Historic West End Charlotte — Shift Collective

Charlotte’s Historic West End

Supporting a university archive in sharing and growing local history collections in a fast gentrifying neighborhood

The Challenge

The James B. Duke Memorial Library sought a digital platform for publishing location‐based content including historical photographs, documents, and oral histories to tell the story of a vibrant 150 year old African American community that surrounds Johnson C. Smith University on the west side of Charlotte, North Carolina. The Historic West End is a network of neighborhoods that grew up around the historically black college, which was founded as Biddle Institute by Presbyterian ministers in 1867.

Our Approach

In the early planning phases, we worked with the University Archivist and his team to define the scope of work and support grant-writing. Once awarded, we helped assess the target audience and needs to define how much of the output would be digital and what formats would best reach their target audience. We also helped create a logical framework for evaluation. Throughout the process we worked closely with the team to develop both digital and physical iterations of the map that was designed to support their community engagement strategy.

Stats and Impact

Printer proof for Historic West End 2-fold map/brochure, has gone through 2 printings to date

The library team was able to use multiple digital formats and repositories and bring them together on the Historypin map, which was embedded on their showcase site for the project
The project was successful at reaching the core audience of African Americans and increasing participation in the ongoing documentation of the area’s rich history, as well as informing newcomers of the historic importance
Special events encouraged bridge-building and increased understanding between the older, long-term neighbors and younger, new arrivals
The increased profile of the historic significance of the area will bolster efforts to attract additional resources for preservation and development that specifically benefits the Black population, rather than strictly extractive development.