MHC News
The next Historical Commission public meeting will be held on Monday, February 26 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.
The renovation work at Sunnyside continues to yield surprises. Staff archaeologist Dr. Adam Fracchia led two excavation units being placed within the smokehouse ahead of its renovation. The excavation hoped to document evidence of the building’s use as a smokehouse by examining the soil below the floorboards. However, the artifacts and soil layers do not support the interpretation of the building as a smokehouse in its current location. Instead, a wide range of domestic artifacts were recovered from shell buttons to plate fragments to bottles. Also intriguing was the presence of a storage pit and pier within the foundation of the building. This suggest that an earlier nineteenth-century structure serving as a residence stood in that location. The building will be rehabbed and used as interpretive space. Staff are also continuing to work on a series of interpretive panels throughout Sevier Park, and will present their plan at the February MHC meeting.
At the Nashville City Cemetery, site manager Bryan Gilley is completing an assessment of damaged stones and has already marked 14 stones as a priority for repair within the next few months. Staff have cleaned out the maintenance building to prepare it for landscaping storage, and repair and signage work at the Keeble building is ongoing. New parking spaces and ADA signage should be accessible soon.
A look inside the outbuilding formerly thought to be a smokehouse, with an excavation pit inside. Courtesy of Adam Fracchia, MHC.
MHZC News
The MHZC’s next public hearing will be held on Wednesday, February 21 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!
In January, the Planning Commission voted to have Matthew C Smith, COO with Haury & Smith Contractors, Inc. as their representative on the Metro Historic Zoning Commission. Smith graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University, where he studied politics. Prior to working at Haury & Smith, he was the Communications Coordinator for Senator William H. Frist, M.D. Smith replaces Mina Johnson, whose term on the Planning Commission expired in 2023.
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 (330 10th Ave N). 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.
Registration rates (may register online, via mail, or in-person)
Pre-Registration (through January 31)--$30
Registration (February 1 or later)--$35
Student rate (must show school ID)--$20
Virtual attendance only--$20
Registration includes a catered lunch as well as conference profiles and program. You will also be provided with a link after the conference to access the video recording. 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!
The Metropolitan Historical Commission is now accepting nominations for the 48th Annual Preservation Awards program, honoring Nashville's best preservation projects. Anyone may nominate buildings or structures that have been restored, rehabilitated, or carefully maintained over time. The awards also recognize well-designed new construction that harmonizes with a historic environment. To be considered, nominated properties must be in Davidson County and have an original construction date no later than 1974. Infill projects should be no older than 2021. All projects must have been completed within the past three years. Previous winners may be eligible if the work is significantly different.
Nominations are due Friday, March 1, 2024.
The awards ceremony will take place in May 2024 in recognition of National Preservation Month. For more program details and submission instructions, please visit our Preservation Awards page! Have questions? Email Scarlett Miles scarlett.miles@nashville.gov.
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Registration is now LIVE for Session 5 of Don Cusic’s Nashville Music History Lecture Series. Join Dr. Cusic for great music and lively discussion about “The Nashville Sound” on Wednesday, February 21 at 6:00PM. Don’t be surprised when your feet start tapping! Like the earlier lectures, the fifth session will take place at Historic RCA Studio B, 1611 Roy Acuff Place, with free parking on site. Register today to secure your spot!
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View of Hubbard House, 1924. Courtesy Friends of Hubbard House.
Over the past few months, MHC staff have been working with Robert Churchwell, Jr., president of the Friends of Hubbard House, on a grant application to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s (NTHP) African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. According to the NTHP, “Grants from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund are designed to advance place-based cultural heritage preservation projects for historic places representing African American cultural heritage. The Action Fund awards grants across four project categories: Capital Projects, Organizational Capacity Building, Project Planning, and Programming and Interpretation.” While the MHC does not typically submit grant applications for outside groups or entities, staff wanted to ensure that the Friends group had an opportunity to apply under this well-matched funding source.
The McKissack and McKissack-designed Hubbard House at 1109 1st Ave South is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is the only remaining structure from the original Meharry Medical College campus in south Nashville. Designed by Moses McKissack and constructed in 1920 for then-former Meharry Medical College president George W. Hubbard, this masonry building boasts concrete floors on the second level, steel girders and steel bracing, and all of which have helped it withstand the tests of time and major weather events over the past century. Hubbard House also retains original wood floors, fireplaces, and moldings; bathrooms have original terrazzo tiles and sections of historic wallpaper are visible in some areas of the former residence.
This grant will assist the Friends in securing funds for rehabilitation of the building into a location for medical, dental, mental health, job placement, and other community services. Current plans would engage Meharry Medical College in the clinic operations. Rehab costs are estimated around $1.5M, which will likely require multiple phases of work and a combination of funding sources. Over the past few years, the Friends have conducted several pre-planning activities, including securing as-built drawings from Moody Nolan, completing abatement for mold and other contaminants, meeting with local historians and preservationists, and holding discussions with various potential funding entities. For more information on the history of Hubbard House and to learn about ways you can support its preservation, visit the Friends of Hubbard House website.
We are working on several grant applications with February 1 deadlines, including another phase of cemetery survey work (focused on Antioch and Donelson-Hermitage) as well as continued dendrochronology work at several local historical sites. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming months!
We are getting ready to begin the procurement phase for a few other grants. After a consultant is selected, we will begin work on the federal preservation grant from the Tennessee Historical Commission, which will result in a National Register of Historic Places nomination for Club Baron (Elks Lodge) as well as an architectural survey of mid-century neighborhoods in Donelson. We are also gearing up for Phase III of our Cemetery Survey Grant Project, which focuses on Bordeaux/Whites Creek, West Nashville, and Bellevue. We hope to start earlier in the leaf-off season than previous years, which makes these efforts much easier on our field teams. A community meeting will be scheduled later this year.
Also, congratulations to The House of God Church for receiving an Organizational Capacity Building grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation's African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. The House of God Church is the oldest holiness movement in America and was founded in 1903. Inspired to help Black churches sustain their historic architecture and legacy, the grant funding will support the new Preservation Manager staff position to guide the church’s historic preservation activities, build stewardship capacity by aiding The House of God Church, and develop a five-year strategic plan to inform strategies for conserving nearly 80 historic congregations, each with 50+ years of building use.
There's plenty of great programming at Nashville Public Television, but we are especially excited about this new program from the Citizenship Project series. Entitled Last Rites: Saving Tennessee's Black Cemeteries, the documentary focuses on efforts to protect these sacred spaces.
While you're waiting for that episode to air, check out some of the great shows about Country Music legends like Facing the Laughter: Minnie Pearl or DeFord Bailey: A Legend Lost; or explore Nashville through the Memories of Nashville series or documentaries like Facing North. I'm sure you'll see some familiar faces! Want to see inside the NPT Studio? Get your free tickets to attend a live taping of NPT’s A Slice of the Community featuring a conversation between anti-racist author and educator Tim Wise and NPT’s Jerome Moore followed by a Q&A.
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Don't forget about the Centennial Park weekly History Tours and monthly Architecture Tours.
Start the month off on a sweet note with National Ice Cream for Breakfast Day at Shelby Bottoms Nature Center on February 3.
Discuss the book Digging for Richard III with the Parthenon Book Club on February 5.
Join the Nashville History Club at Fort Negley on February 6. The topic, A Look at the New Deal: Governmental Building Projects in Nashville, will be presented by Ashley Howell.
Enjoy an Evening of Prose and Poetry at Hodge House at Warner Park on February 8.
Celebrate Chinese New Year at Musicians Corner at Centennial Park on February 10.
Explore a fossil collection with Fossil Finders at Fort Negley on February 10.
Join the Nashville History Club at Fort Negley on February 13. The topic, A Most Tolerant Little Town, will be presented by Rachel Louise Martin.
Hear from Joseph Ricci, Battle of Franklin Trust historian, as he presents John Schofield Versus Jacob Cox at Franklin at the Civil War Roundtable at Fort Negley on February 13.
Get a unique view of Warner Park on February 14 on the Love is in the Air Night Hike.
Explore the Cemeteries of Warner Park with a special guided tour on February 24.
Join the Nashville History Club at Fort Negley on February 29. The topic, Tennessee Prearatory School: Last Chance or Best Chance?, will be presented by Carol Schlafly.
Get to know Fort Negley on a special guided walking tour on February 29.
The 16th Annual Middle Tennessee Regional Student Art Exhibition, presented by Tennessee Art Education Association, Centennial Park Conservancy, and Metro Nashville Parks & Recreation, runs through March 2.
Attend the fifth in the six panel series Then and Now: The History of Minority Communities in Nashville on February 7 at 5:30 pm at the Main Library. This month's session focuses on Native American/ Indigenous People in Nashville and Middle Tennessee.
Submit your art for the "Nashville Reads Art Contest" inspired by the work of Nashville Reads 2024 author Jason Reynolds by February 13 at 5:00 pm.
Test your knowledge at Black History Trivia at the Hermitage Branch on February 13 at 4:30 pm.
Join MHC chair at a special meeting of the Nashville History Club on February 20 at 1:00 pm at the Main Library. This month's topic is the history of Fisk University.
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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On Sunday, January 28, the new historical marker for Saint Bernard Academy was unveiled on Bernard Avenue. Many current and former students joined MHC Commissioners Menié Bell, Jane Landers, and Clay Bailey for the celebration, including Ceci Martus who spearheaded the effort to recognize her school with a marker as a Girl Scout project. The marker stands between the current and former school buildings. Congratulations Ceci and everyone at Saint Bernard Academy! |
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Everything's better with cake! After rescheduling twice due to weather, we were finally able to celebrate this new historical marker with our SBA friends. As the cake says, they made their "mark on history"! In a full circle moment, Commissioner Clay Bailey reconnected with Sister Lauren Cole, who served as principal of Saint Bernard Academy for the last 3 years Bailey attended school there.
Interested in making your own "mark" on history with a new historical marker? Review our guidelines and email Jessica Reeves to get started!
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 The next time you are in the Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood, stop by the SNAP Community Center on Martin Street to see this amazing mural! It showcases many cool and historic highlights from the neighborhood (including the May Hosiery Mill) but the latest addition features MHC award winner, Friend of Fort Negley board member, and USCT re-enactor Gary Burke. We love seeing you up there Gary!
Did you know there is a Nashville connection to author and activist Sutton E. Griggs? Nashville was even the inspiration for settings in several of Griggs' books! He also founded Orion Publishing Company here, and was instrumental in founding the American Baptist Theological Seminary (today American Baptist College). Author John Gruesser explored this topic in a presentation at Middle Tennessee State University Honors College last year; you can watch the recording then explore on your own with the Sutton Griggs Nashville Trail Map.
Have a topic for our Local History Spotlight? Share it with us! Email jessica.reeves@nashville.gov for more information about being featured.
Bellevue Harpeth Historic Association invites you to hear Earl Burns, toolmaker, and Jeff Brewer, carpenter, from the Conservare Institute for the Common Arts (CICA) in Duck River, TN. They will be speaking on "The Development of the Historic Trades in Early Tennessee History," including details on the settlement into Tennessee, how the historic trades were utilized as well as a “show and tell” of some actual tools used during the early years.
The meeting starts at 6:15 pm on Monday Feb. 12, 2024 and will be held in one of the downstairs meeting rooms of Bellevue Church of Christ, 7401 Highway 70 South. Parking and entrance is at Door 6 (with the awning) on the west side of the building. The meeting is free and open to the public - come and join us for an entertaining and informative evening.
Bridgestone Arena--Celebrate Black History Month Night with the Nashville Predators--January 31
Jefferson Street Sound Museum--Black History in Music: Work, Worship and Celebration--every Saturday in February
National Museum of African American Music--Black Soul & Spirits Tasting--February 1
Belle Meade Historic Site--Carriage House Conversation: Black Heritage in Horse Racing--February 3
Andrew Jackson's Hermitage--Digging In: Rachel's Arrangements--February 3
National Museum of African American Music--Soul Food Sunday--February 4
Tennessee State Museum--Lunch & Learn: Boogie and Blues: Black Women and The Tennessee Playlist--February 8
Frist Art Museum--Gallery Talk: Carving a New Tradition with Nashville artist Ashley Seay--February 8
Andrew Jackson's Hermitage--Homeschool Workshop: The Declaration of Independence--February 9
Historic Nashville, Inc.--Behind the Scenes tour at Downtown Presbyterian Church--February 10
Travellers Rest--Landscape of Enslavement--February 10
Belle Meade Historic Site--Cupid's Tea--February 10
Andrew Jackson's Hermitage--Jefferson & Jackson: Creation to Preservation of our Federal Union--February 10
Nashville Fairgrounds--Nashville Black Market Black History Month Expo--February 10-11
Belle Meade Historic Site--Valentine's Dinner Experience--February 14
Andrew Jackson's Hermitage--Homeschool Workshop: The Corrupt Bargain: Jackson’s Presidential Elections--February 16
Buchanan Log House Chapter APTA--True Tales of Tennessee, Earthquakes to Railroads book signing and presentation with Bill Carey--February 17
Tennessee State Museum--Rhythm Revolution: The Evolution of Black Music in Tennessee (with Jefferson Street Sound and National Museum of African American Music)--February 17
Tennessee State Library and Archives--Author Talk with Andy Peck--February 17
Travellers Rest--Toddlers at TR: Valentine's Day--February 17
Tennessee State Museum--Storytime with the Nashville Symphony--February 17
National Museum of African American Music--Soul Food Sunday--February 18
Frist Art Museum--Jazz on the Move: Charles Mingus--February 18
Andrew Jackson's Hermitage--Enslaved Memorial Service at Hermitage Church--February 24
Events at 1900--CTC 3rd Annual Black History Month Expo--February 24
National Museum of African American Music--Soul Food Sunday--February 25
Frist Art Museum--A Peek Behind the Curtain: The Making of Monuments and Myths--February 29
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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