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Harvey Gantt settled in Charlotte, North Carolina in the early 1970s after becoming the first African American to attend Clemson University, where he studied architecture and urban planning. He became a key figure in Charlotte's business and political circles. He was elected as Charlotte's first Black mayor in 1982 and served two terms from 1983 to 1987. At the time of the interview he was serving on the YMCA's Board of Trustees. The interview starts with the story of his childhood YMCA in Charleston, South Carolina, whose baseball team won the state Little League championship, but was not allowed to go on to the national championship because they were Black. He discusses integration, the prominence of the YMCA in Charlotte, ways that the Y's development mirrored that of the broader community, and the broader social challenges the institution has attempted to address.

Details

Title
Harvey Gantt oral history interview, 2021 July 6
Creator
Gantt, Harvey B. (Harvey Bernard), 1943- interviewee
Contributor
Grundy, Pamela, interviewer
Date (Text)
2021-07-06
Place of Creation
Charlotte, North Carolina
Publisher
J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections & University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Extent
1 audio file (44:21) : digital, MP3 + 1 transcript (14 pages : PDF)
Biographical/Historical Note
Harvey Gantt was a 78-year-old man at the time of the interview, which took place at the Dowd YMCA in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1943. Upon his graduation from Burke High School in 1960, he attended Iowa State University to study architecture and then became the first African-American student accepted into Clemson University in 1963. There, he earned a Bachelor’s degree in architecture and continued his education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to achieve a Master’s of city planning. Mr. Gantt moved to Charlotte in 1971 where he co-founded Gantt Huberman Architects and focused on designing buildings with an emphasis on community. Soon after his relocation, he joined Charlotte’s City Council and was elected as Charlotte’s first African-American mayor in 1983. Mr. Gantt continuously advocated for equity and equal rights using his platform as a trailblazer for racial equality, and served on the YMCA Board of Trustees.
Other Identifiers
Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/uncc:8521
System Control No.
YC-GA0007
Subject (Person)
Gantt, Harvey B. (Harvey Bernard), 1943-
Subject (Corporate)
YMCA of the USA
Young Men's Christian Associations of North Carolina
Clemson University
YMCA of Greater Charlotte
Subject (Topic)
Young Men's Christian associations
Social integration
Race discrimination
Geographic Coverage
North Carolina--Charlotte
South Carolina--Charleston
Subject (Occupation)
Mayors
Architects
Subject (Date)
1950-2030
Type
Audio
Format
spoken word
Oral histories
Interviews
Language
English
Usage Statement
Use of this resource is governed by the terms of the Creative Commons "Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike" license. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)
Record Appears in
Oral History Collections > YMCA of Greater Charlotte
Internet Mime Type
audio/mpeg
Location of Original
J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections & University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Reproduction Note
MP3 access copy created on ingest from WAV preservation master. Interview originally recorded as 11 WAV files on a Marantz PMD660 with CAD C195 cardio mic.

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