Charlotte post office renamed to honor iconic civil rights attorney

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A post office in Charlotte’s Derita neighborhood was renamed Thursday for civil rights attorney Julius Chambers, who helped shape Charlotte into the city it is today.

The new name for the post office on Derita Avenue is the Julius L. Chambers Civil Rights Memorial Post Office.

Congresswoman Alma Adams introduced a bill last year to rename the building. An unveiling and dedication ceremony was held at 10 a.m. and Adams, along with Chambers’ son and former law partner, was there.

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, whose father fought for civil rights alongside Chambers even in the face of violence, was also at the ceremony. Stein knew Chambers before he died in 2013.

“He was not somebody who felt any need to promote himself, it was 100% about making this state, this country what it should be,” Stein said.

Chambers’ work became a pathway for more fairness for education, employment and basic rights in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina and the nation.

Chambers is credited for arguing several civil rights cases, including the precedent-setting “Swann vs. the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education.”

He won the case, opening the door for busing and school integration in Charlotte.

Adams, who serves as a leader on postal issues, regards the USPS as that pathway in similar ways, which is why she introduced the bill, signed by President Donald Trump, to allow the naming.

“Julius Chambers this persistent never forgetting that the work that he and his team were doing was for the benefit of those who would come after them,” Adams said.

The post office has another plaque that says President John F. Kennedy. It’s from the era when Chambers did work that would change the future, and people here today are grateful.

“We appreciate him. We thank him,” a woman said.

Last year, the CMS school board voted to change the name of Vance High School to Julius L. Chambers High School.

Chambers, who was born and raised in Montgomery County, opened a law practice in 1964 that became the state’s first integrated law firm.

CMS leaders rename Vance High School in honor of civil rights attorney Julius L. Chambers

Cox Media Group