Happy 249th birthday, Charlotte. Here’s how to help transform the image of the city, starting today.
This last calendar year has been filled with political turmoil, both nationwide and here in Charlotte, and we are seeing a push within our City government department of Charlotte Communications & Marketing (CC&M)—the same office responsible for the One Year Later campaign — for opportunities to work harder than ever with the public and give citizens of the city outlets for political expression, activism and change.
Today (Tuesday, Nov. 7) is election day. Charlotte will be electing a new mayor, City Council members, school board members and other positions.
It’s also Charlotte’s 249th birthday. The City of Charlotte came up with a unique way to commemorate this day of “civic duty and celebration.”
How to get involved
For starters, our city’s leaders encourage you to vote and tag @CLTgov in your #ivoted selfies on social media for the chance to win a Queen Charlotte sticker.
The second aspect of this two-fold call to duty is to vote from Nov. 10-17 on reimagined portraits of Queen Charlotte submitted by Charlotte creatives. (Creatives can submit portraits by Nov. 7). The winner will be announced Dec. 4. The winner will receive the QC Prize pack with goodies from Charlotte businesses.
Why it matters
This year is the first that the City of Charlotte has ever officially promoted voting, says Ken Brown, Social Media Manager with CC&M.
This project—the call to vote and the call the create—is important, say Brown and Nick Stavros, Senior Graphic Designer with CC&M, because Charlotte citizens and government officials are responsible for building city pride.
They hope the light-hearted campaign brings awareness to the city’s birthday, builds momentum for next year’s 250th anniversary celebration and carries the energy into the next presidential election.
History behind the big day
“The area we know today as Charlotte has been occupied for thousands of years,” says Lauren Wallace, Education Specialist with the Charlotte Museum of History. “There were a number of different Native American groups who lived in and moved to the area … By 1768, unfortunately, previously unknown diseases … decimated these native populations.
“To survive, many groups banded together. The Catawba of 1768 were actually an amalgamation or collection of numerous cultures and tribes, many of whom had moved to the Mecklenburg area to escape the encroachment of settlers further east.”
Inspired by the promise of cheap and available land, settlers began nonetheless to infiltrate Charlotte in hopes of setting up prosperous lives for themselves (*ahem* sound familiar, current Charlotteans?).
Though European settlers set up camp in the Charlotte area for most of the 1700s, Wallace said, “Local leaders of Charlotte … officially acquired the land that would become the town of Charlotte from George Augustus Selwyn in 1767. They paid 90 pounds proclamation money to acquire the 360 acres that would become Charlotte. The town was then officially incorporated in 1768.”
A nod to their British heritage, the city was named after King George III’s wife, Queen Charlotte, thus giving our city the moniker “The Queen City”.
Charlotte today
And now, 249 years later, CC&M seeks artists ready to re-imagine our European heritage and give the Queen’s image an upgrade in light of our ever-changing city. As our city continues to struggle with upward mobility and gentrification, starting with the reimagining of our image is a great jumping-off point.
CC&M Communication Specialist Britt Clampitt said, “This gives citizens an opportunity to present ideas of what the QC means to them, hoping that this artistic expression leads to activism.”
Charlotte is an ever-growing, ever-diversifying city.
“Charlotte has changed from its origins in the Deep South,” Clampitt says, “We are now embracing diversity.”
This initiative celebrates that diversity and encourages Charlotte citizens to do the same.
Photo: Charlotte Communications & Marketing
This story was originally published November 7, 2017 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Happy 249th birthday, Charlotte. Here’s how to help transform the image of the city, starting today.."