Community honors life of Lawrence Orr with documentary

CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte community is honoring the life of the son of two former enslaved people, who left his mark on the Queen City.

You may recognize his name, Lawrence Orr.

Lawrence Orr Elementary School or Lawrence Orr Road may come to mind when you hear that name.

However, there’s a lot more to the story.

Orr was well known for his advocating of Black voting rights, land ownership and petitioning to build four all-African-American-schools in the 1930s.

A new documentary that highlights everything Orr has done for the city debuted Thursday at Lawrence Orr Elementary School in east Charlotte.

Orr’s family members remembered what he did for the community.

“The story of my grandfather’s contributions are important for people to hear, to know and to be able to make a connection with,” said Orr’s granddaughter, Judy Orr.

Orr’s family hopes the documentary will be preserved through Charlotte’s historical record.

You can watch the trailer of the documentary, here.

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