Harvey B. Gantt, a former Charlotte mayor and city councilmember, a nominee for the United States Senate, an accomplished architect, and a dedicated community activist, received the 2018 Liberty Bell Award at the MCB Law Day Luncheon on May 3, 2018.
The annual Liberty Bell Award recognizes an individual who has performed community service that has strengthened the American system of freedom under the law, including 1) promoting a better understanding of our Constitution and the Bill of Rights; 2) encouraging greater respect for law and the courts; 3) stimulating a deeper sense of individual responsibility so that citizens recognize their duties as well as their rights; 4) contributing to the effective functioning of our institutions of government; and/or 5) fostering a better understanding and appreciation of the rule of law.
Mr. Gantt is a seminal public figure of his generation. From his activism as a youth in Charleston, South Carolina, to his integration of Clemson University in 1963 to his service as a pioneering Charlotte mayor and as city councilman to his stellar career as an architect, Mr. Gantt has been (and continues to be) pivotal in the promotion of freedom under the law in Mecklenburg County, in North Carolina, and beyond. Mr. Gantt has made, and continues to make, a powerful and lasting impact on the legal and political history of our region.