Karen Flint

Mrs. Ozener Yancey grew up in the Cherry neighborhood of Charlotte and walked to church in Brooklyn. She joined Friendship Baptist at age 15. She recounts the trepidation she felt when she first visited the church but also the welcoming nature of the congregation. She attended Second Ward High School. She talks of Mr. Hemphill, a church leader, as well as the sister of her good friend Sarah Francis, both of whom died. She talked of their funerals and the ways in which the church came together to mourn. She misses the closeness of the old church in Brooklyn where she knew everyone and the congregation looked out for others.Read more…

Ms. Cleo A. Yongue is a historic figure in the black community who just turned 90 a few months ago. She was a nurse for the Charlotte Heath Department for 36 years. She has been a healthcare provider for several different generations in Charlotte. In the interview Ms. Yongue gave information concerning the reasons blacks would visit Brooklyn; how the community was affected by urban renewal; healthcare for blacks in Charlotte; and how blacks should learn a lesson from urban renewal in Brooklyn.Read more…

Mr. George A. Wallace, Sr. is a leader in the black community and the grandson of a founder of the Grier Heights neighborhood. He works for a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of Grier Heights’ residents. In the interview Mr. Wallace gave information concerning the reasons why blacks throughout Charlotte who didn’t live in Brooklyn would visit; how the community was affected by urban renewal; different forms of entertainment for blacks in Charlotte; black entrepreneurship in Charlotte and how blacks should learn a lesson from urban renewal and support activism and home ownership in their communities.Read more…

Diane Wyche was born in Charlotte in 1934 and was the daughter of Rudolph Melville Wyche, a medical doctor and surgeon who worked in the Brooklyn neighborhood before urban renewal. In this interview, Ms. Wyche recalls her father’s practice in Brooklyn, including the types of surgeries he would perform, how he was paid, and his house calls. Ms. Wyche also discusses her memories of Daddy Grace and the House of Prayer convocation parade.Read more…

Mr. James Yancey lived outside of Brooklyn but joined the Friendship Baptist Church in 1952. He began work as a juvenile probation officer in 1959 and interacted with many segments of the Brooklyn community. He gained employment as a social worker for the Greenville community in the late 1960s for urban renewal. He understood the process of urban renewal, referring to it as “black removal.” He did not want to be part of urban renewal’s relocation process because of the hardships it caused the community. He attended and graduated from Johnson C. Smith University.Read more…