CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte Museum of History was founded to send one message, that the Queen City is capable of producing art and making an impact as other cities.
"We are just as talented and just as capable as others," Terri White, the museum's president and CEO, said.
The museum is getting ready to unveil one of its newest exhibits, naming it "Open Wide the Door. The story of Mary Cardwell Dawson and the National Negro Opera Company."
Work putting the exhibit together happens both in and outside the museum’s walls.
It will tell the story of Dawson’s journey, founding what became the first commercially successful Black Opera company in the country, and giving Black artists a safe space to perform.
"Black artists of any genre weren’t permitted and weren’t really safe to perform in the South in the 1930s, '40s and '50s," White explained.
Over the decades, the company has been home to some of America's most famous opera singers, including Robert McFerrin Sr. and Angela Renee Simpson. But as for the exhibit honoring Dawson, White said the time is now. When WCNC Charlotte asked why, she had just one more message to tell.
"Classical music has been diverse from the beginning," she said. "This isn’t white people music, this isn’t old people music, this is everybody’s music."
The exhibit is set to open on March 26 at the Charlotte Museum of History. It will show off costumes from the era, as well as the history of Black performers, dating back to the 1400s.
Contact Kia Murray at kmurray@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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