The Dr. Reginald Hawkins House, built 1953 – 54, was one of four homes of Charlotte Civil Rights leaders bombed in the night in 1965. Charlotte’s most outspoken and persistent activist in the Civil Rights movement, Hawkins won major changes in the city and beyond. His protests played key roles in desegregating the Charlotte airport in 1956, upscale restaurants in 1963, Charlotte Memorial Hospital circa 1963, and much more. One his longest efforts was the series of actions and lawsuits that culminated in Swann v Charlotte Mecklenburg Board of Education, the landmark 1971 U.S. Supreme Court decision that brought court-ordered busing to the nation. In 1968 he became the first African American to run for Governor of North Carolina.
The Hawkins House is architecturally notable, among the earliest and most sophisticated Ranch style designs in Charlotte.
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