Virtual Black Charlotte : Opening Exhibit Gala

Welcome to the Virtual Black Charlotte Project Launch!

Johnson C. Smith University, in partnership with the National Second Ward Alumni Foundation and Duke University, will unveil their immersive website to the public at Historic Grace AME Zion Church on Brevard Street (one of the four remaining structures from the Brooklyn neighborhood). This interactive digital project uses augmented reality, 3-D modeling, and GPS mapping to recreate African American neighborhoods lost to urban renewal and highway construction in Charlotte. The rich 2D and 3D features are given context by historic images and documents from the oral histories in which residents tell their story of a vibrant community that was erased in the 1960s and 1970s. This in-person event will feature presentations by President Arthur Griffin of the National Second Ward Alumni Foundation, and project team members Historian Dr. Tekla Ali Johnson and JCSU Library Director Brandon Lunsford, and the Duke University Digital Humanities Team led by Victoria Szabo and Augustus Wendell, as well as “Council of Elder/Community Council” members who helped to guide this project ensuring its authenticity. Please come to enjoy video expressions featuring neighborhood residents, physical exhibits on neighborhood history, and a demonstration of the site. Light refreshments and wine will be served, and an awards ceremony for the Second Ward Alumni Foundation will close out the evening. Don't miss this chance to be the first to see this unprecedented project using technology and history to give life to African American community narratives!

Special thanks to the National Archives, National Park Service, and Knight Foundation for making this exhibit possible.