1711 Washington Avenue

Little is known about Miss Edna E. Morris, who took out the permit to build this dwelling on February 17, 1965. By the time that the city directory showed her living here in 1967, she was retired. A Charlotte Observer story on June 5, 1918 listing the city’s school teachers noted that she taught at Fairview School, an African American elementary school in Fourth Ward — an indication that this house came at the end of a long career in education. She lived her until her death in 1976.

It was uncommon in suburban America of the 1950s and 1960s for a single female to own her home since banks seldom made such loans. In McCrorey Heights, however, strong women were the norm. Most neighborhood women were highly educated, holding at least a bachelors degree, and the majority worked as educators or in other professional jobs outside the home. Edna Morris was one of at least a dozen women homeowners in McCrorey Heights, including Martha Reddick who lived next door at 1701, librarian at West Charlotte High School.