The Levine Museum of the New South, is a history museum located in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

whose exhibits focus on life in the

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. The museum includes temporary and permanent exhibits on a range of Southern-related topics. Founded in 1991 as the Museum of the New South, it was renamed after museum patron and

Family Dollar Family Dollar Stores, Inc. is an American variety store chain. With over 8,000 locations in all states except Alaska and Hawaii, it was the second largest retailer of its type in the United States until it was acquired by Dollar Tree in 2015 and i ...

founder

Leon Levine Leon Levine (born June 8, 1937) is an American businessman and philanthropist. He founded the Family Dollar chain of discount stores. Early life Leon Levine was born into a Jewish family on June 8, 1937, in Wadesboro, North Carolina. The family ...

in 2001, also the year the current facility at 7th and College Streets downtown opened.

Overview

The museum's permanent exhibit is called "Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers: Charlotte and the Carolina Piedmont in the New South", and features period displays that reflect regional history. The displays include a one-room

tenant farmer A tenant farmer is a person (farmer or farmworker) who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management, ...

's house, a

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning (textiles), spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Althou ...

and mill house, an African-American hospital, an early

Belk Belk, Inc. is an American department store chain founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, North Carolina, with nearly 300 locations in 16 states. Belk stores and Belk.com offer apparel, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, ...

department store, and a civil-rights era lunch counter. Changing exhibits focus on local culture, art and history. In March 2013, the

Charlotte Museum of History The Charlotte Museum of History is a history museum located in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Originally founded to be the steward of the 1774 Alexander Rock House, the museum has since expanded its scope to cover all periods of Charlo ...

announced plans to move its administrative offices to the Levine Museum. In 2019, the museum had an exhibit "The Legacy of Lynching: Confronting Racial Terror in America", prepared in collaboration with the

Equal Justice Initiative The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) is a non-profit organization, based in Montgomery, Alabama, that provides legal representation to prisoners who may have been wrongly convicted of crimes, poor prisoners without effective representation, and othe ...

, who created the

National Memorial for Peace and Justice The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, informally known as the National Lynching Memorial, is a national memorial to commemorate the black victims of lynching in the United States. It is intended to focus on and acknowledge past racial ter ...

. Relocation was considered in 2020 because the site had no room for expansion and was worth $7.7 million according to county records. The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

was one reason for considering more virtual options. On June 16, 2021, the museum announced it would sell the downtown location and look for a new home. This news comes as the museum adds virtual activities such as the digital walking tour starting in August 2021. These changes come with the help of a $600,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. In March 2022, the museum announced the sale of its building for $10.75 million to Vela Uptown LLC, which planned a high-rise apartment building. The museum closed in May to prepare for the move. On June 16, 2022, the museum announced it would reopen in Fall 2022 in 6000 square feet in the

Levine Center for the Arts Levine Center for the Arts on South Tryon Street in Charlotte, North Carolina, includes Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, the Harvey B. Gantt Center, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing ...

Three Wells Fargo Center Three Wells Fargo Center is a high rise in Charlotte, North Carolina. Completed in 2000, the building consists of 32 floors with of office space; it also includes an underground parking garage, an attached 10-story low-rise known as the Ratcliff ...

, in space donated by

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

Gallery

Image:Eingangsschild des Levine Museum of the New South.jpg, Entrance of Levine Museum of the New South Image:Eingang zu der Ausstellung "Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers".jpg, Entrance of "Cottonfields to Skyscrapers" Image:Baumwollmaschine im Levine Museum of the New South.jpg, Cotton-Machine Image:Modell einer Plantage.jpg, Model of plantation Image:Willkommensschild für den Präsidenten Roosevelt.jpg, Welcome-Sign for President Roosevelt Image:Erläuterungsschild der Ausstellung.jpg, Explanation-Sign Image:Modell des Bank of America Corporate Center.jpg, Model of Bank of America Corporate Center

References

External links

Levine Museum of the New South – official site
Museums in Charlotte, North Carolina History museums in North Carolina {{NorthCarolina-museum-stub