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MHC News
Due to continued COVID-19 closures, the July MHC meeting was conducted virtually. The Commission approved three new historical markers: Campaign for the Vote, History of Edgehill and The Edgehill Community. (Look for the final Edgehill markers' text in the September newsletter!) The Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission sponsored the marker for Campaign for the Vote (marker #226). This marker will be placed at the corner of Anne Dallas Dudley Blvd. and Church St. The Campaign for the Vote marker will be unveiled on August 18th, the 100-year anniversary of Tennessee's ratification of the 19th amendment, which gave many American women the right to vote. The marker reads:
[side 1]
The Nashville Equal Suffrage League was formed nearby in 1911 at the former Tulane Hotel. In coordination with the Tennessee Equal Suffrage Association the energetic efforts of women leaders influenced public opinion in the decade ahead. Nashville’s suffragists hosted the 1914 convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), a milestone event. The Hermitage Hotel was headquarters and became the site of many future suffrage activities.
[side 2]
Among tireless leaders of the 19th Amendment victory in 1920 was Anne Dallas Dudley, for whom this 1912 boulevard is named. Prominent women included Dr. Mattie Coleman, Maria Thompson Daviess, Della Dortch, Lizzie Crozier French, Catherine Talty Kenny, J. Frankie Pierce, Katherine Burch Warner and Sue Shelton White. The Suffrage automobile parade of May 1915 formed up along the boulevard. Here also were several war bond rallies, in part championed by suffragists during the Great War.
Photograph taken prior to Pro-Suffrage Meeting at the Hermitage Hotel, 1920. Source: Carrie Chapman Catt Collection, Library of Congress.
MHC staff are currently conducting a survey of our historical markers across the county. We are looking at condition and location or accessibility documenting with photos and survey forms. Our oldest markers date to the late 1960s, so let us know if you see one that is damaged or needs some attention!
MHZC news
The MHZC’s July public hearing will be on Wednesday, August 19th at 2:00 p.m. and will be a virtual meeting. Guidance regarding meeting access and submitting comments can be found on our Coronavirus Procedures page.
On June 29th, Governor Lee extended Tennessee’s COVID-19 state of emergency (Executive Order No. 50) as well as the allowance for continued electronic public meetings (Executive Order No. 51). These orders are in effect through August 29th.
View the MHZC meeting schedule and application deadlines here. Access archived videos of the MHZC meetings on the Metro YouTube channel anytime!
Architect Ben Mosely's 5-year term on the MHZC expired at the beginning of June. We are happy to report that he will be re-appointed to serve another term. The MHZC vacancy left by LaDonna Boyd, who recently resigned, will be filled by Dr. Learotha Williams, Jr., a Professor of History at Tennessee State University. Dr. Williams currently spearheads the North Nashville Heritage Project, which encourages a greater understanding of the history of North Nashville, including but not limited to Jefferson Street, and its historical relationship to the larger Nashville community. Welcome, Dr. Williams!
Dr. Lea Williams, Jr. Source: TSU Newsroom.
At the MHC's virtual July meeting, the Commission unanimously approved the following formal statement regarding the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust currently located in the State Capitol. This open letter was sent to the Tennessee Historical Commission (THC) Chair, Ms. Derita Williams, as well as State Historic Preservation Officer/THC Executive Director Patrick McIntyre. While the State Capitol Commission voted in favor of removal on July 9th, the THC will make a final vote on removal in early 2021.
Metropolitan Historical Commission Statement on the Bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest in the TN State Capitol
Davidson County is home to a wide variety of extraordinary monuments, sculptures, and public art. As members of the Metropolitan Historical Commission, we work to preserve, protect, and document the history of our capital city. Monuments are reminders of our shared history.
Monuments in our public spaces serve as symbols of what we as Tennesseans value about our past. Because they convey an important public message, monuments should be both unifying and inspiring. The bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest does not reflect what today’s Tennesseans value, including diversity and inclusion, and it serves neither to unify nor inspire.
The Metro Historical Commission endorses and applauds the State Capitol Commission in its decision to remove the Forrest bust and strongly urges the Tennessee Historical Commission to come to the same decision. MHC suggests that it be relocated to Forrest’s boyhood home in Chapel Hill, Tenn. The State has transferred that site to the Sons of Confederate Veterans which commissioned the bust in the 1970s.
Governor Lee has emphasized in conversations about Nathan Bedford Forrest that one must consider important historical context. Forrest was a slave dealer, the commanding officer in the vicious Fort Pillow massacre, and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. His record of racial violence disqualifies him from holding a place in our State’s Capitol.
Our fantastic Nashville Sites interns have been busy this summer! Harpeth Hall student Janet Briggs and Emory University student Bushra Rahman worked with Assistant Director of Tours Kayleigh Whitman this summer to complete the Hidden History and Haunts tour. Janet, Bushra, and Kayleigh walked the tour route multiple times, researched and wrote the tour narrative, and gathered historic and modern images for the tour. They’d like to thank Tom Vickstrom from the Hermitage Hotel for his research assistance. After this tour is recorded, it will be available on Nashville Sites in early Fall 2020. Janet and Bushra also assisted with finalizing the Belmont-Hillsboro-Vanderbilt tour and created social media posts.
Circa 1970s view of Hillsboro Village, a stop on the Belmont-Hillsboro tour. Source: Nashville Public Library.
Tufts University student Olivia Olafsson completed the Music in Music City North tour this summer. In addition to researching and writing the tour narrative, Olivia worked with multiple local organizations to find historic and modern photographs for the tour, including Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum, National Museum of African American Music, and Barbershop Harmony Society. After this tour is recorded, it will be available on Nashville Sites in early Fall 2020. Olivia also assisted with finalizing the Belmont-Hillsboro-Vanderbilt tour and created Spotify playlists for each of the Nashville Sites music tours.
A stop on the Music in Music City North tour, the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) will open Labor Day 2020. Credit: NMAAM.
Belmont University student Aidan McKernan has worked with Nashville Sites for the past year as an audio engineer. This summer, Aidan also helped with mapping out tours, testing new driving tours, recording and editing the Belmont-Hillsboro-Vanderbilt tour from his home studio, and writing tour metadata and uploading to the website. Thank you Janet, Bushra, Olivia, and Aidan for all of your help continuing the great work of Nashville Sites! We wish all of our interns the best of luck as they return to their campuses in the fall.
As we celebrate 100 years of women's suffrage, be sure to explore the Woman's Suffrage and Women's History Highlights Nashville Sites tours!
Sue Sheldon White and members of the National Woman’s Party stayed at the Tulane Hotel in 1920, which was near Satsuma Tea Room. Image courtesy of Library of Congress.
On Tuesday, July 28th, the U.S. Department of the Interior formally designated the Hermitage Hotel (231 6th Ave. N) as a National Historic Landmark (NHL). This honorary listing is the highest level of distinction within the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), a program overseen by the National Park Service. Originally listed in the NRHP in July 1975, the Hermitage Hotel joins nearly 2,600 other NHL properties of national-level historical significance, seven of which have already been designated within Davidson County. Congratulations to the Hermitage Hotel on this fantastic achievement!
Postcard depicting the rotunda of the Hermitage Hotel, 1912. Image courtesy of Nashville Public Library.
The Metro Historical Commission Foundation currently assists seven of the more than 500 of Nashville's rural cemeteries through the Cemetery Maintenance Program. These include the Gower, Morris-Shane, White-Ogden, Sylvan Hall-Phillips, Thompson-Collinsworth, Morris-Shane, General Thomas Overton and Compton-Sirls cemeteries. The program uses funds donated from the community and descendants to restore and protect these important historical resources. This program primarily assists with basic upkeep like mowing, fencing and tree removal.
Archaeologist and stone specialist Dan Sumner Allen IV has assisted with much of the maintenance and repairs at these sites. Additionally, he often conducts archaeological work that can include determining the locations and number of graves. For example, some cemeteries once contained wood coffins that have since decomposed and left only depressions. In these cases, Dan created a survey map showing the burial locations. At the recently-restored Gower Cemetery, he identified 115 burials which include Gower family members and six enslaved Gower and Woodward African Americans.
Compton Cemetery stone fencing and markers. Credit: MHC.
In addition to Nashville's rural cemeteries, Dan has also been working in the City Cemetery, repairing gravestones and ironwork that were damaged in some of our recent high-wind storms in March and May. MHC staff coordinated the removal of a Wild Black Cherry tree with the Parks Department. The tree was identified as “declining” and was precariously located among several ornate stone markers.
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