Gantt, Harvey B. (Harvey Bernard), 1943-

Harvey Bernard Gantt (born January 14, 1943) is an American architect and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he notably served as the first African American mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina and was twice the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from North Carolina.

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, he attended Iowa State University for one year before becoming the first African American to be admitted to Clemson University. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Clemson with honors in 1965. In 1970, Gantt earned an M.A. in city planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During the 1970s, Gantt worked at various architectural firms in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he settled after receiving his degree from MIT. Between 1970 and 1971, he collaborated with civil rights activist Floyd B. McKissick to design Soul City, North Carolina, an experimental interracial community in eastern North Carolina. In 1971, Gantt left the Soul City project, returning to Charlotte to launch an architectural firm with Jeffrey Huberman. In 1974, Gantt’s political career began with his appointment to the Charlotte City Council to fill the seat vacated by Fred Alexander, the council’s only black member. Gantt served on the council until 1983. While on the council, he encouraged black voting and reformed the process of electing city council members.

In 1983, Gantt was nominated as the Democratic candidate for mayor and elected as Charlotte’s first African American mayor, serving two two-year terms before being defeated for re-election in 1987 by Republican Sue Myrick. Gantt unsuccessfully ran two U.S. Senatorial campaigns against Republican Senator Jesse Helms in 1990 and 1996. In the close and particularly bitter 1990 contest, Helms’ campaign used shrewdly-crafted TV ads targeting white fears about affirmative action, which Gantt’s supporters claimed were racially motivated. Gantt currently manages a successful architectural firm and remains active in politics. He has served on the North Carolina Democratic Party Executive Council, the Democratic National Committee, and the National Capital Planning Commission.