Pilot where he flew with Chuck Yeager and was the seventh person to fly the X15.
you had collected. You were promoted in military rank based on what you collected. The rank went from Private to General. It was lots of fun. I don’t remember I’m happy to share this story with what rank I was rewarded, but I all, but especially my grandson know it was high up there. You and great grandson Burck who were given an armband that lives in Elizabeth. showed your rank. Scrap Metal by Cal Watford Editor’s note: This story and Uncle Jim were forwarded to me by Jim Belvin. According to Jim, “Cal and his family lived in our house on Lamar Avenue from about 1937 to 1941. After his wife passed away several years ago, he decided to write several stories about his life for his grandkids.” During the early part of the Second World War, mother, daddy, my sister Ruth and I lived in Charlotte, NC, at 624 Lamar Avenue. Lots of things were beginning to get in short supply, and everyone was encouraged to collect scrap metal. There were places you could drop it off, or if you had a lot of it, arrangements were made for a truck to come and pick it up. In the local schools, a program was set up to reward the children for collecting primarily tin cans. We would go to all the neighbors who did not have children and ask them to save their cans for us. Both ends of the can were cut out, the ends placed in the cans and then they were mashed flat. We would take them to school and a record was kept as to how much in weight 12
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remember he had a helmet and a special flashlight that strapped to his chest. We were so proud of him. These are good memories. Uncle Jim by Cal Watford
“Uncle Jim” was an old Negro man who worked at the At one time, we decided to lumberyard. I suppose it was have a neighborhood drive to what we call a “Building Supply get more scrap. We scoured Store” today. I remember all the garages and basements. seeing sacks of cement, sand, Those houses with attics were windows and doors, and of searched, and it was really course, lumber. There was also interesting what turned up. All a woodworking shop where I the scrap was brought to our think they made the windows front yard, and when we had a and doors. Outside the shop was big pile, a man from the Charlotte a trash bin, and there was always Observer came out and took our little pieces of scrap wood. picture. My sister Ruth was on the top of the pile holding an old Uncle Jim and I had become good friends. (I was) a little dressmaker’s form. white boy who grew to love There’s a picture of the pile and an old Negro man. During the Ruth in an old photo album. I summer, when school was out, think her husband, Charles Cox my mother would make me a in Huntsville, Alabama has it. We lunch, usually a peanut butter really felt like we were helping to and jelly sandwich, with an apple defeat the enemy. or banana, and maybe a cookie of some kind. She put it in a Another war memory was the small brown bag, and I would go days the training planes would down and sit with Uncle Jim, and fly over and drop small bags we would have lunch together. of white lime on the street intersections. I guess they were I called him Uncle, because dropped by hand. It may have my parents told me not to just been flour, but that would have call him Jim. I would show him been too wasteful, and some respect by using the word Uncle, food was being rationed. just as all the Negro ladies who My daddy was a neighborhood warden, and when we had practice black outs he had to walk around the block and make sure no lights could be seen coming from the houses. I
helped my mother over the years, were called Aunt. (This was) one of those southern things I guess and (the custom) also extended to close friends of my parents.
Ode to 519 by Micki McDonough
as it took its first huge bite.
photos: Micki McDonough
ripping you apart, rupturing any strength you had left, each of Your pain started. your parts falling to the earth, You stood so long, tried so hard, No, it started years before when stomped by the huge feet that sheltered so many. went round and round, back and you began to get an inkling of There was “Spell it Mama!” this day. When the sag set in, the forth over your ashes. Annaphilestene (I hope creaks grew louder. As you went down you made I got it right),who could spell And there were brief, temporary huge clouds of dust and ash. You her name, straight and proud, to were spectacular and sad, so sad. fixes, attempts to stay the the end – the Krispy Kreme lady. In less than an hour you were coming gutting. Tom, James, Danny, Gerald. down, conquered, destroyed, the So much progress, but never dinosaur triumphantly astride. Annaphilestene died in you, enough, never even close, and Tom came home for same. All that remains is your pear not enough time, not enough tree, standing sentinel over all Home to so many: the brothers, money, maybe not enough of your realm. their friends or men or women lots more. they were helping or loved. And hope. Hope is left. And so your pain started and And Dude who loved to sniff your fear grew. Hope that Matt and Kara, around you, eat your garbage Hudson and Chase will create a And still you stood as proud and then get so sick. fitting memorial to you, and to as you could, green and white, He loved the garbage but not sagging front, beard sometimes all you meant to so many. the sick part. scraggly and long, sometimes Rest in peace 519. And then the dinosaur came, trimmed. You did not live in vain. ferocious, gargantuan, yellow, But the dinosaur was starving Micki McDonough lives at 515 roaring. and huge mouthful by mouthful, Lamar. 519 was demolished There was the first boom January 20, 2015. bit and tore at your flesh,
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fingertips, google the brown headed nuthatch and get inspired. Or contact me directly on how to encourage more bird flirt in your own garden: Gardenbelle@mac.com Mr. Smith of Elizabeth by Kris Solow
Yard Yak spring 2015 by Kay Minor Today is February 2nd. Groundhog’s Day. Nest boxes for songbirds at Minor Manor have been up since New Year’s, complete with soft layer of seasoned sawdust on bottom, and au current copper plate covers over the entrance. The covers have a hole cut just large enough to accommodate smaller birds like chickadees, house wrens, and my favorite, the brown headed nuthatch. With luck, a kanoodling pair will move in. Southern born and bred, the brown headed nuthatches are one of the few birds exclusive to the United States, restricted to southeastern pine forests. Pine tree cavities are coveted nesting areas and the pine nut (yes, it comes from a pine cone) is an essential food source. The three to nine buff colored eggs 14
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with red spots produced by courtship are often tended to by additional “helpers”, usually male. Speculation about these extra hands points to previous offspring by the breeding pair. Tool use by our feathered friends is rare, but occasionally, the brown headed nuthatch will fetch a bark remnant and poke around for insects, even using it to cover their cache of hidden food. Undulating in flight, like a woodpecker, nuthatches will race headfirst down tree trunks. They’ll hang upside down under branches, and project a call much like a squeaky toy. Clownlike, really. Social creatures (except when breeding), they will forage among different flocks, share at bird feeders, and seem unperturbed by humans. Social but monogamous. A fitting tribute as Valentine’s Day approaches. A wealth of information is at your
I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing a true Southern gentleman and one of Elizabeth’s historians, Mr. Howard Smith, owner of The Studio Shop (TSS) on Caswell Avenue. In a delightful hour, Mr. Smith enthusiastically recalled treasured memories of growing up as a young boy in Elizabeth and how he came to own TSS. Here are excerpts from the interview: I was born in 1935 at Mercy Hospital. I was kidding mother one day, I said, I knew that you women back in those days were hail and hearty and you were stronger than most women are today because you and your sisters were out in the field picking cotton and you were physically fit. I said, after you had me, is there a chance in the world that you walked home? She said “No! “ My parents built that house at 2514 E. 7th Street in 1925. Back in those days, families stuck together. When they built it, there were no other houses to the left, and no houses to the right. There were no houses anywhere. The first house that came was my mother’s sister,
next door, the other, my uncle, across the street. My mother lived there until she was 90, which was in 1992. I sold it for $65,000 in 1994. The people who bought it last, I happened to see in the newspaper, paid $425,000 for it.
photo p.14: Ken Magas — photo this page: Kris Solow
One of the important things when I was growing up was I played football down in the firemen’s tower field. Grier Town is located there, and 12, 10 and 8 year old boys from Grier Town would join my group and we would integrate the football field down there. That was 1945 when I was 10 and also the first time in my life I ever took my clothes off and went bare butt into the Briar Creek! It was on the other side of the RR trestle so 7th Street people couldn’t see us swimming on the other side. There would be a swing and we would swing and drop off into the middle of Briar Creek. Also at the age of 10, being raised by a single mother, I had to get a job. I slung newspapers from what was Stanley’s Drugstore (now the stores at Pecan and 7th) and slung them from 7th Street to the firemen’s tower. I got to meet an awful lot of people. Among them a former football player at Duke named Ace Parker, and a newly arrived person from New York named Al Russo who came to work at a jewelry store downtown, which he later owned. But I remember walking up to his door and asking him if he would like to THE PEOPLE PAGES
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Then when I was 11, I’m out in the back yard mowing the grass and hear an airplane noise that sounded very much louder than usual. As it turned out, it was a military plane that was in the process of crashing. It crashed in a field near Shenandoah and Commonwealth Avenues. Thank goodness it didn’t hit any houses. I of course went there as the crow flies, over back yards and RR tracks. It was quite a disaster. 16
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Later on, I jerked sodas at Stanley’s Drugstore and met a bunch of new people. John Kilgo who was a good friend of Dean Smith lived on the corner of Greenway and Caswell in the big red brick house with a red front door. Jimmy Kilgo who was 4 years older than John, had a radio show, “Kilgo’s Corner” on WBT, that aired on Saturday mornings. He was a celebrity! John, who was my age, and I and probably 15 other kids played football every afternoon and on Saturday in the Rose Garden. We just enjoyed learning how to play with each other without beating each other up. Then there’s the story about Miss Caroline Constable, my 3rd grade school teacher at Elizabeth Elementary School. Her claim to fame was that she was a member of the National Audubon Society. If you were
TSS was a grocery store, really more of a meat place, and I remember walking by and the owner standing out front with a bloody apron on. Later, my brother-in-law Leon owned TSS but my sister Virginia was running it because Leon worked for Glidden Paint. TSS became very successful and he asked me if I would consider coming to Charlotte to run the store. At the time, I was in CA and my bank job had reached a peak and it was either transfer or move to Charlotte. My wife and I had just adopted our
photo p.14 courtesy Howard Smith, p15 by Nancy O. Albert
take the Charlotte News, which was our afternoon paper, and he said, “Well, you’re a salesman and I am, too, so I’m going to take your paper.” I remember that so well! When I showed up Saturday morning, I gave them a little ticket the size of a ten cent piece and they gave me 25 cents. That was a week’s cost for the Charlotte News. I gave half of it to a newspaper representative and kept half for myself.
a good student, did your homework and didn’t miss too many spelling words, she would allow you to sit at a window that would be open enough to slide your hand beneath, and she would put “suet pudding” (a combination of peanut butter and sunflower seeds.) on your hand and the birds would eat right out of your hand! She was an extraordinary woman in that she had a lifelong career in the 3rd grade. She lived in the house where La-Tea-Dah’s was; her father had built it at the turn of the century. Miss Constable would intercept you on your way home from school, take you by the hand, back behind her house to a grape arbor. If you stood still for a little while, you’d see birds of every kind in the world going into that arbor and eating those grapes! She would make you be quiet because she wanted those birds to feel quite at home.
daughter Sandy, and since we wanted Sandy to grow up with relatives, moving 3000 miles to Charlotte was a positive thing. I started working at TSS in October 1967. In October 1968 at 7p.m., a tanker truck pulled up to the gas station next door (where Sir Speedy is today) to put gas in the underground tankers. The owner of the station was gone, the station was closed, but the attendants were playing checkers in the office. The tanker driver was leaning against the door looking at them, kind of mesmerized. I was coming back from getting a hamburger from George’s Grill across the street and saw gas coming up out of the ground onto the curb! I yelled at him and he turned and waved but by the time I reached the red light, BOOM! This place went sky high! The back wheels of the tanker truck were against the wall of TSS. It didn’t blow the wall down, but in half a second, the roof caught fire. It took a long time to put the fire out until someone realized that the gas station always had a pilot light lit for soldering radiators. It was about midnight before they got everything out. The case took 5-6 years to settle. Homer Lang who owned the station was going to bulldoze it and TSS. I propositioned him that if he would pay the electrical, then my 12 employees would clean the shop up, and replace the
ceiling. He agreed. When the building came up for sale upon the deaths of he and his wife, I offered to buy it for $65,000, but a fellow named Angelo who owned many properties found out and a bidding war ensued. When Angelo offered $95,000, I said he could have it. But it turned out he was overextended with mortgages and couldn’t swing it. I got it for my last offer of $90,000. That made me a landlord until I bought the business from my brother-in-law. Before Sir Speedy and Edward Jones, we had an art supply store until other art supply stores selling at discounts emerged and we couldn’t compete. Then we tried an art gallery, but we couldn’t find enough original art to stock it. That’s when it became two separate places. I think Elizabeth is wonderful, and a good place to raise kids!
My diary by John Elliot This is a fictional diary entry written by John Elliot, based on historical photos, mementos and written records retained by St. Martin’s Episcopal Church. John is the parish historian and a member of the Historic Properties Commission. His family includes five generations of parishioners at St. Martin’s. When his grandparents moved to Elizabeth and built a home at 2121 E. 8th Street in 1922, Pecan Avenue was the extent of the city limits, and 8th Street was unpaved. His dad was a member of the “Tanktown Boys,” and published a mimeographed newspaper called Tanktown Topics. John and his young family would later buy the house at 1940 E. 9th Street. John and others give tours of St. Martin’s, sprinkled with historical facts, to the church’s quarterly Welcome Class, where all neighbors are welcome. Check the church’s website calendar at www.stmartinscharlotte.org for the next class dates. My Diary: March 1, 1919
We took shifts last night (Friday) cooking the barbeque, while others made the sauce and trimmings. Davey Lockwood brought firewood in from his dad’s farm-wagon to our makeshift pit in the park. In the morning, some of the ladies prepared potato salad and THE PEOPLE PAGES
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It had begun as a very chilly morning, but the sun came out and warmed the crowd by midday. Shortly after 10 o’clock, folks started arriving in their motorcars, and parking along Seventh Street. We asked them to park on the other side of the street, or on the side streets, so that everyone would have a good view of the tree-planting, which was to commence at 11 o’clock. When Mr. Selden was ready and the ladies were seated on the dais we built yesterday, the ceremony began with some brief speeches, lauding the servicemen and their efforts to keep us free. It is the custom in our society more commonly to acknowledge our young warriors with monuments of stone or metal. However, on this bright spring morning, Mr. Selden said it was appropriate that we should honor the boys from St. Martin’s with living memorials of their service, symbolizing our hopes for a living peace. There were several prayers, including one from Mr. Jackson, who said “it is right and fitting that our hopes for peace and concord among the peoples 18
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photo this page courtesy John Eliot, p19 by Nancy O. Albert
baked beans while others made cornbread and desserts. I went out to dig holes for the treeplanting, and while I was there the motor truck arrived with the nine willow oaks. We then put some of the loose dirt back in the holes so that it could be dug out during the ceremony.
Corp. John Elliott Fox
A.E.F. 1917-1918
Pvt. Lewis Edward Green
A.E.F. 1917-1918
Lt. Harold McKenzie Jackson
A.E.F. 1917-1918
Capt. William George Thomas
A.E.F. 1917-1918
Midshipman Charles Wilkes
U.S.N.A. 1914 And lastly:
Seaman Edward Lee Davis
of Christian Faith, and indeed other Faiths all over the world, be a gift to our community of Elizabeth and Charlotte.” This conflagration was begun by a seemingly insignificant incident in a place we had never heard of, Sarajevo, so well-known to us now. Ultimately it involved most of the Western world. Mr. Selden will have bronze plaques made at his ParksCramer foundry, and we will mount them on the trees when they are a little larger. Let me close by listing the names of the servicemen, including the four who were here today, and those who were not able to
make the journey including one sailor who made the ultimate sacrifice. Lt. Francis Henry Ball
London Rifle Brigade British Expeditionary Force 1914-1918
Lt. William Glaiseter Bamber
Aviation Corps Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914-1918 Ens. Henry Bacon Constable
Seaplane Pilot B.E.F. 1917 American Expeditionary Force 1918
U.S.N. who was killed during the sinking of the U.S.S. Ticonderoga by U-152, the largest US Naval loss of the war on September 30, 1918. The Baltimore Sun reported that “Seaman Davis, as plucky a lad as ever there was” swam through the water to beg mercy for the drowning sailors (who were being strafed with machine-gun fire) to no avail. As he clambered up the side of the U-boat, “the Hun Captain shot him through the head with his pistol.” Mrs. Hicks of Clement Avenue by Elizabeth B. Thomisser When my husband, Steve, and I purchased our home at 500 Clement Avenue, we requested that a framed article from the Charlotte News, dated September 14, 1973, remain in the house. The article is important to us because of the THE PEOPLE PAGES
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photographs of our home and others on the street, and for an editorial written by Mrs. Ernest L. Hicks, the woman who owned and lived in our home for almost 50 years. In the fall of 1973, Elizabeth residents were petitioning for single family rezoning to protect the homes in the neighborhood. Through this article I can tell that although many of her homes had fallen into disrepair, the Elizabeth of the 1970s was very concerned about preserving the neighborhood. In the framed article three guest writers offer their perspectives on the issue of rezoning. However, the true gem in this story is the history of the neighborhood that Mrs. Hicks’ viewpoint shares. In order for us to truly understand her love for the Elizabeth community she writes the following: “I am pleased to have been asked to write a small piece about the Elizabeth community, the place where I have spent most of my life. On Nov. 1, 1923 – almost 50 years ago – I, with my husband and twomonth-old son moved to the first home we had ever owned at 2017 East Eighth St. This was a brand new little house, which was then at the very edge of Charlotte’s city limits. This development of new homes was located on what had been the old Hackney farm, and the Hackney family home 20
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stood at the corner of East Seventh St. and Pecan (the site of the present Sunoco station). It may be of interest to newer Charlotteans to realize that the present location of the large city water tank at the corner of East Eighth and Pecan was still a cow pasture when we moved into the neighborhood. J.P Hackney, who was then just a boy, daily brought us milk from the cows that grazed that pasture. We had 10 happy years on East Eighth St. as we began to raise our children and make life-long friends among our neighbors, who were the original residents of this section of Elizabeth. We thought ourselves to be quite well off having a new icebox, an RCA radio and a Model T Ford. Our ice was delivered by horse-drawn wagon, and the iceman generously chipped off
pieces for the youngsters on hot summer days. My children still recall the excitement in the neighborhood when the first of our neighbors acquired an electric refrigerator. The streetcar came from the square all the way out Seventh St. to Clarice Ave. Although we had an automobile, most of our trips to town were made on the streetcar. As I recall, the purple cardboard tickets were seven cents each or four for a quarter. How well my son remembers hearing the shots which killed our favorite streetcar operator in a robbery attempt, as the streetcar sat one night at the end of the line on Seventh St. In this day of so much crime and violence, it would be hard for the present generation to imagine how stunned and stricken the entire city of Charlotte was over what to us was a real tragedy. My family moved away from Charlotte in 1933, when my husband’s company transferred him. We returned in 1940 and moved right back to the Elizabeth section where our many friends remained and where we had spent the earlier wonderful years. We bought a home on the corner of Clement and East Eighth St. Our home is built out of brick which came from the old Courthouse which used to stand on South Tryon St. in the block where the First Union Bank Building is now located. 500 Clement has been my home for 33 years, now,
and it will continue to be so. Here we raised our children to adulthood, and here I have spent the longest period of my almost 80 years.” After reading her eloquently written article, it might surprise you to learn that Mrs. Hicks supported the zoning changes the neighborhood faced. However, I like to believe that if Mrs. Hicks walked down the streets of her beloved Elizabeth today, she would be proud of our well-maintained homes, our sense of community, and the pride we have in our neighborhood. Charlotte’s history trove revisited by Nancy O. Albert
photos: Nancy O. Albert
I’d like to give another shoutout to the Carolina Room at the Main branch of the Public Library and to its wonderful staff. Librarians Jane Johnson, whose name appeared incorrectly in the last issue, and Shelia Bumgarner were of great help with this newsletter issue, providing research assistance and locating historic images to accompany the articles. Next time you’re uptown and have a bit of time to spare, walk up the stairs to the handsome and comfortable Carolina Room and give yourself a treat. Their hours are the same as the library’s and it’s especially appreciated that they’re open and fully staffed on weekends. THE PEOPLE PAGES
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Why support the ECA Tree Program? by Ric Solow For those of you who read Bruce Henderson’s January 25th article in the Charlotte Observer, “Old Oak Trees Are Tottering,” it’s apparent that the tree canopy in our neighborhood is succumbing to the effects of age, disease, and construction at an alarming rate. Only 25%35% of Elizabeth’s trees are in good to excellent health, the article stated. This makes the importance of the ECA Tree Program even more significant. While the city is doing a good job of replacing trees where adequate space exists within the city right of way, many streets in Elizabeth lack sufficient right of way space to qualify for city trees, leaving the areas in your yard close to the sidewalk as the best planting option. The ECA Tree Program, now in its ninth year, offers Elizabeth residents and businesses a great opportunity to buy trees for our streetscapes, yards, and businesses. The ECA offers a $100 subsidy towards the purchase of one of four different tree options. This spring we will be planting 10 new trees. We were hoping for more. Looking around the neighborhood there are many more opportunities for new trees. The ECA Tree Program is an annual event with notice going out in the fall of this year for the winter of 2016 planting season. It’s up to us to plant for the future of our 22
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neighborhood as past planners and residents did for us. Internet and computer safety by the CMPD The internet is everywhere today: at work, in your home, in coffeehouses, in airports. Thanks to wireless technology, it follows you virtually anywhere. The benefits of wireless technology are boundless. With a desktop or laptop computer, or even with an internet-enabled cellular phone, you can quickly and easily go online.
such as blogs or email threads. You can never be sure who you’re chatting with online. The friendly person in an online forum may actually be a clever criminal looking for the next victim. How can you protect yourself online? Don’t post the following information until you know specifically whom you are speaking with: • your full name • your home address • your social security number • passwords
There’s no doubt that the internet makes our lives easier. Activities and tasks that once took hours to complete can be taken care of quickly and easily. But as beneficial as the internet might be, it’s also a breeding ground for criminal activity.
• credit card or bank account numbers
Below you’ll find some important information on how you can stay safe when you’re using email, social media or any other internet based technology. Face-to-face and telephone conversations are being supplanted by anonymous online discussions
Remember, you never know who you’re speaking with in an open forum like social media sites. Use the internet, but use it wisely.
• if you’re going out of town and how long you’ll be gone • when you’ll be away from your home, even when just running to the store
2015 Elizabeth 8K Road Race – March 21, 2015 by Robert Zabel Hello neighbors! As many of you might already know, I – along with a great support team – organize the annual Elizabeth 8K Road Race, one of our neighborhood’s largest fundraising events. Proceeds benefit the beautification of the historic Elizabeth
neighborhood and the replenishing of both Charlotte’s and Elizabeth’s tree canopies. Over the years, we’ve grown this race to be one of Charlotte’s premier and most enjoyed road races, not to mention the oldest road race in Charlotte, which I am – and we should all be – very proud of. This year will be our 29th annual event and the race is scheduled for Saturday, March 21st. We’ve once again secured tremendous sponsorship and support from organizations within and around our community for which I’m grateful. They include: Presenting Sponsors:
Harris Teeter, Hawthorne’s and Novant Health Platinum Sponsors:
Charlotte Bridge Home, Hawthorne Lane United Methodist Church, Jones Dry Cleaning, Open Door Studios, Savvy + Co. Real Estate, Which Wich Superior Sandwiches, Winiker Law Firms, PLLC Gold Sponsors:
center photo: Ken Magas
Catalyst Financial Group, Iron Butterfly Pilates, Ken Magas Design, Leroy Fox, Pantazis Law Firm, Sunflour Baking Company Silver Sponsors:
TR Lawing Realty, Inc I’m now asking for your support. Participants:
Runners and walkers of ALL ages, please register and join
us for the race. In addition to the timed 8k race, which features a USATF-certified course and a fantastic tour of the scenic residential streets of the Elizabeth neighborhood, the event also includes a 1.5M untimed run/walk for the casual participants and youth runners and the Liz Kids’ Fun Run for the little ones. So yes, it’s a great event for the entire family. Visit www.elizabeth8k.com to register.
opportunity to showcase our great neighborhood of Elizabeth to the greater Charlotte metro area and beyond. Please share this article and/or direct them to our website at www.elizabeth8k.com or our Facebook page at www. facebook.com/Elizabeth8k. Thank you. Together, let’s make this the most successful Elizabeth 8K ever!
Volunteers:
More than 60 volunteers are needed to make the Elizabeth 8K a success, and we couldn’t do it without them! If you’re not planning on running or walking in the race, please sign up to be a volunteer. Volunteers are needed to assist with registration, course monitoring, water stops, finish line and more. Your support will be much appreciated. Visit www. elizabeth8k.com/volunteers to sign up as a volunteer. As I’m sure you can imagine, an event like this requires a lot of support, planning and coordination. The earlier we can confirm participant registrations and volunteers, the better the race will be and the better your experience will be. So please support our neighborhood, take action now and don’t wait. Lastly, I ask all of your for your support in spreading the word to your family, friends and colleagues. This is an excellent THE PEOPLE PAGES
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