Patton Avenue

Built 1951-1952 for Berthon T. Holloman and Louise K. Holloman, this was among the earliest dozen or so houses completed in McCrorey Heights after World War II. Mr. Holloman was a clerk with the U.S. Post Office. Mrs. Holloman taught in Charlotte’s public schools for forty years.

Spec-built in 1954 – 55, this house was first occupied by Sylvester Lee, Jr., a plasterer with Kirkland Construction, and his wife Alice.

Plastering was one of the many building trades dominated by African Americans from slavery times through the mid 20th century. Such skilled artisans usually had steady work and decent pay — enough to afford a house in stylish new McCrorey Heights.

Edward High took out the permit to build this house in 1954. He then was a teacher at Charlotte’s state-supported black Carver College, also worked as a carrier for the Post Office, and eventually became an Administrative Assistant with the City of Charlotte. He was a civic leader who played a role in integrating Charlotte’s most important sports event in the 1960s, the Shrine Bowl, and he became an early black member of several boards including the Airport Commission. Wife Naomi was a lifelong educator, teaching at Sterling School among others.

Built 1957-58 for Talmadge and Rosetta G. Alexander. He was a “curbman” at the Plantation Grill, a popular drive-in restaurant in Charlotte. He also worked for the Post Office for twenty-five years and served, as well, as Treasurer at Statesville Avenue Presbyterian Church. His family was well-known in Charlotte; especially brother Romeo, who owned Razades restaurant and invested in real estate, and brother Oren, a bail-bondsman.

Edward D. White and his wife Lula D. White took out the permit to build this house in 1955.  In an era when few African Americans owned businesses, the Whites owned and operated White Coal & Fuel Oil in Charlotte’s black Brooklyn neighborhood.

Built about 1954 for Rev. Cordell H. Kennedy, pastor of the Grier Heights Presbyterian Church, and his wife Ruth E. Kennedy, who taught at the Alexander Street School.

The Kennedys raised son Cordell Kennedy, Jr., in this house. At the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the mid and late 1960s he served as a statewide coordinator for Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

William Leon North, Sr., took out the permit on November 13, 1950 to build this house for himself and wife Rosalyn. He worked as a mail clerk for the Southern Railway and later for the U.S. Post Office.

A number of homeowners who built in McCrorey Heights during the 1950s and early 1960s were employed as mail clerks. With steady pay and some job security, it was among the best work open to African American men prior to the Civil Rights era.

Built in 1960 as the retirement residence of Bishop Walter W. Slade & Sallie Mae.
In a neighborhood with many ministers, Rev. Walter Slade was one of the most distinguished. He served as a Bishop in the A.M.E. Zion Church from 1944 to 1960, part of the 12-person governing body of this nation-wide denomination. His wife Sallie Mae was a Supervisor of Missionary Work in the denomination.

A later resident here was Ernest L. James, Jr., who headed Logan School in Concord, North Carolina, as its Principal for twenty-two years.

O’Dell Robinson took out the permit to construct this house in 1952, hiring prolific black contractor Mangie McQueen. Robinson served for many years as a top executive with Charlotte’s black McCrorey YMCA. His spouse Bertha Robinson taught at West Charlotte High and later at Double Oaks School.

In 1971 the couple took out a permit to add to the west side of the house, hiring Harvey Gantt to create the design. Gantt became a noted Modernist architect in the Southeastern U.S. as principal in the firm Gantt-Hubermann, and also won election as Charlotte’s first African American mayor, serving 1983 – 1987.