GASTONIA, N.C. — A woman who was born a slave is being celebrated this year as one of Gastonia’s first citizens.
Charlotte McClee’s name is popping up all over the city. In the past week, a community garden has been named for McClee and there are exhibits about her life on display at the Gaston County Museum and the African American Museum of Culture in Gastonia.
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Channel 9′s Gaston County reporter Ken Lemon talked with McClee’s great-great-granddaughter, Stella Antley, about the recent recognition.
“It’s been a long time,” Antley said.
“History has finally caught up with the past. She has been hidden all of these many years.”
McClee moved to the area in 1870, seven years before the city was founded.
“She said, ‘I was here before Gastonia was here,’” Antley said.
“At the time, Aunt Charlotte was one of few midwives in the country. Her hands were the first to hold hundreds of Black and white babies. She often made late-night deliveries alone,” Antley explained.
McClee was also known as a gifted herbalist, using knowledge some family members believe came from ancestors in Africa.
“She knew the power of herbs, and back then there was no medicines or medicinal pharmacies,” Antley said.
McClee, who was better known as “Aunt Charlotte,” lived to be 111 years old and long enough to see five generations live free of slavery.
But the woman who lived through the Civil War and helped so many others was buried without a headstone until last week.
The community recently raised money for an official marker, and McClee’s family is raising more money to put a larger marker on her final resting place.
“Gastonia is welcoming her back with open arms like she never left,” Antley said.
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