Welcome to Charlotte!!! We joined our long time partner Time Warner Cable for our "Charlotte Week" kick-off event at the Charlotte Museum of History. Dr. Tom Hanchett gave the keynote remarks about the history of Charlotte and the New South. The folks at Time Warner Cable worked with us on coordinating the many logistics for the week...special thanks to Mike Smith, Mike Tanck, Dan Ballister and Stephanie Richin for their hard work. We would also like to thank Angelica Docgue, Mary Turk-Meena, Elizabeth Miller and the staff at the Charlotte Museum of History for co-hosting a successful event with Time Warner and C-SPAN.
We arrived in the Queen City this past weekend and jumped right into the rich history. We toured the Reed Gold Mine, The Old Mint and the Hezekiah Alexander Home. We spoke to two men who have fought for civil rights in Charlotte, Charles Jones who participated in sit-ins during the 1960's and James Ferguson, a civil rights attorney who focused on busing.
On the literary scene, we talked with author Rich Rothacker "Banktown: The Rise and Struggles of Charlotte's Big Banks" in downtown Charlotte outside the Bank of America Headquarters. We met with the president of the Charlotte Writers Club about the local area writers and visited the popular independent Park Roads Books store.
On the political front, in the less than a year Charlotte will be home to the 2012 Democratic Convention. Mayor Anthony Foxx and CEO of the DNCC, Steve Kerrigan provided us with insight into the planning process and the impact the convention will on the city of Charlotte. Bob Morgan, President of the Charlotte Chamber talked to us about the business climate in this growing and changing city.
More to come from this great southern hub!
Debbie
