- Title
- Our State
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-
- Date
- September 2015
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- Place
- ["North Carolina, United States"]
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Our State
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MECKLENBURG
1 HARVEY GANTT =====
Architect/Former Mayor , Charlotte
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Charlotte’s population has more than
doubled since 1987, when Harvey
Gantt left office after four years as
Charlotte’s first black mayor. It’s not a place
that stops to look back at its past very often.
When it does, people largely turn to Gantt,
who today runs an architecture firm in town,
and is still occasionally called on as the voice
of reason in a city where progress is measured
in a matter of months, not years.
Born in Charleston, South Carolina,
Gantt became the first black student admit¬
ted to Clemson University. He moved to
Charlotte, and after his term as mayor, ran
for U.S. Senate. He lost twice to Jesse Helms,
but his grace and determination opened
doors for a new generation of black leaders.
“Harvey’s run for statewide office helped set
the course for young African-American lead¬
ers who wanted to become more engaged in
the political process,” President Obama told
The Charlotte Observer in 2012, and he should
know. A picture of a 29-year-old Obama wear¬
ing a “Harvey Gantt for U.S. Senate” T-shirt
now hangs in Gantt’s home. “To Harvey — an
early inspiration!” reads the autograph.
MITCHELL
DR. DAN BARRON
Former Director,
Avery Mitchell Yancey
Regional Library,
Bakersville
A library is more than
just a place to check
out books. Dr. Dan
Barron points out this fact in
nearly every conversation he
has. "It’s the people inside of
[libraries] that really make a
difference,” he says.
Barron grew up in Mitchell
County, where his family has
lived for seven generations. He
rode on the bookmobile there
when he was 12 or 13. Naturally,
that led to a literary life. For
three decades, Barron taught
library and information sci¬
ence at the University of South
Carolina. When he retired in
2006, he got a phone call
from the Avery Mitchell Yancey
(AMY) Regional Library, ask¬
ing him to be interim director.
"Hell, I’ve been teaching it for
30 years,” he said. ”1 can do it
for three months."
Instead, he did it for nine
years, and slowly grew a solid
system of libraries into a place
that tried to have an effect
beyond its walls. The staff has
been through domestic vio¬
lence training. They help peo¬
ple search for jobs. They take
a bookmobile to every day
care and senior center in three
counties, and they’re trying to
bring books to homeschooled
kids, too.
Barron stepped down in
June, to go back to being a
’’full-time Mitchell Countian."
But he’s quick to deflect praise,
saying he was just on the team
that helped the library grow.
ourstate.com 195
