Spaces Speak

Charlotte is infamous for tearing down its past. Our vociferous “New South” city, eagerly focused on the future, has kept few buildings from yesteryear, and those that remain have often had their histories muted.

But alumna Alyssa Brady is convinced that as the city moves forward, we must bring our stories with us — the easy stories and the hard ones, the loud and the quiet. 

This May, Brady became the first student to earn a Master of Science in Architecture concentrating in critical heritage studies. Completing a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from UNC Charlotte in 2022, she entered the new master’s degree track, and in fall 2023, she began an internship at Historic Rosedale, a former plantation that sits peacefully among the commercial confusion of North Tryon Street.

Read in this digital feature about how Alyssa Brady’s work helped to expand and promote the truthful, compassionate and equitable presentation of the African Americans — both enslaved and freed — who lived and worked on the former plantation.