1704 Madison Avenue
In 1956 Thomas E. Gilliard, Jr., porter at American Trust Bank, took out a building permit to have Mangie McQueen, perhaps the city’s top African American contractor, construct this residence. Mr. Gilliard’s wife Mildred Y. Gilliard helped lead one of Charlotte’s most important African American institutions. She served as Program Director at the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA. Founded in 1916 and named for an African American poet, the Charlotte’s YWCA was among the earliest in the nation established by and for African Americans.