On the next Charlotte Talks, we sit down with the president and CEO of the Charlotte Museum of History, Terri White. She’s been on the job for a little over two years.
During her short time at the helm, she’s overseen projects that have put a feather in the museum’s cap. One of notable accomplishments was the move of the more than 100-year-old Siloam School. It’s one of the oldest African American schools in Mecklenburg County. In September, crews loaded the old schoolhouse onto a truck and moved it from where it was built in Mallard Creek to its new home outside the Charlotte Museum of History.
Recently, the museum was awarded a grant to help fund the restoration of The Hezekiah Alexander House — the oldest home in Mecklenburg County — and it is part of a homesite preserved by Charlotte Museum of History. It’s known as the crown jewel of the museum and draws crowds in tours and history lessons.
But there have been challenges as well. The museum continues to fight for funding, only receiving a fraction of what it asked for from city council.
Plus, there’s the challenge of preserving and collecting the history of a city like Charlotte, a place that can have a bad habit of knocking down old buildings and, sometimes, forgetting the lessons learned of the past.
We get to know White, her vision for the future, and hear more on the highlights and challenges of the job.
Guest:
Terri White, president of the Charlotte Museum of History
