The Charlotte Observer: Its Time and Place, 1869-1986

The history of an important newspaper is almost by definition a political, economic, and social history of the region it serves as well as the human drama of the people whose visions, talents, and labors shaped it over the years. Jack Claiborne combines these elements in The Charlotte Observer, a narrative that traces the development of the largest newpaper in the Carolinas from Reconstruction to the present.

A business-oriented paper from the outset, the Observer began as a four-page, singl...