The Museum's strategic plan includes ambitious goals to guide us towards accomplishing our mission. These goals build on more than 40 years of history preservation and education.
Read Our New Strategic Plan
Organization
About the Museum
The Charlotte Museum of History saves and shares the Charlotte region’s history, connecting the past to current issues and opportunities. We believe a shared understanding of the past can enrich the community’s future, and we work to tell the stories of all parts of our community and all those who have inhabited our area.
Museum programs and exhibits explore important civic themes and how their meaning has evolved over time, including ideals of liberty, freedom, equity, justice, democracy, and citizenship.
The museum sits on an eight-acre wooded campus in fast-changing East Charlotte. It’s the site of the oldest surviving house in Mecklenburg County, the Rock House built circa 1774 for the Hezekiah Alexander household. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and a designated local landmark, the house is Charlotte’s only remaining structure from the days of the Revolutionary period. Nearby are a relocated barn dating to the era, a reproduction log kitchen, and a reconstructed two-story springhouse. Tours of the site and museum programs highlight how people lived during that era and tell of the many cultures that came together to build Charlotte, including the stories of Black, Indigenous, and immigrant communities.
Strategic Plan 2022-2027
Mission & Vision
The Charlotte Museum of History is a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit organization that interprets and preserves Charlotte’s unique history, with a mission to inspire community engagement and create common ground through education and inclusive storytelling.
Vision
A united Charlotte using knowledge of its history to build a future with greater opportunity for all.
Guiding Principles
- Engaging, interactive educational programs
- Inclusivity and outreach to Charlotte’s diverse communities
- Collaboration and community partnerships
- Focus is external, on the customer and the community
- Creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit
- Accountability, with measured outcomes and impacts
- Strong stewardship of entrusted resources
Organization History
Beginning in the 1940s, the 1774 Alexander Rock House was leased and managed by the Daughters of the American Revolution to tell the story of the American Revolution and the colonial past of the Carolina Backcountry. In 1969, The Hezekiah Alexander Foundation, Inc., was chartered as a 501(c)3 nonprofit to steward the site and raise funds for restoration and preservation. The homesite and museum officially opened in July 1976 as the nation celebrated its Bicentennial. Since then, through several administrative changes, the Charlotte Museum of History has saved and shared our region’s history, connecting the past to current issues and opportunities. The Museum is a private nonprofit organization run by a volunteer board of trustees and professional full-time and part-time staff. The Museum receives no regular government operating support and is funded through private donations, grants, and program revenue.