Douglas Martin

In the record (3)

1. 1809

   A 1809 travel diary by William D. Martin ('A Journey from South Carolina to Connecticut') describes Charlotte at the close of the courthouse-village era as consisting of two streets crossing in a square, with a 'tolerably elegant Brick Court House with a cupola' at the center -- the county's third courthouse on that site, replacing the earlier 1766 log courthouse.

   Mecklenburg County Courthouse

   Source · checked 2026-08-13

2. 1957 · 1957-09-04

   Photographer Douglas Martin captured the iconic image of Dorothy Counts walking to Harding High School surrounded by a jeering crowd on her first day; the photograph won the 1957 World Press Photo of the Year award and became one of the most widely reproduced images of the American civil rights movement.

   Harding High School 1957 site (Dorothy Counts' walk)Harding High SchoolSecond Ward High SchoolCentral High SchoolNAACPDorothy Counts

   Source · checked 2026-08-13

3. 1970

   Second Ward High School's main building was demolished after the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board deemed the structure a hazard; only the school's gymnasium survived and now stands as a designated historic landmark on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

   Harding High SchoolSecond Ward High SchoolCentral High SchoolW.W. Ward

   Source · checked 2026-08-13