|
MHC News
National Register: At the September meeting of the State Review Board, the National Register nominations for two Madison properties, Hank Snow's Rainbow Ranch and the Smith-Carter House (home of June Carter prior to her marriage to Johnny Cash), were both unanimously approved. The Tennessee Historical Commission will send the nominations to the National Park Service for final approval. Staff expects both properties to be formally listed in early 2019.
June Carter on a motorcycle at the Smith-Carter House, mid-1950s. Credit: Keenan Evans Wordpress.
Marker Project: September was a busy month for the MHC's Marker Project! Three historical marker dedication ceremonies occurred for the Smith-Carter House, Odom's Tennessee Pride Sausage, Inc., and Riverside Sanitarium/Dorothy Brown. A new marker for Antioch Pike was also placed as part of the project's priority list. Also installed in September was a new marker for Locust Hill (District 28), and a marker for Cora Howe's Wildings/Eastland (District 6) will be installed in early October. Dedication details for those are forthcoming.
The Smith-Carter House, located in Madison off Gibson Drive, was the home of June Carter and Carl Smith in the early 1950s. The house is architecturally significant, as a rare Monterey-Revival adaptation, and the home is where June came into her own as an artist prior to her marriage to country legend Johnny Cash. On September 9th, District 8 Council member Nancy VanReece worked closely with current property owner Todd Mayo to hold an unforgettable dedication ceremony for over 150 guests. The event included private performances from Carlene Carter and Jeff and Jamie Hanna, members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. State Historian Dr. Carroll Van West and Mayor Briley spoke in support of the property's significance and recognition.
Property owner Todd Mayo, CM Nancy VanReece, Carlene Carter and Mayor Briley proudly stand with the new historical marker. Credit: Metro Historical Commission Facebook.
Attendees of the Smith-Carter House dedication ceremony were treated to a private musical performance in the old barn. Credit: Metro Historical Commission Facebook.
On September 21st, a new historical marker for Odom's Tennessee Pride Sausage, Inc. was dedicated. District 9 Council member Bill Pridemore selected this property for its significance as a three generation-owned business that was one of the largest independent sausage manufacturers in America. Known for its iconic farmboy and slogan "Take Home a Package of Tennessee Pride," the company's products were regularly featured on Grand Ole Opry television broadcasts starting in 1956. The company, which began in 1943 with a $1000 loan, was finally sold in 2012.
Attendees at the dedication ceremony for Odom's Tennessee Pride marker. Credit: Metro Historical Commission Facebook.
One side of the Odom's marker features their iconic farmboy logo. Credit: Metro Historical Commission Facebook.
Riverside Nashville hosted a dedication ceremony on September 29th for the new Riverside Hospital (Sanitarium)/Dorothy Brown historical marker, located in District 2. Special thanks to Council Member DeCosta Hastings for helping this project come to fruition.
Opened in 1927, Riverside Sanitarium and Hospital provided African-Americans in Nashville with modern healthcare and drew patients & medical professionals from across the country. The mid-century modern Pagoda of Medicine, designed by Leon Q. Jackson, was built in 1963 for Dr. Carl A. Dent, who twice served as the chief medical director & president of the medical staff. McKissack and McKissack oversaw the construction of new facilities in the 1970s. The hospital closed in 1983.
Dorothy Brown was born in 1919 in
Philadelphia, Penn. She attended Meharry Medical College and studied under Dr.
Matthew Walker, Sr., who admitted her as the first black woman to the surgery
program. She was the first female African-American surgeon in the South, and
the first to be made a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. She was
chief of surgery at Riverside Hospital from 1957-1983. In 1966, she became the
first African-American woman to serve in the TN General Assembly.
MHC Commissioners Menie Bell, Linda Wynn, Lynn Maddox, and Christopher Cotton with Davidson County historian Dr. Carole Bucy, Rep. Jim Cooper and wife Martha Bryan Hayes at the dedication. Credit: Metro Historical Commission Facebook.
One side of the marker features history about Riverside Sanitarium. Credit: Metro Historical Commission Facebook.
The second side of the marker spotlights Dr. Dorothy Brown. Credit: Metro Historical Commission Facebook.
MHZC news
Please note, the Metro Historic Zoning Commission's November due date is earlier than usual:
Due to the Thanksgiving holiday,
the MHZC’s November public hearing will be on Monday, November 19th,
2pm, location to be announced. The application deadline is November 2nd at
noon.
Nashville Metro Archives' new division, the Audiovisual Conservation Center, is beginning a 9-month long project to catalog and conserve their rare archival film collection for the first time in history! You can follow along as they uncover fascinating films from the archives dating as far back as the 1930's on the NPL blog.
The Film Preservation Project is generously funded by the National
Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Preservation Assistance for Smaller
Institutions Grant. The Audiovisual Conservation Center is generously
funded by Nashville Public Library Foundation and is located at the Main
Library in downtown Nashville.
“Our rare film collection contains an estimated 400 reels of unidentified motion picture film that documents life and culture in the South dating back to the 1930’s,” said Kelli Hix, audiovisual archivist with the Metro Nashville Archives. “The NEH grant allows us to better understand the breadth and depth of our collection on film. It is a monumental leap forward in our mission to make this footage available to the public.”
The film collection is known to contain rare color footage from World War II, Martin Luther King Jr. at Fisk University, presidential visits to Nashville, and documentation of important moments from the city’s history. However, much of the collection remains unidentified, in part because the films must be repaired and inspected before they can be safely played. These challenges are directly addressed through the NEH project, which will help stabilize the most endangered films in the collection and develop infrastructure necessary to ensure future public access to the collection.
Film excerpt with Metro seal. Credit: Metro Archives.
Nashville's schools have a long and complex history attached to them. Metro Archives recently put together a great overview, as the histories of these resources are often difficult to document. Last summer was the 60-year anniversary of Nashville's controversial school integration, documented in Metro Schools Desegregation Plan and letters to then-Mayor Beverly Briley about the forced busing that occurred only after it was ordered by a federal judge.
Nashville author John Egerton posted an in-depth article, "Walking into History: The Beginning of School Desegregation in Nashville," that traced the timeline and events surrounding integration in Nashville. As Egerton noted, public attention of desegregation on September 9, 1957 was primarily focused on six Nashville schools: Buena Vista, Jones, Fehr, Bailey, Caldwell, and Glenn. Hattie Cotton and Clemons elementary schools were also desegregated that day, but were not listed in the papers so did not draw attention from protestors.
Photos of the seventh graders who desegregated Stratford High. Credit: Stratford Celebration of Character GoFundMe page.
A recent ceremony on on September 29th marked the 55th anniversary of desegregation at Stratford Magnet School,
where four seventh graders were the first African Americans to
desegregate the school (then Stratford High). Recognition went to Pamela
Franklin, Brenda Haywood (District 3 Council member), Beverly Ward, and
Bernadine Rabathaly. Former Assistant Principal, the late Ronald
Jefferson Webb who protected the girls that day, was also honored during
the event. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help fund commemorative plaques for these honorees.
Check out our online newsletter archives!
Have a preservation-related event that you want us to include?
Send a message to Caroline.Eller@Nashville.gov.
|
