The Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room, a department in the Main Library, houses historical and current information on Charlotte, Mecklenburg County and North Carolina. It also contains genealogical resources from all fifty states in print and online, the largest collection of family history materials in a North Carolina public library! This video will introduce you to some of the staff and resources in the Carolina Room.

HistorySouth.org offers a grab-bag of essays exploring history and culture in Charlotte, NC, and the American South. You’ll find urban geography, music traditions, foodways, and whatever else catches our fancy. Additionally, Tom Hanchett is a well-known historian in this area, and active in exploring the region's history.

You’ve likely heard the names John Belk and Hugh McColl in conversations about Charlotte’s storied history. But what about lesser-known, but just-as-important, Black pioneers like Daniel Sanders and Harvey Boyd? Many notable Black Charlotteans shaped the Queen City as we know it, and we’re still benefiting from their contributions.

Historic postcards from UNC Commons, illustrating a variety of eras and places.

Join Charlotte Talks for a special series examining America’s struggle with racial injustice. Mike Collins hosts a week-long look at this enduring problem as many of us turn to history books to understand our nation's troubled track record on race. The full four-part series is available now on the Charlotte Talks podcast and online.

Richard Rothstein’s "The Color of Law" illustrates how laws and housing policy at all levels promoted discriminatory patterns that continue to this day. Mike Collins talks with Rothstein and local organizers about how to use that knowledge to make better policy in the future.

Since the end of the Civil War, the United States has been battling over who is allowed to participate in our democracy and how they are allowed to do it. In many ways, North Carolina is the epicenter of the struggle.

Charlotte was founded 250 years ago when British Governor Tryon signed the charter on December 3, 1768. The Queen City, which is older than the United States itself, sits along two trading paths carved by the Catawba Indians. Of course, we now know them as Trade Street and Tryon Street.

In 1865, nearing the end of the Civil War, thousands of formerly enslaved people were promised 40 acres and, eventually, a mule. This was likely the first attempt in American history at reparations for Black Americans. It never came to pass.
This is not a great one for local history, but it does provide a fantastic baseline for how the structure got how it is.

Dr. Dan Morrill, a retired professor from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and retired Director of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission discusses the history of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in North Carolina. Some of the episodes are directly about race and racism in Charlotte.