MHC News
The next Historical Commission public meeting will be held on Monday, January 22 at 12:00 p.m. at the Sonny West Conference Room, Howard Office Building, 700 President Ronald Reagan Way. You can find a full list of upcoming and previous MHC meetings on our website.
Nominations are now open for the 2024 Preservation Awards. Applications are due by Friday, March 1, 2024.
Renovations at Sunnyside continue to progress--exterior siding is complete and drywall has now been installed on all interior walls. The second-floor feature wall assembled from salvaged window units has also been framed. The brick paving for parking spaces has been completed in the new parking lot, and gravel will be brought at the beginning of the month to raise the grade of the entrance drive. The drive will be closed for most of January as this work is being done, and both workers and staff will be required to park at the Sevier Park Community Center. Siding has been completed on the Carriage House and the adjacent outbuilding that is being converted into public restrooms, and the salvaged carriage house doors and original hardware are being installed. Using the findings from the recently completed historical paint analysis that was funded by the MHC Foundation, we agreed to return to the first paint scheme of the main house (1852-53)--a warm cream on the siding with darker tans and browns for trim work. The rear ell and accessory structures will be painted a complementary but distinct warm white. We recently received a portion of the dendrochronology report from Dr. Maegan Rochner of the University of Louisville. The report definitively dates the larger and main log structure to 1823-1824. Dr. Rochner and her students are continuing their work on dating the ell’s secondary log structure, as well as the smoke house.
MHZC News
The MHZC’s next public hearing will be held on Wednesday, January 17 at 2:00 p.m. at the Sonny West Conference Center, Howard Office Building, 700 President Ronald Regan Way. View the MHZC meeting schedule and application deadlines on our website. Access archived videos of the MHZC meetings on the Metro YouTube channel anytime!
Many thanks to Mina Johnson for her years of service as the Metro Planning representative to the MHZC. Her term ended in November 2023. Thank you Mina!
The 43rd annual Nashville Conference on African American History & Culture will be held on Friday, February 9, 2024 at the Avon Williams Campus of Tennessee State University. In honor of the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, this year’s sessions will center around our state’s rich civil rights history under the theme, “Marching Towards an Inclusive future: Seismic Shifts in Tennessee Communities.” Presenters will cover a wide range of topics, including school desegregation, mapping destruction in Tennessee’s African American neighborhoods, integrating the airwaves, Nashville’s civil rights movement, and the history of Nashville’s minority communities. Entertainment includes a musical performance of songs from the Civil Rights Movement and a theatrical adaptation of Andrew Maraniss’ best-selling book, Strong Inside. Admission for the full-day event is $25, which includes a catered lunch. Online registration will open in early January and tickets may also be purchased on site at the event. Please watch the conference website, MHC website, and our social media channels for updates! Contact Caroline Eller or call (615) 862-7970 ext. 79780 with questions about the conference or registration. We are very excited to return to an in-person conference and look forward to seeing everyone!
Many thanks to everyone who came out in support of last month's Nashville Civil Rights Documentation Project public gathering at First Baptist Church, Capitol Hill. We are very grateful to Rev. Dr. Kelly Miller Smith, Jr. and the church's staff and members for allowing us to share our exciting project findings in that beautiful space. Thanks to our Metro Council members and commissioners who attended in support of this important work. We would also like to extend our gratitude to Linda Wynn of the Tennessee Historical Commission for providing a segment on the critical role of churches in the Civil Rights Movement.
Our project consultant, Robbie Jones with Richard Grubb and Associates, shared these findings during a recorded presentation at the December MHC meeting. If you missed the public gathering or just want to learn more about the buildings, people, and stories documented through this initiative, check out this video! Watch for further updates next year as the associated National Register of Historic Places documentation moves through state and federal reviews.
This project was funded in part by an African American Civil Rights grant from the Historic Preservation Fund, administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
Registration is now LIVE for the fourth session of Don Cusic’s Nashville Music History Lecture Series. Dr. Cusic will discuss “The Hank Williams Era in Country Music” on Wednesday, January 24, 2024 at 6:00 pm. Like the earlier lectures, the fourth session will take place at Historic RCA Studio B, 1611 Roy Acuff Place, with free parking on site. Hope to see you there!
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Don't forget about the Centennial Park weekly History Tours and monthly Architecture Tours.
Volunteers are needed on January 6 from 10:00 am-4:00 pm to gather the flags laid out to honor the laborers that built Fort Negley and other Federal fortifications.
Join the Civil War Roundtable on January 9 at Fort Negley Park as John Banks presents "A Civil War Trip of a Lifetime."
Train to become a Fossil Volunteer at Fort Negley on January 13 from 9:00 am-12:00 pm.
Hear from Sylvie Dumont, retired Registrar of Athenian Agora Excavations in Athens, Greece, in a virtual symposium on the Vrysaki Neighborhood and the Athenian Agora. The free virtual event begins at 11:00 am on January 17.
The 16th Annual Middle Tennessee Regional Student Art Exhibition, presented by Tennessee Art Education Association, Centennial Park Conservancy, and Metro Nashville Parks & Recreation, opens on January 21 at the Parthenon in Centennial Park. The exhibit runs through March 2.
The Fort Donelson Camp No. 62, Sons of Union Veterans meets at Fort Negley Park on January 23 at 6:00 pm.
The repairs by Rains Electric to the cemetery’s electrical system are still underway. To date, both the Keeble and Maintenance buildings as well as most of the streetlights are once again in working order, however, due to blockage in the electrical channel tubing at the back corner of the cemetery, additional work will be required to make those streetlights operational. Metro Parks is currently considering how to move forward with those repairs.
Interior renovations to the Keeble building are nearing completion with the drywall repair, painting, and cleaning now finished. Parks recently replaced the two existing HVAC units in the building, one on each side, and Parks is currently repairing and painting the exterior wood trim. In the coming weeks, they’ll also be replacing the windows in the building, which had begun to fail due to water damage.
MHC staff member Bryan Gilley continues to oversee the repairs to the Keeble building and has begun setting up his onsite office on the east side of the building. He has started a comprehensive cemetery assessment of the site, and to date has identified 45 fallen gravestones in Sections 1-15. His assessment will assist us with revising the department’s Capital Improvement Budget (CIB) request, which is due in early February.
Get a Behind the Scenes look at the Main Library during the January Library 101 tour hosted by the Nashville Public Library Foundation on January 24 at 9:15 am.
Stop by the Courtyard Gallery at the Main Library to see "Monumental: Photographs of Vanderbilt Women's Basketball from the Nashville Banner Archives".
Metro Archives (on the 3rd floor of the Main Library) presents The Kurdish Home Movie Preservation Project, a project by the Audiovisual Heritage Center that offered free digitization of home movies for Kurdish families in Nashville. The project was part of the 2021 Archives Artist in Residence (AIR) Program, and the 2021 AIR was artist Beizar Aradiani.
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The 39th Annual Nashville MLK Day celebration by the Interdenominational Ministers Fellowship (IMF) begins on Wednesday, January 10 with an event at Hadley Community Center from 5:00-7:00 pm. On Thursday, January 11, attend the Nashville MLK Day Gala at Meharry Medical College, then join Rev. Darryl Gray at the Labor & Human Rights Breakfast on Friday, January 12 at Scarritt Bennett Event Center. Saturday, January 13 features a Youth Symposium at Martin Luther King Jr. Academic High School while Sunday, January 14 includes a a moderated panel discussion entitled "The Power and Promise of Equitable Education" at Wightman Chapel at Scarritt Bennett Center. Finally, on Monday, January 15, meet at Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church at 7:30 am for pre-convocation events prior to Convocation at Gentry Center at TSU featuring keynote speaker Nikki Giovanni.
Khalil Ekulona, host of the Nashville Public Radio program This Is Nashville, will be the keynote speaker for Vanderbilt University’s 2024 Martin Luther King Jr. Day commemoration. The keynote is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 15, in Sarratt Cinema and is open to the university community. The event also will be livestreamed. The theme of this year’s MLK Day commemoration is “One Vanderbilt. One Nashville. One Dream.”
Want to learn more about Dr. King's legacy and Nashville's important role in the Civil Rights Movement? Visit the Civil Rights Room at the Nashville Public Library or take the Nashville Sites' Civil Rights Movement driving tour or Civil Rights Sit-Ins walking tour for free!
On Friday, December 1, the owners of GranDale Manor hosted an unveiling ceremony for the newest Phil Ponder print which depicts GranDale. This is the first Ponder artwork for a building in Southeast Nashville. The effort was spearheaded by Register of Deeds and former Council Member Karen Y. Johnson, who attended the ceremony alongside CMs David Benton (D28), Tasha Ellis (D29) and MHC staff member Caroline Eller. For information on how to purchase a copy of the GranDale print, please contact Picture This in Hermitage. You can also view the print design and event photos here.
Mr. Ponder received the MHC Achievement Award at the 2023 Preservation Awards for his years of civic service and dedication to preserving a visual history of Nashville landmarks. A Metro Historical Marker was dedicated at GranDale Manor in July 2018.
Image: Phil Ponder alongside his framed print of the GranDale home. Photo courtesy of Karen Y. Johnson.
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Andrew Jackson's Hermitage--Winter Frolic--January 6
Andrew Jackson's Hermitage--Commemoration of the Battle of New Orleans--January 8
Andrew Jackson's Hermitage--Battle of New Orleans "In 1814 We Took A Little Trip"--January 8
Cheekwood Estate and Gardens--Antiques & Garden Show of Nashville--January 12-14
Frist Art Museum--Performance: Music and Musicians in Spanish Latin America--January 13
TN State Museum--Craft a New Year: Choctaw Beading with Sally Wells--January 13
TN State Museum--Craft a New Year: Crocheting with Martha Baird--January 20
Frist Art Museum--Jazz on the Move: Sarah Vaughn--January 21
Andrew Jackson's Hermitage--Teacher Workshop: Tennesseans Who Shaped American Democracy--January 27
TN State Museum--Craft a New Year: Calligraphy with Ann Cobb--January 27
Cheekwood Estate and Gardens--Cheekwood Winter Concert Series: The Ryan Middagh Jazz Orchestra--January 27
National Museum of African American Music--Nissan Free Wednesday--free admission on the first Wednesday of each month courtesy of Nissan
Frist Art Museum--Architecture Tours--each Saturday from 3:30-4:30 pm
Tennessee State Museum--Museum Highlight Tours--each Saturday at 2:00 pm
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum--Night Train to Nashville: Music City Rhythm & Blues--online exhibit
Check out our online newsletter archives!
Have a preservation-related event that you want us to include? Send a message to Jessica.Reeves@nashville.gov
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