Karen Flint

Ms. Rosena Gaines is one of fourteen children and was born on March 8, 1918 to Willie and Marthena Haygood. Ms. Gaines married William H. Gaines, Jr. and has no children of her own. Mr. Gaines is no longer living. She attended Myers Street Elementary School and Second Ward High School. Upon graduating from Second Ward, Ms. Gaines attended Livingstone College and did her graduate work at Columbia University Teachers College. Ms. Gaines was a student, English teacher, and counselor at Second Ward High School. She is able to give two perspectives of attending Second Ward as a student and working at Second Ward as a faculty member. She has a great love of the school and the close-knit Brooklyn community. Ms. Gaines speaks of urban renewal and states that the community was very sad to see Brooklyn go but the community was not adverse to progress. Ms. Gaines’s interview provides good insight into life as a Second Ward student and teacher.Read more…

Delores Giles was born in the Blue Heaven section of Brooklyn in 1946, and remained a resident of Brooklyn until the urban renewal programs of the 1960s razed the neighborhood. She attended Second Ward High School from 1958 to 1964 and although she remembers her time there fondly, she also discusses the limitations of involvement for female students, including the classes that she had to take and the lack of athletics for women. Ms. Giles’ family moved to Alexander Street before the urban renewal program took effect, and her house and Second Ward high school were the last structures in her area of Brooklyn to be razed. Ms. Giles also provides fascinating information about the funeral home business in Brooklyn, which acted in lieu of ambulatory services as well as a funeral home. Ms. Giles finishes her oral history by assessing the results of urban renewal and the legacy of the Brooklyn neighborhood.

Delores Giles participated in an interview with Dolores Giles. See: Dolores Giles & Mary Poe

Ms. Vermelle Diamond Ely grew up in Brooklyn on Stonewall Street, a more affluent section of the Brooklyn neighborhood. Mrs. Ely attended Second Ward High School and eventually became an educator herself in the same school system. She speaks extensively of her fond memories of friends, games and the school and its teachers. Mrs. Ely is very vocal on the subject of Urban Renewal and has suggestions on how politicians could learn from the Brooklyn neighborhood’s removal. She is also one of the authors of Charlotte, North Carolina of the Black American Series as well as founder of the Second Ward High School Alumni Foundation. She participated in a group interview with other alumni of Second Ward.

Ms. Vermelle Diamond Ely is included of the Second Ward Alumni Interview.

Mr. Price Davis’ memories span almost twenty years, and, although he resided in Cherry and New York City during this time, attended the first African-American High School in Charlotte, Second Ward, which was located in the heart of Brooklyn. Graduating from Second Ward in 1939 and about to turn eighty years old in two months, Mr. Davis was very emotional and vocal with his testimony, offering a fascinating view into not only the daily life of the residents of Brooklyn but also insights into public services, specifically the actions and policies of the Charlotte Police Department. Mr. Davis describes, in detail, the feelings towards the first black officers in Charlotte, his brutal treatment under white officers, and his ultimate love of the city of Charlotte and how it has changed. Davis participated in two interviews, the second of which was recorded with a small group of Second Ward High School Alumni.

Mr. Price Davis is also included of the Second Ward Alumni Interview

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Ms. Naomi A. Davis grew up in the Cherry neighborhood but attended Second Ward High School. Mrs. Davis is married to Calvin C. Davis and talks of their memories together at Second Ward and of her personal achievements. Mrs. Davis is very vocal with regards to school functions, school rivalries, churches in the Brooklyn district and issues of the loss of heritage in Urban Renewal. She is particularly knowledgeable about where churches were relocated and those that merged within Brooklyn. Mrs. Davis participated in a small group interview of Second Ward High School Alumni.

Ms. Naomi A. Davis is included of the Second Ward Alumni Interview.