Our project focused on the development of music history within Charlotte. The aim of our
project focused on sorting through various primary and secondary sources within
the Robert Spangler Carolina Room music archive collection. One of the most difficulty aspect of the
project was developing a framework to interpret and present the wealth of archival information at our disposal. It was a daunting task to
narrow down our focus. Focusing our project on music venues became a very
useful frame work to articulate and present the bounty of information from the
myriad of secondary and primary resources gather from libraries and other
community sources. Using the group
contract as an outline to guide the research process the group was able to meet
many of its objectives. The group
members were able to develop a cursory narrative of their individual sections
with supporting archival data. However,
one road block the group discovered was the limiting types of Omeka plug-ins the group could use.
Under the Omeka’s base line policy agreement, many of the most useful and
aesthetically pleasing plug-ins the group initially proposed could not be use. The plug-ins like Neatline which allows you
to create stunning presentation of your research material in a very visual
appealing timeline and the Geolocation are fee based, and were not use by the
group. I found charging for plug-ins very surprising since the software
designers of Omeka tool are part of the
open source movement, which advocates for the free use and accessibility of
technology.
While conducting research on my
individual section about the African American contribution to the rich history
of music within
Charlotte, I have
discovered some very interesting facts.
Driving pass the Excelsior Club for years, I never knew the richness of
its contribution to the black community.
The Excelsior Club which is now a historical landmark is the oldest
black social night club in Charlotte. Opening
in 1944 it would become a significant venue for shaping black political thought
and a platform for
various musical
artist and bands.
Famous national black
artist such as Nat
King Cole,
Louis Armstrong
and local native Wilbert Harrison performed
at the Excelsior Club.
As it was noted
in a 1985 Charlotte Observer article entitle
Preserving the Excelsior, gave an accurate description of the
function of this club within the black community
“ the
Excelsior Club was a
place where African
American sealed deals, talked politics and felt safe in a segregated world.”
Local radio personality legend such as Eugene Potts of WGIV got his start by
broadcasting from the Excelsior Club.
Finding one of Charlotte’s most obscure nightclubs the
Hi Fi Supper club which was a hub for developing black music artist and
cultural life was a very revealing discovery.
The Hi Fi as it is commonly referred to by locals tend to have a younger
more working class audience where as the Excelsior Club catered more towards
the elites and affluent members of the
black community. Through my
research a rare photo of the Hi Fi club which is cited on Charlotte Public
Library website special collection image archive
and
within one of the most definitive
picture books about the Charlotte black community, the
Black
America Series: Charlotte, North Carolina cites this club as the venue
when actuality it is the Park Center.
Discovering the latter fact was disappointing
since finding any photos or any printed publications of the Hi Fi venue is extremely
rare.
This research also cemented my understanding of the
vast contribution of local black radio stations during the era of racial
segregation.
In 1947 WGIV
became the first black radio station in
Charlotte.
WGIV was a vital musical venue to launch
local artist careers and help shape the political discourse within the black
community.
Pioneering WGIV historical
influence was Eugene Potts the first black disc jockey hired by the station.
Eugene
Potts was considered part of the Original 13, which is a term referring to the first thirteen disc jockeys hired
fulltime on radio stations throughout the South. He was considered
the master mind behind the earlier success of the radio station and paved the
way for many of the future disc jockey's who would later become success stories
within Charlotte, NC such as Rockin Ray
Gooding of WBTV. Another note worthy
musical personality whose career was launched at WGIV was Chattie Leeper better
known as Chatty Hatty. Known as the
queen with the golden voice in the 1950’s
Chatty Hatty became the first female disc jockey at WGIV. Breaking both racial and gender barriers, she
was also the first female disc jockey in North Carolina.
I experienced several pitfalls while conducting
this research. Number one locating Charlotte Observer articles on microfilm
between the years 1930 to 1984 was a problem because this collection is not
digitize. The only searchable indexes are from 1892 to 1922 and 1985 to until
the present date.
In addition one of the
key articles I needed for my project which I found using Atkins Library online
digitize search index for the Charlotte Observer, was completely missing on
microfilm.
Not being able to find this
article became a good problem to have because I was able to tap into an under
utilize resource, the Charlotte Observer Library. Visiting the Charlotte
Observer Library and obtaining assistance from their archivist with troublesome
articles I could not find was an excellent experience.
Secondly, missing an opportunity to interview
Chatty Hatty, a central figure in
Charlotte
music history was a major disappointment.
After spending a month setting up this interview, I waited thirty
minutes two weeks ago in a restaurant located off of
Beatties
Ford Road only to find out she could not make it
because she had a bad case of the flu.
Hopefully, in the near future I can reschedule this interview because
she is one of the last living black disc jockey of her era who played a
significant role in shaping the cultural fabric of the black music scene in
Charlotte.
Thirdly, since there is such a minute amount of research on local black
clubs
and radio stations
locating any external images of the building
structures was near in possible to find except for the Excelsior Club.
In conclusion, the scope of this
research was restrictive to the time period between 1930-1960. Future research
should investigate the development of black music venues from 1970’s to the
present, examining within the black community significant radio personalities,
and other culture musical forces impact on
Charlotte
music history. Also, historians should examine the influence of other venues
outside of clubs and radio stations that shapes the musical landscape within
Charlotte and the surrounding metro area. In reference to my own developing
research interest, this project has been a great benefit.
My initial research interests entering into
the public history program concentrate on developing expertise in African
American history, antebellum slavery and
Charlotte
history.
Completing this research
project has motivated me to explore more in detail some of the unanswered questions
pose by my research.
I am seriously
pondering investigating either the WGIV radio station or the Excelsior Club as
a thesis topic.
All in all, this project gave me some
significant insight into the complex issues around completing a digital history
project.
Also this project sharpen my
understanding on
techniques used to infuse
historical information with various multimedia technologies.
