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This museum's official displays both of the most distinctive architectural styles of the period: classicism and Art Deco.&nbsp;The building was&nbsp;constructed from 1933 to 1934 under the direction of the local architectural firm of Marr &amp; Holman and financed by monies appropriated by Congress during the Hoover administration. The building's layout was inspired by the mindset of architects from the Depression who preferred starved and stripped classicism. The floors are filled with marble coated flooring and the walls consist of glittery- stoned wall. This type of layout is called "Art Deco". The Frist Art center opened in 2001 and since then they have had many art exhibits bring in new culture, customs, and ideas from around the world.The Frist Center for the Visual Arts has become a magnet for Nashville’s rapidly expanding visual arts scene. With an exhibitions schedule that has new art flowing through the magnificent art deco building every 6 to 8 weeks, no matter how often one visits, there is always something new and exciting to see in the spacious galleries. Each exhibition page contains detailed information about exhibition-related programs and an array of resources, including gallery guides, audio guides, videos and additional information from varying sources. The Frist Art Center is always growing and inspiring people of all ages to come together to admire all kinds of Art.

The Frist Center is located in the historic Nashville Post Office, an art deco building constructed during the Great Depression. 

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The premiere art museum and cultural center in Nashville, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts opened in 2001 and boasts 24,000 square feet of gallery space. The museum's permanent collection includes paintings and sculpture from around the world, as well as rotating exhibits of fine art and folk art from local and regional artists. The building itself was constructed in 1932 and served as a U.S. Post Office until the 1980s. It is an excellent example of Art Deco architecture and for this reason was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Frist Center for the Visual Arts 

This tour starts at the Bicentennial Capitol Mall and state capitol and includes several museums, landmarks, monuments, and historic buildings as it winds its way towards the Ryman and some of the most significant sites in the history of country music. The tour concludes with several historic buildings and institutions related to the history of country music. The tour also makes a stop at the Union Station Hotel towards the end of the walk where guests can enjoy refreshments from one of Nashville's leading historic hotels before making their way to Hatch Show Print and other legendary establishments. 

The state legislature created Tennessee 200 and appointed a&nbsp;Bicentennial Commission several years prior to the 200-year anniversary of Tennessee's admission into the United States in 1796. These two organizations&nbsp;coordinated projects and awarded grants to local counties to fund bicentennial celebrations, and also worked to create this historical park in the shadow of the state capitol.&nbsp;The mall was dedicated on June 1, 1996. Each feature of the park was planned to commemorate the history of the state or highlight its natural features.&nbsp;For example, 31 fountains representing&nbsp;the leading waterways of the state come together at the&nbsp;Rivers of Tennessee Fountain&nbsp;Plaza.&nbsp;The&nbsp;Tennessee&nbsp;Map Plaza features a 200-foot wide granite map of the state. Together&nbsp;with eight smaller maps, the Plaza highlights information about the state's&nbsp;geography, economics, and history. The park is best&nbsp;known for its iconic Court of 3 Stars which includes the icon of three stars found in the&nbsp;Tennessee state flag. The image and state flag represent the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee-- East, Middle, and West.&nbsp;East Tennessee is home to the Great Smoky Mountains&nbsp;and is&nbsp;part of Appalachia. In contrast to the mountainous region of Eastern Tennessee,&nbsp;Middle Tennessee features&nbsp;rolling hills and is home to Nashville. West&nbsp;Tennessee&nbsp;has a more&nbsp;"Southern" orientation and is&nbsp;part of the Gulf Coastal Plain. Historically, this region was&nbsp;dominated by cotton production. During the Civil War, many of the&nbsp;residents of&nbsp;East Tennessee opposed secession. In fact, some residents attempted to secede from Tennessee after the rest of the state joined the Confederacy. Given its reliance on cotton and the dominance of cotton planters,&nbsp;West Tennessee strongly favored secession. As one might expect, residents of&nbsp;Middle Tennessee divided on the issue of secession.&nbsp;&nbsp; In addition to monuments and markers, the&nbsp;park is home to the&nbsp;Tennessee History Festival. This two-day festival is held each October&nbsp;and offers historic displays, lectures and entertainment, and&nbsp;demonstrations by historic re-enactors.&nbsp; Park visitors often enjoy a trip to the nearby&nbsp;Nashville Farmers’ Market. Open year-round and located just&nbsp;across&nbsp;from the park, the Farmer's Market is home to vendors as well as&nbsp;restaurants and retail shops.

This 19-acre park was created in 1996 as part of the state of Tennessee's efforts to commemorate the 200-year anniversary of Tennessee statehood. The park includes dozens of monuments and historic markers that interpret and celebrate the state's history, including a "Pathway of History" that guides visitors through a chronological exploration of Tennessee's past. Other highlights include the World War II Memorial, a circle of carillon towers with 95 bells, a 200-foot granite map of the state, several fountains, and a 2,000-seat amphitheater.  

Bicentennial Capitol Mall

The women’s suffrage movement in Tennessee began in the 1870s and 1880s through the work of Elizabeth Meriwether and Lide Meriwether and the first suffrage organizations appeared in the 1880s and 1890s. After a lull in momentum, women again actively campaigned for suffrage starting in 1905 but Tennessee was a very divided state on the subject. There was a strong-anti suffrage movement in the state and the suffrage movement itself was extremely split after an argument in 1913. After the rift, there were two organizations that called themselves the Tennessee Equal Suffrage Association (TESA) (one was Incorporated and the other was not), and both considered themselves the official suffrage organization of the state. With several suffrage organizations working within the state, suffragists made some progress in getting legislation approved in 1915 and 1917, but these attempts were ultimately rejected by voters in 1917. In 1918 the two versions of TESA reunited and tried again to lobby the legislature for suffrage. That year Tennessee women were granted partial suffrage and could vote in municipal and presidential elections. Two months later Congress passed the 19th Amendment and sent it to the states for ratification.By the summer of 1920 suffragists focused their hopes for the 19th Amendment on just a few states like Tennessee and North Carolina. Tennessee still had a strong anti-suffrage movement, which included the governor who was responsible to calling a special session to even consider ratification. Women from both the state and national suffrage movements converged on the capitol to convince Governor Albert H. Roberts to call the session, which he finally agreed to do at the end of June. Through July both the pro- and anti- suffrage movements focused all their attention in convincing members of the legislature to commit to their side. Sometimes the fight to win support for each side is called the “War of the Roses” because when a legislator committed to voting one way or the other women would give them a rose to pin on their lapel. Supporters of suffrage wore yellow roses while those for anti-suffrage wore red.The special session of the Tennessee legislature convened on August 9, 1920. The Senate was majority pro-suffrage and quickly voted to ratify the amendment within a couple of days. The House was divided and seemed to be in the hands of anti-suffrage supporters. After a delay in the proceedings the House finally debated the amendment on August 17 and the House vote was scheduled for August 18. Two times the House voted, with the anti-suffrage supporters voting to table the amendment (thus killing the amendment by not voting on it). Each vote ended in a deadlock tie, 48-48. Finally, the House commenced a roll-call vote on ratification of the 19th Amendment. The anti-suffragists believed that they had enough votes to stop ratification and the suffragists needed one vote to change to their side to approve the amendment.Twenty-four-year-old freshman delegate Harry T. Burn initially supported the anti-suffrage side. He wore a red rose to the vote on August 18 and voted twice to table the amendment. However, when the roll call vote occurred Burns switched his vote to supporting ratification. This was the tiebreaking vote that suffragists needed and when two other legislators switched their votes at the end of the roll call, it gave a constitutional majority that sealed the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Apparently, Burns’ mother, Febb Burn, had not heard anything about where her son stood on the issue and decided to write him a letter, which he received shortly before the vote. “Hurrah and vote for suffrage,” Febb Burns wrote, “and don’t keep them in doubt.” He decided to follow his mother’s wishes rather than caving to the political pressure of the anti-suffrage campaign. With the Tennessee vote on August 18, 1920, 36 of the states had ratified the 19th Amendment and on August 26, 1920 the U.S. Secretary of State signed the amendment into law.

The fate of the 19th Amendment ended up resting with Tennessee in 1920. After March 1920 35 states had ratified the amendment for women’s suffrage. Suffragists needed one more state for ratification, but eight states had already rejected the amendment and a few others were either undecided or had decided not to vote.

Tennessee Ratifies the 19th Amendment, August 18, 1920

In February 1862,&nbsp;Nashville became the first&nbsp;Confederate state capital to be occupied by&nbsp;the Union Army. The building was used both as a hospital and&nbsp;barracks, as well as the seat of government for&nbsp;military governor Andrew Johnson's pro-Unionist government. When Confederate forces under General John Bell Hood&nbsp;attempted to retake the city during the&nbsp;Battle of Nashville in December&nbsp;1864,&nbsp;Johnson allegedly planned to destroy the&nbsp;Capitol with dynamite should the&nbsp;Confederates push Union forces from the city. However, the Union held a nearly two-to-one advantage in the battle, and Hood was forced to retreat.&nbsp; The capitol grounds include the tomb of James K. Polk, the second Tennessee native to become President of the United States. The first Tennessean to secure this honor, Andrew Jackson, is featured in a large&nbsp;equestrian&nbsp;statue.&nbsp; Free guided tours leave from the Information Desk on the First Floor of the Capitol every hour, on the hour. The first tour begins at 9 a.m. and the final tour begins at 3 p.m. The Information desk will also provide guides for those who prefer a self-guided tour.&nbsp;

The State Capitol Building is located at the crest of a hill once known as Cedar Knob. The capitol stands prominently within the downtown skyline because this hill is the highest point in the city. The cornerstone for the building was laid on July 4, 1845, and construction was completed in 1859. The building was designed by architect William Strickland and later stages of construction were supervised by British architect Harvey Ackroyd because Strickland died five years prior the completion of the building. Strickland's body is entombed in the Capitol.  

Tennessee State Capitol

History of the State Library &amp; Archives

Housed in the State Capitol Building beginning in 1854, Tennessee's collection of books and records quickly outgrew its original space. The collections were split up and housed in adjoining buildings and the Capitol Building attic and basement until around 1890, leading to damage from moisture, debris, and rodent activity. One janitor even burned several carts of materials because of the smell they gave off as they rotted. When the U.S. Government, in 1893, requested a set of eighty-five trunks full of records left in Nashville during the Civil War, improving the condition of the State Library and its holdings became a priority. Capitol superintendent Robert Thomas Quarles, under Governors Peter Turney, Benton McMillan, and James B. Frazier, spent the rest of his life working to preserve the State Library and Archives, rescuing eight million documents by the time he died in 1914.



After Quarles found quantities of Tennessee money amid the archives, the latter governor had the records moved to the armory, but state funding was insufficient to prevent further neglect and damage to the records by the turn of the century. In 1904, a Department of Archives was established under Quarles' leadership, and rescued significant documents including the 1796 and 1834 State Constitutions, as well as the official boundary map between North Carolina and Tennessee, allowing the state to collect substantial back taxes from its neighbor. The first State Librarian and Archivist, John Trotwood Moore, was appointed five years after Quarles' death, in 1919 (his wife, Mary Daniel Moore, succeeded him in the position). Moore, too, served until his death ten years later. Moore was the first to expand the library's special collections, including the addition of records from the Creek, Mexican, and Civil Wars, and World War I, as well as the Tennessee Historical Society collections. The archives continued to be shuffled from one home to another--from the armory back to the Capitol attic and basement during Quarles' latter years, with expansion into the Memorial Building by 1924.&nbsp;Mary Daniel Moore joined in the Historical Records Survey, part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration, to expand the State Archives in the areas of cemetery records, family bibles, and book holdings. Her tenure also brought about the cataloging of a quarter million records by the time she retired in 1949, and she was vital to the creation of a dedicated building for the State Library and Archives. Though construction was delayed by the outbreak of the Second World War, Governor Cooper remained dedicated to the effort, and Moore led a public campaign in cooperation with Tennessee women's organizations including the Tennessee Farm Bureau Women's Auxiliary, the Tennessee branches of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Tennessee Woman's Press and Authors Club, to raise support for the building. A 1947 House bill approved the funding for its construction, as well as the dedication of the State Library and Archives as a memorial to veterans of World War II.



Designed by local architect H. Clinton Parrent, Jr. with the input of State Librarian Dr. Robison, the Tennessee State Library and Archives construction began in 1951. The building was formally dedicated in June of 1953.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places as an educational resource and an example of late Neoclassical architecture, the Tennessee State Library and Archives was designed by H. Clinton Parrent and completed in 1953. Dedicated to Tennessee's World War II veterans, the building holds state documents, maps, newspapers, books, photographs, genealogical documents, and spaces for exhibits, programs, research, and educational outreach. 

Tennessee State Library and Archives

The beginnings of the Tennessee State Museum can be traced back to a museum opened on the Nashville public square in 1817 by a portrait artist, Ralph E.W. Earl. A young boy who visited that museum in 1823 wrote home that he had seen a life-size painting of then General Andrew Jackson. That same painting hangs today in the State Museum, now located at the corner of Fifth and Deaderick streets. 
 In 1937 the General Assembly created a state museum to house World War I mementos and other collections from the state, the Tennessee Historical Society, and other groups. This museum was located on the lower level of the War Memorial Building until it was moved into the new James K. Polk Center in 1981. The Tennessee State Museum currently occupies three floors, covering approximately 120,000 square feet with more than 60,000 square feet devoted to exhibits.

The official museum of the state, Tennessee State Museum includes 60,000 square feet of exhibit space for the museum's permanent exhibit which takes visitors through the history of the state from its Native inhabitants to the modern era. There are also several galleries that feature rotating exhibits that go into more depth about specific themes and topics such as women's history, the Civil War, civil rights, and political history. The museum is located on the first few floors of the James K. Polk building in downtown Nashville. The building is also home to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

Tennessee State Museum

The Military Museum is a great place to visit for those who are interested in the history of battles fought from the Spanish-American War through World War II. Not only does the museum offer artifacts from war events, it also gives detailed information about each war. Each exhibit goes into detail about what started each war, the military efforts given, and the outcome of each war. While doing so, it also tells the stories of Tennessee veterans.&nbsp; Some of the artifacts that are of interest and significance include Eisenhower's "Ike" jacket, a builder's model of the U.S.S. Tennessee, and two of the six Medals of Honor that were received by Tennesseeans. The museum also displays many artifacts from World War I and II including machinery, weapons, and wartime posters. A full-scale replica of the nuclear bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima can also be found here. Each exhibit gives full detail about what is being displayed and provides examples of how they were used.

The Military Museum is a branch of the Tennessee State Museum located in Nashville. The museum offers information and historical artifacts from the Spanish-American War up until World War II. Artifacts include deck guns from battleships, military memorabilia, and even presidential war memorabilia. The museum is free to general public. 

Tennessee Military Museum

At its conception, WSM boasted one thousand watts and was stronger than 85 percent of stations nationwide; in the South, only one station could be considered its equal. WSM transmitted on both coasts because early radio broadcast signals were unlimited. The station’s early programming consisted mainly of classical and popular tunes until radio announcer George Hay experimentally featured Uncle Jimmy Thompson playing the fiddle. He found an enthusiastic following for such “old-time music” and continued to develop the “hillbilly” theme.&nbsp; The Grand Ole Opry began in 1925 as “The WSM Barn Dance” which played every Saturday night.

In 1941,&nbsp;WSM became the first commercial broadcaster to&nbsp;receive an&nbsp;FM broadcasting&nbsp;license from the Federal Communications Commission. At that time, the station offered&nbsp;70 hours of weekly broadcasting. However, the FCC almost delayed WSM's license&nbsp;because other stations in the first group of FM stations to broadcast weren’t ready to transmit on FM frequencies. WSM engineers built their own twenty thousand watt transmitter, helping WSM to meet the FCC’s deadline and to reach a large audience. Live audiences soon outgrew the fifth-floor studio of the National Life Building, causing the show to move to the Hillsboro Theater. Over its lifetime, the show moved several times, once to the Ryman Auditorium, which later became known as the Grand Ole Opry House. In 1974, WSM finally settled down and called Opryland home.

WSM proved a sound investment that benefited National Life Insurance and the Nashville community. The station helped increase life insurance sales to rural customers who listened to the Grand Ole Opry through a new premium payment plan based on smaller, more frequent payments. The station and company contributed to World War II efforts. WSM brought Nashville the first television broadcast in 1950. WSM helped develop the Country Music Association, promoting the industry. Today, WSM listeners can still hear The Grand Ole Opry on Friday and Saturday nights.

WSM became the first commercial FM radio station to broadcast in the United States when it debuted in 1925, broadcasting from the fifth floor of the National Life building at 7th Avenue and Union Street. Today, the station operates a small studio inside the Opryland Resort. Edwin Craig, an employee of National Life and Accident Insurance Company, created WSM to capitalize on radio’s potential for advertising. He dubbed the station “WSM” to reflect the company motto “We Shield Millions.” Indeed, the radio station provided the opportunity for advertising, community service, and augmentation of company identity. The station far exceeded Craig’s expectations, fueling an expansion to a larger venue and providing the origins for the Grand Old Opry. 

WSM Studio

The Young Women's Christian Association originated in England in 1855. An International Division was established in 1894. Women living in or visiting Nashville banded together in the 1890s to form a local chapter. The local group first met in November 1898 at Nashville's Maxwell House Hotel and was headed by a local Presbyterian minister, Reverend James I. Vance. One week later, the group met again at the Young Men's Christian Association Building in Nashville; later meetings took place in several rooms above Thompson's store. In 1899, the group received affiliation with the national YWCA. The YWCA purchased the lot for their first permanent home in Nashville in 1908, just two blocks away from the State Capitol. By 1910, $90,000 had been raised for the new building. Shattuck and Hussey, a Chicago architectural firm, designed the Georgian Revival style building. Local brickmakers Bush Building Company supplied the bricks for the veneer of the steel and concrete framed structure. Foster Herbert Stone provided limestone for the exterior details, like the keystone above each front window and a belt course above the first story. Otis Elevator was hired to install an elevator.The YWCA featured rooms for single white women to board for one dollar per night; this included the first two meals of the day at the cafeteria. A library, gymnasium, and swimming pool kept members or guests occupied. An employment service helped find jobs, and classes were offered including literature, penmanship, Bible study, and mental hygiene. A local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy used to rent a room in the building for their meetings from the late 1910s to the late 1920s.This Central Branch of the YWCA was not racially integrated until the 1960s. A separate YWCA for African American women was established in 1919 as the Blue Triangle League and was later renamed the Blue Triangle Branch of the Nashville YWCA. The Blue Triangle Branch met at facilities several blocks east of the Central Branch (436 Fifth Avenue N.) in a building purchased in 1921. Besides club activities, classes, and social gatherings, the Blue Triangle Branch offered lodging for single African American women. A new headquarters for the Blue Triangle Branch was constructed at 1708 Pearl St. and was dedicated in 1953. The Blue Triangle and Central branches merged in 1964, beginning with their lunch counters and following over the next several years with the classes offered. The residences at the Central Branch were fully integrated by 1967. The Pearl St. building stopped being used for classes in 1968 and was sold in 1974 to the Grace M. Eaton Day Home. The archives of the Blue Triangle Branch from 1919 to 1980 are held at the Nashville Public Library.A Nashville entrepreneur named Mike Shmerling acquired the former YWCA building in 1999 and sold it to Two Capital, an Atlanta firm, in 2019. A San Francisco-based company, Sonder USA Inc. planned to operate a 56-unit boutique hotel from the building once renovations are complete, according to the local newspaper article from March 2021.

The five-story brick building at 211 7th Ave. N was built for the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) in 1911 and served that purpose until 1978. The official opening ceremonies were held on May 9th, 1911, and included vocal performances, speeches, and prayers. The facility gradually became racially integrated in the 1960s. The YWCA building was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 1982; in that same year, the structure was renovated and became the Jacques Miller Office Building. Plans were announced in 2021 to renovate the building once again into a boutique hotel. The YWCA building is the last of a group of buildings built in Nashville in the early 1900s as Christian athletic facilities.

Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) Building

When construction on The Hermitage Hotel began in 1908, it was Nashville’s first million-dollar hotel. J. E. R. Carpenter used the distinctive Beaux-Arts style of architecture, offering a blend of classical Italian and French Renaissance features, and it is now the only commercial building left with these features in Tennessee. Carpenter went on to become one of New York's more prominent designers of luxury high-rise apartment buildings, with more than 40 of his buildings still being in existence along Park and 5th Avenues. The Board of Trade and local Nashvillians came together to create a civic campaign to raise funds for the creation of The Hermitage Hotel.Named after Andrew Jackson’s home, The Hermitage, The Hermitage Hotel quickly established itself as a favorite for politicians because of its location--right next to the Tennessee State Capitol. Over the decades, campaign headquarters were regularly established here. Prior to taking office, elected governors took up residency in The Hermitage Hotel, and it was not uncommon to see lobbyists and legislators congregating in the lobby.In 1920, the Hotel served as the headquarters of both suffragist and anti-suffragist groups who met to lobby the Tennessee General Assembly. Tennessee Representative Harry Burn cast the deciding ballot that enabled women the right to vote nationwide. Seventy-five years later, The Hermitage hosted a celebration to mark the anniversary of women’s suffrage and celebrate the Hotel’s role in the historic occasion. The Hermitage Hotel has hosted several notable visitors such as Presidents Taft, Wilson, Kennedy, Nixon, and Lyndon Johnson, and entertainers like Al Jolson, Bette Davis, and Gene Autry. Baseball legend Babe Ruth was a guest, as was famed bank robber John Dillinger. Being located in “Music City,” The Hermitage Hotel has many associations with country music. In the Hotel’s meeting rooms the Country Music Association was born. Legendary country singers Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and producer Owen Bradley stayed here. From 1925 until 1947, the Francis Craig orchestra performed in the dining room, also airing on WSM radio. In the mid-20th Century, The Hermitage Hotel closed its doors and the fate of the historic building was uncertain. Local historic preservationists united with Historic Nashville and Mayor Richard Fulton to save the building from the bulldozer. Finally, after four years of major work and renovation, The Hermitage Hotel reopened on March 6, 1981. This new era brought-in a slew of famous guests such as Red Skelton, Roy Rogers, and the well-known pool player Minnesota Fats even lived here for more than six years.In 2000, the Hotel underwent another multimillion-dollar renovation after being acquired by the Historic Hotels of Nashville. Since its reopening in 2003, The Hermitage Hotel has received numerous five-star ratings from the likes of the American Automobile Association (AAA) and Forbes. In 2020, The Hermitage Hotel was named a National Historic Landmark by the Department of Interior. The Interior acknowledged the significant role The Hermitage Hotel played in the passing of the 19th Amendment. Throughout the 20th Century, “Meet me at The Hermitage Hotel” was one of the most popular phrases heard around Nashville, now, thanks to the preservationists who fought to save this historic hotel, that same phrase still evokes a feeling of nostalgia and excitement.

The Hermitage Hotel is a prized treasure in Nashville, Tennessee. Construction on the city's first million-dollar hotel began in 1908 and was completed two years later. The Grand Opening on September 17, 1910 featured some of the most prominent people in Nashville, who enjoyed music brought in from New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The Hermitage Hotel was only the third skyscraper to be built in Nashville. The lobby floors were covered in white Italian marble and featured a painted glass skylight, while the guest rooms were paneled in mahogany. Over the years, numerous politicians and presidents such as Taft, Kennedy, Nixon, Clinton, and Bush have visited The Hermitage Hotel. Being a staple in Nashville, country music stars like Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash have also stayed here. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in August of 2020.

The Hermitage Hotel

Samuel Harry Kress opened his&nbsp;first store in Pennsylvania in 1887 and soon opened the first of his chain department stores that featured distinctive architecture and made Kress a household name in the early 20th century. The Nashville Kress building was completed in 1935 and featured Greek mythological figures on the front facade near the Kress logo. While the Kress stores ceased operations in the 1970s and 1980s, the many Kress buildings have been preserved and are featured in the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. The S.H. Kress Department Store in Nashville is now the Kress Lofts, a condominium complex. Founder Samuel H. Kress established a charitable foundation that supports efforts to preserve and share European art.&nbsp;<div>In 1960,&nbsp;the Nashville Kress store was one of several downtown establishments targeted by civil rights protesters using direct and non-violent methods to challenge segregation. In late February of that year,&nbsp;African American residents occupied the Kress lunch counter in defiance of its white-only policy of table and counter service. S.H. Kress stores throughout the American South had segregated lunch counters at the time. </div>

The students involved in the protests were from nearby Black colleges including Fisk University, Tennessee Agricultural&nbsp;&amp; Industrial State University, Meharry Medical College, and American Baptist Theological Seminary. An estimated mob of two hundred white citizens converged on the protesters during a sit-in at the Kress building on February 27, 1960. These white counter-protesters attacked the Nashville students, yet the police responded to the violence by arresting 81 of the non-violent African American student protesters. These students were charged with disorderly conduct and faced disciplinary actions from some of the schools in the city.&nbsp;

While white counter-protesters in Nashville were typically less violent than many cities of the Deep South, several civil rights protesters were targeted along with African American leaders and churches. Z. Alexander Looby, a Black Nashville Civil Rights Attorney, was targeted by white supremacists&nbsp;who bombed his home on April 19, 1960. On the same day, four thousand students, including future U.S. Congressman John Lewis, marched together to the Nashville courthouse to meet Mayor Ben West. One protester asked if the segregation of lunch counters that was happening in Nashville was morally right, and the mayor answered that he no longer supported segregation. Other white business leaders agreed with the mayor's assessment&nbsp;owing to the disruption of their downtown business establishments that resulted from the protests. On April 19, 1960, six business owners agreed to halt their practice of racial discrimination and serve all patrons at their lunch counters.&nbsp;

Nashville's Kress building was completed in 1935 and features the Art Deco style that typified many new buildings of the era. The store was part of an S.H. Kress chain of five and ten cent stores that were located in downtowns throughout the United States. In 1960, University students at local Black colleges in Nashville chose the S. H. Kress Department Store among other sites in downtown Nashville as a location where they would use non-violent direct action to challenge racial segregation. The first protest at the Kress building began with a sit-in that resulted in African American civil rights activists occupying the Kress lunch counter on February 13, 1960. The students continued to protest until May 10, 1960, when six downtown establishments agreed to serve all people regardless of race.

S.H. Kress Department Store and the 1960 Nashville Sit-Ins

History and Art at the Arcade 

Daniel Carter Buntin returned from a trip to Italy inspired by the Galleria Arcade in Milan&nbsp;and began a corporation to build Nashville's first covered shopping center in a similar style in 1902. Constructed in what was then known as Overton Alley between 4th and 5th Avenues, the two-story, open-ended Arcade was designed by Nashville architectural firm Thompson, Gibel, and Asmus. It was built in less than a year by Edgefield and Nashville Construction Company. The steel bracing for the gabled glass roof was installed by the Nashville Bridge Company. The second floor features a wrap-around balcony with decorative iron grillwork.&nbsp;When the Greek Revival style building held its grand opening in 1903, over 40,000 people attended (roughly one-third of the county's population at the time. Captain T. M. Steger served as the Arcade's first President, and some of the original shops included The Ocean, Patterson's Novelty Shop, Blue Seal Bakery, and Bland's Fruit Stand. The Walgreens drugstore at the Arcade was part of the 1960 <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=6426">Nashville Civil Rights sit-in</a> protest. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1972.On February 10, 1960, after hearing about the sit-in protests in Greensboro, North Carolina, James Morris Lawson Jr., a church minister, and the&nbsp;Nashville Christian Leadership Council (NCLC) met to figure out what they could do in Nashville, Tennessee. Seventy-five to one hundred students gathered that evening in Fisk University’s auditorium where Lawson announced that the sit-in protests were going to begin in Nashville.On February 12, 1960, hundreds of students showed up at Smith’s church FCBC to prepare for the protests the following day. They formulated the plan to send the student protesters in waves in order to replace the protesters that would be arrested and to enable them to be trained while waiting at the FCBC.On February 13, 1960, Black Nashville students from nearby Black colleges began their full-scale sit-ins. They all met at the Arcade on Fifth Avenue then split up to go protest nearby segregated establishments. These establishments included S.H. Kress Department Store, Woolworth’s on Fifth, McClellan’s and Walgreens.Around 12:40 p.m. at the establishments, the students made small purchases and then sat at the lunch counters. Within two hours, the establishments had closed their lunch counters to encourage the protesters to go home. The students left without much consequence.<blockquote>Lawson said, “It went very well. The police were orderly, the managers kept people from congregating without shopping, and the police did the same thing. There were plainclothes detectives, so for those two weeks the demonstrations went on with complete smoothness, well organized and without a hitch. We had observers in the streets. Will Campbell [a white civil rights activist} had put together a number of while observers to be present every time we sat in, in case we needed witnesses, so we had that organized. Others of us walked from place to place and kept our eyes on things.“</blockquote>











Throughout the following months, many sit-in protests occurred and the protests attracted more backlash and violence as time went on. The Arcade was the site of desegregation demonstrations after the sit-ins occurred.&nbsp;



Today, the Arcade can house up to fifty tenants, thanks to the purchase of surrounding properties for expansion. The first floor contains primarily retail and restaurants, with shops, offices, and a number of art galleries on the second floor. Art at the Arcade is an organization of some of the resident artists, gallery owners, and shops who are working toward the creation of an art district in downtown Nashville. The Arcade is also home to a curational organization, The Coop, which is a group of artists, curators, and professors working to present underrepresented, new, and challenging artists to the community. In addition, the Arcade participates in Nashville's free monthly First Saturday Art Crawl from 6 pm - 9 pm. More than twenty downtown galleries participate.

The Nashville Arcade was constructed from 1902-1903 in what was then Overton Alley by businessman Daniel C. Buntin, who was inspired by the Italian Galleria Vittoria Emanuele II Arcade in Milan. The Arcade, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, was designed by local firm Thompson, Gibel, and Asmus. In addition to its architectural significance and centrality to the history of downtown Nashville, the Arcade is also significant for its connection to the Nashville sit-ins and the history of civil rights. The Arcade was the meeting place for university students who protested nearby segregated establishments on February 13, 1960. Today, the Arcade is still home to many retail shops, as well as restaurants, offices, and art galleries. Two organizations of artists and supporters of art are based here: Art at the Arcade and The Coop. The Arcade also participates in Nashville's First Saturday Art Crawl.

Nashville Arcade

The Romanesque Revival style Utopia Hotel was designed by Hugh Cathcart Thompson (architect of the Ryman Auditorium) and opened in 189. It stands between Fourth Street and Nashville's historic Printers Alley, in what was then the Men's District—an area dominated by bars, gambling dens, and brothels in the nineteenth century. The uniquely narrow hotel, with its stone façade, stands six stories tall and held 60 guest rooms, with a basement below opening onto Printers Alley. When the Utopia opened, Nashville was one of the South's cultural, economic, and entertainment hubs, and not only did the hotel accommodate guests, but also offered a restaurant, saloon, and tobacco shop. Ike Johnson was the Utopia's first manager, but the economic Panic of 1893 led to the hotel's closing; Johnson opened the renowned Southern Turf Saloon nearby soon afterward, while the Utopia reopened under the management of William R. Polston, who, in addition to running a successful hotel, also initiated a bread line and hosted a Christmas dinner for Nashville's poor. The Utopia was particularly popular during the racing season when gamblers and jockeys alike frequently partook of the hotel's dining room fare. When a new dining room opened at the Utopia in 1904, the hotel held a banquet for the Nashville Press Club and was rewarded with excellent publicity. Among the Utopia's prominent guests were U.S. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Rutherford B. Hayes. Manager Polston died in 1911, and the Utopia was renamed the Bismarck Hotel and Café until 1920, when it reverted to its original name. Unfortunately, the business failed to weather the Great Depression, closing permanently in 1935. Only the first floor and basement have been used since, by businesses including a dry cleaning service, a restaurant, a barbershop, a strip club, and an office. Though the building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978, the 80 years of abandonment of the upper floors led to deterioration, and the Utopia was listed on Historic Nashville's nine most endangered historic properties in 2012. The development of other historic properties along Printers Alley into boutique hotels has sparked interest in the restoration of the Utopia, and investigation of the upper floors in 2014 revealed intact pocket doors and light fixtures, original trim and molding, and rare Tennessee pink marble elements. In 2016, Nashville's Historical Commission and Historic Nashville approved plans for the Utopia to be restored and reopened as a hotel with entertainment venues on the lower floors—a modern-day return to its original use. However, as of January 2021, there does not seem to have been much progress toward this goal.

The Romanesque Revival style Utopia Hotel was designed by Hugh Cathcart Thompson (architect of the Ryman Auditorium) and opened in 1891. It stands between Fourth Street and Nashville's historic Printers Alley, in what was then the Men's District—an area dominated by bars, gambling dens, and brothels in the nineteenth century. The uniquely narrow hotel stands six stories tall and held 60 guest rooms; today, developers are working with the city of Nashville to renovate and reopen the long-abandoned upper floors of the Utopia as a boutique hotel.

Utopia Hotel

Noel Hotel borders 4th Ave., Church St., and Printer's Alley to the rear; the hotel building also is part of the Printer's Alley Historic District. The hotel was built on the spot where a spring supplied water to early settlers at Fort Nashboro.Noel Hotel was designed by local architects Marr and Holman for lot owner O.F. Noel. It is one of the firm's last Neo-Classic designs. Above the ground floor windows are a second row of smaller windows with egg and dart molding and a Greek fret band. At the roofline, a concrete stepped parapet has circular and vertical inset decorations.It took over a year to build the twelve-story hotel. Soon after the hotel opened in 1930, a postcard proclaimed that Noel Hotel was Nashville's newest and finest, offering a tub and shower in every room, circulating ice water, a ceiling fan, and a radio. The dining room and coffee shop were air-cooled; a garage was directly connected. A hotel brochure claimed the 400-car garage was fire-proof and "modern in every aspect;" customers could access the rear of the hotel from the front of the garage, with elevators that reached the lobby or room levels.O. Russell Nichol was an early manager of the Noel Hotel. Patrons could stay at the Noel in the early 1930s for rates ranging from $2.50 to $4.00 for a single room; $3.50 to $6.00 for a double; and $6 to $8 for suites. The lobby sported columns of Italian marble imported from Rome and walls of Roman Travertine, all trimmed with Vermont green marble. Banisters and railings were solid bronze. The mezzanine level was meant for those who didn't want to "receive callers in their own suites." The Crystal Ball Room had a seating capacity of 300.The former hotel was renovated into banking and office spaces in the 1970s. Noel Place lasted nearly fifty years before the building was repurposed to its original use. In 2017, the renovated building became a hotel once more and currently operates as the Noelle Nashville Hotel. The boutique hotel has teamed with local artists to give the hotel a uniquely Nashville look and feel. The name "NOELLE" is displayed in a vertical sign hung on the exterior street corner at the second-floor level.

Constructed from 1928 to 1929, this Neo-classic style high-rise hotel cost $1.25 million and opened in 1930. Despite the challenges of operating a new luxury hotel during the Great Depression, the hotel became a central hub of Nashville and operated until the early 1970s. The building was constructed with a steel frame and concrete exterior along with limestone details. After four decades as a hotel, the building was renovated to serve as a banking and financial center called Noel Place. Noel Hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 as part of a themed nomination of Marr and Holman buildings in downtown Nashville. The building has become a hotel once again with a slightly changed name, the Noelle Nashville Hotel.

Noel Hotel (Noelle Nashville Hotel)

Since the population of the printing businesses of early 20th Century Nashville was largely male, local establishments – both respectable and less so – soon sprang up to cater to their needs. In 1909, the sale of liquor was outlawed, but the establishments of Printer's Alley considered this a very minor obstacle and continued to serve alcohol under secret official protection. And in 1939, after Prohibition was abolished but the sale of individual drinks remained illegal, Printer's Alley established a “bring your own bottle” policy, where bartenders gladly mixed the drinks patrons brought in with them. However, if you think the officials of Nashville were up in arms about this dissolute behavior in their fair city, think again. Judges, businessmen and even high-ranking politicians not merely looked the other way&nbsp;but frequented the area. One of the most colorful characters associated with the alley was Mayor Hilary Howse. After moving to Nashville as a teenager in 1884, Howse by the turn of the century had opened a furniture store with his brother and got involved in politics. Elected mayor in 1909, he liked to brag to reporters that he not only tolerated the naughty goings-on in Printer's Alley, but patronized them himself! (Lest the reader judge him harshly, it should be noted that Howse also gave aid to poor families and cleared slums during his tenure.) Ousted by “reformers” in 1913, Howse cleaned up his act, quit drinking and even joined a church. Newly enfranchised female voters brought him back to the Mayor’s office in 1923. However, to the delight of the patrons of Printer's Alley, the reformed Howse did absolutely nothing to clean up the area, which retained both its naughtiness and its distinct character. He died in office in 1938. In the 1940s, nightclubs sprang up in Printer's Alley, and performers such as Boots Randolph, Chet Atkins, Dottie West and the great Hank Williams frequently performed there. A noteworthy establishment was The Carousel. Unlike many of clubs in the area, though, jazz rather than country music was heard there. However, many of its performers were country players by day who loved jazz and enjoyed jamming there by night. These included Randolph, Atkins, Floyd Cramer, Buddy Harman and Hank Garland. But perhaps the most famous club in Printer's Alley was the Rainbow Room, operated by one of Nashville’s most beloved figures, David “Skull” Schullman. It was the only dancers’ club in Nashville to hire a live band to accompany their routines. So popular was Schullman that he was declared the “Mayor of Printer's Alley” by the Nashville City Council. In the 1990’s, Schullman converted the space into a&nbsp;country music bar in which top-flight talent performed; he even made cameo appearances on the country-themed TV show, Hee Haw. One night, Schullman was working alone in the club when he was attacked and killed by intruders. The club closed and never reopened. There have been claims that Skull’s ghost still haunts the place. As late as the 1960s, the area had over 35 major printing companies – many of which created posters for country music acts. The last of the printing firms left in the mid-1970s, Today, Printer's Alley offers tourists many lively country music and blues bars. But lest you were worried that it’s become too respectable, adult entertainment sites can still be found there, too.

Printer's Alley (also sometimes spelled Printers Alley) is Nashville’s answer to New Orleans' Bourbon Street, both in its colorful character and highly risqué history. Running from Union to Commerce Streets between Third and Fourth Avenues in downtown Nashville, the area became, around the turn of the 20th Century, a major center of Nashville’s bustling printing industry. In fact, were it not for its strong association with the music industry, Nashville might well have become known as the Printing Capital rather than the Music Capital of the World. The alley also became famous (and in some quarters, infamous) as a red-light district, with just about every pleasure, legal and illegal, available to its patrons. Today the area is still bustling, but as a tourist attraction, offering visitors both a fascinating glimpse into the history of Nashville’s old nightlife, as well as lively examples of present-day nightlife.


Printer's Alley 

The southwest corner of Church St. and "College" (now Third Ave. N.) Ave. was owned by John W. Walker after its 1841 purchase from the Porter family for $6,000. Walker is thought to be the one who had the corner building and two adjoing buildings on Church constructed. By the time the property was sold next, in 1863, Porter received $45,000 from W.W. Berry.The Nashville City Directory from 1853 placed E.S. Cheatham &amp; Co. at this corner (as a tenant); the company wholesaled liquor and groceries. By 1866, R.B. Cheatham Company, wholesale grocers and dealer in "fine brandies, wines, domestic liquors, tobacco, cigars, etc.," was situated on this corner of Church and "College." The company advertised in 1866 that it constantly kept in stock 100 bags of choice Rio Coffee, 200 boxes of Star Candles, 5,000 imported Havana cigars, and 10,000 bushels of cotton seed. Cheatham &amp; Woods, a wholesale grocers and liquor dealer, was the name of the firm on the corner of Church and College by 1870. Charles M. Hays, one of the partners of the firm (formerly known as Cheatham, Woods &amp; Co.), retired in 1869; the remaining partners were R.B. Cheatham and R.F. Woods. Woods bought out Cheatham in 1874 and ran the business until 1877. Ryan &amp; Ryan were the tenants by 1880 and continued the wholesale liquor business.In the 1910s, a contracting firm named The David Drewer Company occupied 301 Church St. (note that the building with this address is nineteenth-century Nashville was located further west, at the corner with "Vine" (now 7th Ave. N.); the company did electrical, plumbing, and heating work. The owners by the late 1970s, the accounting firm Tongate, Ryan, Connelly, and Shaub, renovated the building and located their offices within. The firm also owned the other buildings that form part of the Cheatham Building NRHP nomination - 305 and 307 Church St; in the 1910s, the interconnected buildings held Ambrose Printing Company.The three parts of the Cheatham Building complex have three separate rooflines; the flat roofs are stepped, following the uphill slope of Church St. The corner of the building near the street corner has been cut at an angle (chamfered) to accommodate the entrance door, a treatment typical of some 1850s buildings. The doorway was flanked by brick pilasters (flat columns) with stone capitals and bases; a missing one was replaced in 20th-century renovations. The "ghost" outline of a former building behind 301 Church was still visible if you looked at the south elevation; an 1880s photo of the city showed the building that used to stand here, on Third Ave. N.

The brick building on the southwest corner of Church St. and Third Ave. N. is part of three connected buildings called the Cheatham Building, constructed around 1852. The building with the corner entrance at 301 Church St. is the focus of this entry. By 1853, 301 Church held a grocers and liquor wholesale business owned or partly owned by the Cheatham family. An electrical contractor's business was at 301 Church by the 1910s. The Cheatham Building became a National Register listing in 1980; it is one of the few antebellum commercial buildings left in Nashville. The building now houses medical offices of Complete Health Partners.

301 Church St. in Cheatham Building

W.G. Bush became highly successful with his brickmaking business. He began as a teenaged apprentice to one of his uncles, a brick mason, in the 1840s. W.G. left Nashville to fight for the Confederacy. Upon returning to Nashville, he set up his brickmaking firm. W.G. mass-produced bricks at a central location by the raw material source, clay pits. He began machine-making brick in 1879. This was more efficient than hand-making bricks at the construction site of new buildings, as had been the usual practice. After the clay pit was mined, it was filled with water and was known as Bush Lake. The factory/ brick yard property was on the east side of the Cumberland River, west of the intersection of Cowan and Pond streets, at the end of a railroad spur line. By the late 1880s, the Bush firm was producing about 25 million of the 40 million bricks being produced annually in Nashville. Some of the major buildings in Nashville built of Bush brick include the Ryman Auditorium, Downtown Presbyterian Church, and many Vanderbilt University structures. The original Maxwell House Hotel - the origin of the coffee brand - was constructed of Bush brick; the building has not survived.Bush brought first his son, W.C., into the business in 1870 and then his son-in-law, T.L. Herbert, in 1879. Bush Building Company was founded in 1890 by Herbert. Later, Herbert's nephew, William Bush Sneed, joined the company as a bookeeper and eventually headed the firm by the early 1930s. W. B. Sneed's sons joined the family business.Part of the Bush-Herbert Building may have incorporated parts of the nineteenth-century stable that stood here before Herbert acquired the property. A 1908 atlas map of the city does show the future location of the Bush-Herbert Building's footprint as a brick stable. The 1914 Sanborn map shows a 2-story, brick building selling building supplies at the Bush-Herbert Building's footprint, the same size as the former stable. The building was organized with two stories of office space in front and a large showroom behind. The showroom once displayed different kinds of Bush brick in wall sections with various colors and styles of brick. The showroom featured a gable roof with exposed steel trusses. The rear 14 ft. adjacent to the alley held a conference room and rest rooms with a storage loft above. The building has been painted a number of times, but the original front was red brick with decorative white glazed brick up to the first-floor windows and around the central, double-door entrance. The front entrance door on the far-left side replaced a window in the 1960s.The T.L. Herbert &amp; Sons firm expanded beyond bricks to other supplies related to brick masonry, like gravel and ready-mix concrete. They also branched out into a third business of river dredging and barges. W.G. Bush &amp; Company was the last of the city's brickmaking firms in business by the mid-1970s. By that time, clay was being brought in from about 14 miles away on the Cumberland River. The family's businesses were consolidated into Herbert Materials, Inc. in 1979. That firm has become part of WASCO Inc. By 1980, the Bush-Herbert Building contained offices of the Mayor's Employment &amp; Training Resources Agency. In 2010, a company named Atlantis operated from here.

This historic building was constructed shortly after the lot containing a brick stable was bought by T. L. Herbert in 1910. From 1911 to 1961, the building was the home of T.L. Herbert and Sons, a company formed by the son-in-law of brick mason and Confederate veteran W. G. "Major" Bush. In 1867, Bush had founded the Bush Brick Company; Herbert took over as president of the company when Bush retired in 1900. Herbert operated both businesses from the "new" building at 194 Third Ave. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It now houses Bowie's, a rock 'n roll bar with live music every night.

Bush-Herbert Building

In Nashville in 1801, Scottish pastor William Hume founded a congregation that was later joined by the local Presbyterians. The First Presbyterian Church congregation was thought to have been legally established by the Rev. Gideon Blackburn on November 14, 1814, though the exact date is disputed. The Rev. Blackburn's entire congregation consisted of seven people -- only one of whom was a man. The church is located at the corner of Fifth and Church Streets. In 1915, following his victory at the Battle of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson was presented by the State of Tennessee with a ceremonial sword on the steps of the church. The building was destroyed by a fire in 1832, but a second building was constructed on the same site. This second church hosted the inauguration of James K. Polk (the future president) as governor of Tennessee in 1839, but that building, too, burned down in 1848. At that time, the distinguished Philadelphia-based architect William Strickland was in Tennessee, designing and supervising construction of the State Capitol. The congregation hired Strickland to design their new church. Construction began in 1849 and ended in 1851, when it was dedicated on Easter Sunday. At the time it was built, the congregation had only about 350 members. However, they had Strickland design a space to seat over 1000 people and thus ran out of money to fully finish the building. According to the National Historic Landmarks program, the church was "Strickland's largest and only full Egyptian temple." Exterior elements that identify the style as Egyptian are the cavetto cornice, the lotus-bud capitals, and the designs of the sun disk and cobra. It was nicknamed the "Karnak on the Cumberland," because Strickland had modeled it on the temple to Amon-Ra at Karnak. In 1862, during the Civil War, the church was appropriated by the occupying Federal forces and converted into a military hospital. In 1865, it was released by the Union and given back to the congregation. Receiving reparations from the US government, they preceded to try to complete the construction left unfinished in 1851. They added the columns and the entablature in 1871 and redesigned and refurbished the interior in 1880. In the 20th Century, the church served as a shelter for flood victims in 1927 and 1937, as well as for thousands of US servicemen during the Second World War who were on leave in Nashville. Although the First Presbyterian congregation decided to move to a suburban Nashville location in 1954, the old church was spared and its name changed to "Downtown Presbyterian Church." It still serves the needs of people in the area. A celebrated feature of the church is its pipe organ. This was installed in 1913, and was renovated in 1972 and again in 2008. The church holds annual organ recitals that attract players and listeners from great distances.

Constructed in 1848, this historic Nashville church dates back to the earliest years of the city. and replaced two previous structures that were built in 1814 and 1832. That first church structure was built here in 1814 and was destroyed by a fire in 1832. A second sanctuary was constructed the same year and the third (and present) sanctuary was constructed after another fire in 1848 destroyed the second church. The current church was designed by William Strickland, who also designed the Tennessee State Capital and who has been called by the National Park Service's National Historic Landmarks program "one of the foremost architects in the United States." The church was partially unfinished during the Civil War when it was used by occupying Union forces as a hospital. The columns were put in place in 1871, and much of the other finishing details were completed in the remaining decades of the 19th century. The church was known as First Presbyterian until 1955 when the name was changed to "Downtown" after the First Presbyterian congregation moved to a more suburban location. It is affectionately known as the "Karnak on the Cumberland." 

Downtown Presbyterian Church

Harveys was a popular local department store in downtown Nashville that opened its doors in 1942. This store was the site selected for the first test of non-violent direct resistance owing to the willingness of Fred Harvey to meet with James Lawson and other Black leaders in the fall of 1959.&nbsp;When Harvey denied Lawson's request to end the color line at his department store's lunch counter, Lawson selected a few students who were willing to enter the store a few weeks later. The November 28, 1959 challenge was not technically a sit-in as the students left immediately after being denied service. However, this small act of resistance served its purpose&nbsp;as both Lawson and the students began formulating their plans for a return visit where the demonstrators would occupy the lunch counter until they were either served or arrested.&nbsp;&nbsp;<blockquote>Lawson said, “In the fall of 1959, we did some testing of the places downtown in November, a couple weeks of experimental testing. This was to allow people to test themselves, but also for us to find out who was responsible for the decision regarding desegregation and to see how the protesters were treated and, if possible, to talk to the manager or a policy maker in each of the places… We sent them in teams of four to six people.”</blockquote>African American students met at the Arcade on Fifth Avenue and North in downtown Nashville and split up to protest three nearby shops. The African American students entered three different Nashville establishments known to segregate their diner counters on February 13, 1960, made purchases then proceeded to occupy the segregated lunch counter. The students entered the S.H. Kress Department Store, Woolworths, and the McClellan store, and these establishments had “Whites Only” signs up at their counters; banning African Americans from sitting there. The sit-in protests continued and spread to seven additional shops that were segregated. While the first sit-ins on February 13, 1960, happened without incident, the following protests became violent.

The students involved in the protests were from nearby Black colleges including Fisk University, Tennessee A &amp; I State University, Meharry Medical College, and American Baptist Theological Seminary. These protests inspired other African Americans and activists to protest the segregation of bus terminals, variety stores, department store, and even Walgreen’s drugstores. The non-violent protests were met with white violence and arrests

White citizens converged on the protesters on February 27, 1960, and attacked the Nashville protesters. Consequently, the police arrested 81 of the student protesters and charged them with disorderly conduct. The once non-violent protests turned hostile and violent for the protesters. On April 19, 1960, white supremacists bombed Z. Alexander Looby’s home. Looby was a Black attorney who represented the students who protested. An integrated school was bombed in Nashville, TN three years earlier.

The sit-in protests continued until May 10, 1960, when six of the protested shops agreed to serve all people regardless of race. The protests united many in the Nashville community as many white citizens in the community advocated for unity and desegregation of the city.

The Nashville protests were inspired by the sit-in protest in the Woolworth building in Greensboro, North Carolina on February 1, 1960. Before the Greensboro sit-in, other sit-ins had taken place in St. Louis, Baltimore, Chicago, and fifteen other cities starting in 1943 lasting through 1960 when students protested in Nashville.

&nbsp;

On November 28, 1959, a small group of African American students under the leadership of James Lawson and the Nashville Christian Leadership Council (NCLC) entered Harveys Department Store which was located here from 1942 to 1984. The students requested service at the store's lunch counter, the NCLC's first test of a non-violent direct action tactic to challenge the longstanding practice of racial discrimination at Nashville lunch counters. Although denied service, the students reported that they did not receive any threats and they left the store quietly to continue planning small-scale actions that would help them test public sentiment and potential challenges they might face as they planned a sustained campaign of sit-ins at Nashville lunch counters that began the following February. On February 13, 1960, larger groups of African American students were refused service at the S.H. Kress Department Store, Woolworths, and McClellan's after they occupied the lunch counters for two hours until the owners of the shops closed for business for the day. The sit-ins spread to seven additional segregated shops and disrupted business downtown until May 10, 1960. On that day, NCLC leaders agreed to end the demonstrations at Harveys and five other stores after management agreed to serve all people regardless of their race. The successful sit-ins of Nashville coincided with the sit-ins in Greensboro and other Border South cities that helped to end segregation throughout the region. 

Nashville Sit-Ins at Harveys Department Store (1959-1960)

Before the Doctor's Building was built, the site was occupied by the home of Colonel Edmund William Cole, a local railroad tycoon. The large, three-story home with two rear additions was turned into a boarding house called "The Terrace" by 1914 (see the Sanborn map image below). The mansion was torn down in 1916, shortly before construction began on the three-story Doctor's Building.The Doctor's Building was designed for Dr. Matthew Charles McGannon. Dr. McGannon served as an officer in the Tennessee-Hermitage Bank. Dr. McGannon was an 1885 graduate of McGill U. in Montreal, Canada. He came to Nashville in 1895 from New York to accept the Professorship of Diseases of Women and Abdominal Surgery at the University College of Medicine, Nashville. He accepted a position as professor of surgery at Vanderbilt U. in 1912. By the 1910s, Dr. McGannon was chief surgeon of the Women's Hospital and an attending surgeon at both Vanderbilt and Nashville City Hospitals. Somewhere in his career, he found time to serve in the U.S. Army - likely in World War I. Shortly before his death in late 1919 at age 62 from heart disease, Dr. McGannon was appointed surgeon-general of Tennessee. Dr. McGannon's widow sold the property to the Board of Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.The Renaissance Revival Style Doctor's Building was designed by Edwin Dougherty and Thomas Gardner. The building features plentiful exterior decoration in glazed terra cotta tile: wreaths, swags, garlands, urns, lions, and shields based on the coat of arms of the Medici family (doctors from 15th-century Florence, Italy). The building is arranged around a large central stairwell. Around 1920 (probably when the three upper floors were added in 1921), the main entrance facing Church St. was redone in Carrara marble and glass blocks; above the entrance is the lettering "Doctor's Building" in a terra cotta panel.Offices of the Nashville Academy of Medicine (NAM) were located in the Doctor's Building. Although the professional organization was organized in Nashville by seven physicians in 1821, it was chartered by the State of Tennessee in 1906 as the "Nashville Academy of Medicine &amp; Davidson County Medical Society." The first female physician member joined NAM in 1901. Some of the NAM members who had offices in the Doctor's Building in the early 1920s were C.F. Anderson, Jere Caldwell, W.G. Kennon, John Lee, Eugene Orr, and Jack Witherspoon.The now-six-story building was renamed the Lambuth Building in 1922 to honor Bishop Walter Lambuth, a doctor who was also a preacher and missionary before becoming a bishop. The Methodist Church owners had offices on the sixth floor. A trend began in the 1930s of physicians opening free-standing clinics throughout the city. NAM went on record in 1950 suggesting that soda pop and candy was not good for schoolchildren. Way back in the late 19th century they warned of the health consequences of smoking cigarettes! In 1954, NAM amended its charter and accepted its first African-American physician members the following year; the three were members of the faculty at Meharry. NAM moved its offices from the Lambuth (formerly Doctor's) Building in 1956 to Louise Avenue, where they stayed until 1975.Many medical offices relocated to the suburbs and the Doctor's Building held few doctors or dentists by the late 1960s. The building gradually came to hold government offices of state agencies; the Tennessee Housing Development Agency occupied the upper five floors by 1985. The Doctor's Building was renovated in 2007 to 2008 to become a hotel. It now holds the Homewood Suites by Hilton with 121 rooms. One of the storefronts contained "Highway 65 Records." named for the fictional country music recording company from the former television series "Nashville."

Constructed in 1916 as a three-story structure and known as the Doctor's Building owing to its original tenants, this Renaissance Revival Style was expanded in 1912 with an additional three stories. A local Vanderbilt University professor of Surgery, Dr. Matthew McGannon, had the building constructed under the design of Nashville architects Dougherty and Gardner. After his death in 1919, Dr. McGannon's widow sold the property to the Methodist Church South. By the mid-twentieth century, the number of physician's offices in the building dwindled but were replaced by government agencies. Doctor's Building became a listing in the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The renovated building now contains a hotel, Homewood Suites.

Doctor's Building (Homewood Suites Nashville) 

<div>What is now the Central Business District in Nashville was&nbsp;once&nbsp;the location of many blocks of residences that&nbsp;represented the full range of Italianate Victorian building styles. These homes would fill entire city blocks in this area of Nashville.&nbsp;The structure now called&nbsp;the Savage House, which predates the Civil War, is the only such town house remaining in downtown. It is an excellent example of the Italianate Style. Though the actual date of its construction is obscure (one source says it was built in the late 1840s), it definitely existed by 1959, when it&nbsp;was sold to Mrs. Mary E. Claiborne, who operated it as a respectable boarding house until 1881, and whose guests included many socially prominent people of the time. However, during the Civil War, Northern soldiers occupied it and used the second floor library to plan the Battle of Nashville -- a massive Union victory.&nbsp;The house was sold in 1884, and then leased in 1891 to a Jewish social club named The Standard Club, now called the Old Natchez Country Club. Nashville's very first bowling alley, with an ornate tin roof, was constructed beneath the ballroom. The house was purchased in 1898 by the distinguished ophthalmologist Dr. Giles Christopher Savage, who taught at both the University of Nashville and Vanderbilt and was a pioneer in this field. The structure provided for all Dr. Savage's needs: it was a residence for him and his family, it contained the office where he received patients, and the large upper-floor room in the rear addition served as an infirmary with beds for the sick.&nbsp;The family had moved out by 1905, but Dr. Savage continued to practice there until his death. His youngest daughter, Kate Savage Zerfoss, followed in her father's footsteps,&nbsp;specializing too in&nbsp;ophthalmology. She graduated from Tulane University Medical School&nbsp;in 1922 and joined her father's practice the same year. After his passing in 1930, she continued her practice there until her retirement in 1975. Dr. Zerfoss even&nbsp;influenced legislation: she insisted that road crews paint white lines rather than yellow lines at the sides of roadways, knowing, because of her training, that the human eye sees white peripherally much more clearly than yellow.&nbsp; </div><div>The Savage House is a three-story Italianate
style townhouse of dark red brick on a limestone foundation. The original house
dates from the mid-nineteenth century but there are several later additions. It
faces east on Eighth Avenue North, occupying almost the entire area of a 155
foot by 50 foot lot that runs through to Ninth Avenue on the west.&nbsp;The Eighth Avenue facade remains basically intact. To the right of the central section, in a bay recessed five feet, is the main entrance, which is sheltered by a wooden porch.&nbsp;The
facade is punctuated regularly by rectangular, one over one, double-hung
windows. Each is topped by a wooden cornice with iron consoles. The first-floor windows at the center extend from the floor to nearly&nbsp;the ceiling and are
noticeably taller than the upper floor windows. In 1980 the house was converted to Savage House Bed and Breakfast (upstairs), The Towne House Tea Room (main floor) and The Gas Light Lounge (the ballroom). It served in this role for a quarter century,&nbsp;and was the scene for several music videos by prominent artists, e.g., Allison Krause. In 2005, the house was purchased by the Smith family (hence its alternative name), who restored it extensively. Although Mr. Smith and his wife Sharon at first resided there, they eventually made room for their son Joshua, a real estate executive, to develop it into a restaurant called the Standard Club, reviving its 19th Century name. The dining rooms at the restaurant contain such&nbsp;Victorian&nbsp;trappings as a pendulum clock, gas lamps and pink china. There is a carved mantlepiece taken from the house where Andrew Jackson was married. The restaurant&nbsp;has since won awards and been recognized as one of the Top 5 private cigar clubs in the U.S.</div><div> </div>

The Savage House, also known as the Smith House, is a historic three-story townhouse that was built in downtown Nashville circa 1840. The building is the last surviving example of the Italianate townhouses that flourished in Nashville during the 19th century, and one of only two pre-Civil War buildings remaining in downtown Nashville. The exact date of the home's construction is unknown but records suggest that the home was completed in the 1840s. Over the past two centuries, the house has variously served as a rooming house, the headquarters of a Jewish social club, and the residence and office of a distinguished ophthalmologist, Dr. Giles Christopher Savage and his daughter who took over the practice. In January 1983, it was entered in the National Register of Historic Places. The building is currently home to the Standard Restaurant & Club. 

Savage House (Standard Restaurant & Club at the Smith House)

Samuel W. Berger emigrated to America from Hungary and settled in Nashville by the early 1890s. Berger worked for the Loveman Clothing Company and celebrated his 25th year with the firm in 1917; he was gifted a silver loving cup by the company. By the early 1920s, Berger became company president. The Berger Building wasn't built for the clothing company (renamed Loveman, Berger, and Teitelbaum, located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Union St.) but as an investment property.Berger's proposed "2-story, brick with terra cotta trimming store and office building" was projected to cost $38,000, according to a construction trade magazine. O.J. Billis was the architect; the contractor was John Moore, with his office in the Arcade Building. The highly detailed building is one of the few commercial buildings that have been associated with Billis, who typically designed residences. The facade still matched the original blueprints for the most part by the mid-1980s when the building was documented for the National Register listing. The top center is marked by an elliptical pediment with "1926" on a terra cotta cartouche and "BERGER BUILDING" on a nameplate. Above the front windows on the top floor are inset brick panels with green glazed terra blocks in a diamond pattern; above the storefront, the brick panels are decorated with white glazed blocks in the corners. While the blueprints showed three front entrances, the storefronts were modified later to form a single central entrance. The first floor was designed as a commercial space with offices above.Early tenants of the Berger Building included the Smith Premier Typewriter Company. Called the "World's Best Typewriter," Smith Premier was headquartered in New York City with a factory in Syracuse, New York. For many years, the first floor later held a piano store named for Roy Warden. The company was organized by brothers and gun manufacturers Lyman, Hurlburt, Monroe, and Wilbert Smith. They patented the Smith Premier No. 1 typewriter in 1889 and eventually opened stores across the country. When Berger died in 1934, his will bequeathed the Berger Building to Vanderbilt University. After twenty years of ownership the university sold the building in 1954. The property has been sold about six times since then. Some later tenants were Mad Mod (a contemporary furniture store), a coffee shop, the Nashville Toy Museum, and Genesco headquarters. DevDigital, a web development firm, leased 4,000 square feet in the Berger Building from 2013 to 2018; they left for another building in town with more space. Darden Copeland purchased the Berger Building in late 2013 for $1 million and soon invested in roof and interior upgrades. The rest of the block is now covered by the massive new Federal Building or parking lots. There were rumors in 2018 that the building might be sold to the General Services Administration, the owner of the Federal Building, but Copeland denied they were true.

The 2-story, reddish-brown brick building at 158-164 N. Rosa L. Parks Blvd. (N. 8th Ave.) is the Berger Building. The commercial building was constructed in 1926 for businessman Samuel Berger and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The building belonged to Vanderbilt University from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s. Check out its north wall for some faded painted advertising signs. The ground floor space is leased to a construction firm, Hensel Phelps, based in Orlando; they're the general contractor for the new Fred D. Thompson Federal Building and Courthouse, just feet away. Complexion Nashville, dermatologists, also lease part of the Berger Building.

Berger Building

The architect and the builder of the Frost Building were Hart-Gardner and Selden Breck, respectively. When the building was constructed in 1913, Eighth Ave. N. was still Spruce Ave; the street has been renamed Rosa L. Parks Blvd. for the Civil Rights icon. The 52 by 150-foot building spans the whole block along Furman Alley to Ninth Ave. N. (formerly McLemore St.). The neo-Classical style building is now four stories tall with a basement; originally, the rear half of the structure, built of yellow brick, was only two stories high. In 1924, the extra two stories were built onto the rear half, to match the front half, but the exterior remained plain. The two engaged columns flanking the front entrance are 40 feet tall and topped by Corinthian capitals; the pilasters at each front corner have the same details. The inscription above the columns reads "BAPTIST SUNDAY SCHOOL BOARD." The molded entablature is topped by a balustraded parapet.The Southern Baptist Convention, the original owner of the building, is one of the largest Protestant denominations in the U.S. The Sunday School Board, organized in 1891 at the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Birmingham, was responsible for education and publishing. An earlier board, founded in 1863 at Augusta, Georgia, published a Sunday School paper (Kind Words) but the Board was later discontinued; the newspaper grew from a small monthly paper for children to an eight-page weekly for all ages by the early twentieth century. Nashville was chosen as the location of the new Board, partly because it was in the geographical center of the area covered by the Southern Baptist Convention (New Mexico to Maryland), and because Nashville was a hub for printing businesses in the South. The first President of the new Board was W.R.L. Smith of Tennessee, with another Tennessean, G.A. Lofton, as Vice President. J.M. Frost became the first Corresponding Secretary.The Board used to meet in a building on Cherry (Fourth) St., opposite the Maxwell House. They next moved to the Presbyterian Publishing House and then to the Methodist Publishing House. The Board purchased a house at 167 Fourth Ave. N. in 1897 for its offices and sold it in 1903. They next bought a mansion at 710 Church St. and sold it in 1912 for a great profit; they were allowed to stay there until their new building was ready.The lot cost $60,000 and the new building cost $160,000. Stone came from quarries in Bowling Green, Kentucky and the North Carolina mountains. An image from Frost's book shows the building under construction, with a team of 14 horses hauling a 27,000-pound stone to the site; four of these stones were needed for the bases of the columns. Sunday School Board professional and clerical workers' offices were located in the Frost Building. The new building was formally presented to the Southern Baptist Convention on May 16th, 1914. President of the Sunday School Board then was Dr. E.E. Folk; A.B. Hill was head of the Business Committee and J.M. Frost was Corresponding Secretary. Frost likened the new building to "a Baptist Business Temple" with a three-fold purpose of business place, banking house, and temple.The Sunday School Board undertook major renovations in 1979 but retained most of the original features. The office of Dr. Frost was restored, using photos as a guide, and including the original desk and chair. The Sunday School Board changed their name in 1998 to LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, with James T. Draper Jr. as president. The Frost Building now holds multiple office tenants, including 20/20 Research and Clark Construction Group, LLC.

This grey granite Neo-classical Revival style building was constructed in 1913 to serve as the headquarters of the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. The building now holds multiple commercial office spaces and has been a National Register of Historic Places listing since 1980. The Sunday School Board, organized in 1891 at the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Birmingham, was responsible for education and publishing, and the building's name refers to Dr. J.M. Frost, who served as the corresponding secretary. Visitors to the building can see Dr. Frost's office as it has been restored to match its original appearance.

Frost Building

The congregation of Christ Church was organized in Nashville in June, 1829. The current church at 9th and Broadway was constructed beginning either 1889 or 1890 and was opened for worship on December 16, 1894. The distinguished designer of the project was New York-based architect Francis H. Kimball.&nbsp;Kimball was the first to use the caisson system of foundation for the erection of
buildings and was called the father of the modern skyscraper. Kimball,&nbsp;a member
of the New York Chapter of the American Institute of
Architects, in addition to Christ Church designed the Emmanuel Baptist
Church in Brooklyn, NY, the Edgehill Church of Spuyten Duyvil in the Bronx, NY,
and the Day House in Hartford, CT. Christ Church is known as the "School for Bishops," as eight of its rectors have gone on to become bishops of the Episcopal Church, two of them in Tennessee. Many parish churches in the area have been organized with the support and guidance of Christ Church. The institution is noted for its unusual stability and continuity. For example, over the last 100 years, only three organist-choirmasters have served the parish. However, the church has also embraced change, as it elected its first female in the vestry in 1969 and employed its first female priest in 1985. The church became a cathedral only within the past 20 years, after having been entered in the National Register of Historic Places. The church is constructed of&nbsp;Sewanee sandstone and Bowling Green stone. Its large rose window faces Broadway, and a rectangular tower, completed in 1947, features openwork tracery. Unique to Nashville are the stone gargoyles decorating the exterior. In the interior,&nbsp;the nave, supported by granite columns,&nbsp;displays beautiful woodwork. The stained glass clerestory windows are made of Tiffany Glass. The altarpiece was strikingly executed by Swiss-born master woodcarver Melchior
Thoni, Jr. As the church's website states, “Music is a vital part of the Cathedral’s
liturgies, offered to the glory of God and for the nurture of his people.” There
are four choral ensembles at Christ Church Cathedral. The Cathedral Choir is
a 28-voice trained choir that sings at the 11:00 a.m. Sunday service, as well
as singing Choral Evensong several times a year and the annual Festival of
Lessons and Carols. The Senior Choristers of the Cathedral Choristers are a
children’s' choral group, consisting of singers from 4th grade through high
school. The Junior Choristers of the Cathedral Choristers consist of
singers in the 2nd and 3rd grades. The Parish Choir, an ensemble of
teenagers and adults who do not commit to the rigorous rehearsal schedule of
the Cathedral Choir, nevertheless sing for the church three times a year, mostly for the fun of it.&nbsp;

Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral parish of the Episcopal Archdiocese of Tennessee. The structure, designed by noted architect Francis Hatch Kimball, was built between 1889 and 1894 and, according to its National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) nomination form, "is considered the finest example of Victorian Gothic architecture in Nashville." It is particularly noted for its sanctuary, which "has a distinctive early English atmosphere." It was entered in the NRHP in November 1978. 

Christ Church Cathedral, Nashville

Nashville's Union Station was built by the Louisville and Nashville (L&amp;N) Railroad at the turn of the 20th century (construction began in 1898), when railroads were the dominant and most dynamic form of transportation. The station was designed by Richard Montfort, a company engineer of L&amp;N, and opened officially on October 9, 1900. The Romanesque-style structure included turrets, stone arches and a soaring clock tower, all constructed of stone from Bowling Green, Kentucky and Bedford, Indiana, and trimmed with Tennessee marble, and resembled a fairy-tale castle more than a modern, utilitarian building. One admirer has described the interior as a "mini-Grand Central Station." As impressive as the terminal was, however, the&nbsp;passenger trainshed, which measured 250 by 500 feet with a clear span of 200 feet, was an engineering marvel for its time. In 1900 it was the longest single-span, gable roof structure in the country. After a fire damaged the shed in 1996, the building was left exposed to the elements. After years of exposure, the trusses and framing were deteriorated beyond repair and the shed was razed in early 2001.&nbsp; The terminal serviced many passengers in its over seven decades of existence, including celebrities as diverse as Mae West and Al Capone (Capone&nbsp;was not a voluntary passenger, however, as he was in the process of being transferred to prison by Federal authorities). It also served many soldiers during the Second World War who passed through Nashville, and they were often entertained by local celebrities at the USO canteen on site. The station's decline began in the 1950s, with heavy competition from auto and air transportation; by the 1960s, it served only a few trains a day and in 1975, the station was condemned and closed. Amtrak continued to use the trainshed for passenger traffic until 1979 when the station building was acquired by the General Services Administration for use as a federal office building. After evaluating the cost of a major rehabilitation project, the property was conveyed to the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County in 1985 through the Historic Surplus Property Program. In the following years, Union Station was rehabilitated into a hotel and restaurant. The Nashville Union Station and Trainshed was listed as a National Historic Landmark and listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. Because of the demolition of the trainshed in 2001, the National Historic Landmark status was removed in 2003, but the building continues to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Built between 1898 and 1900, Nashville, Tennessee’s Union Station is one of the city's unique and inspired historic architectural landmarks. The imposing terminal and office building was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque Revival-style by Richard Montfort, then Chief Engineer of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Reaching its peak during World War II, when many soldiers were transferred to and from Nashville, the station declined and was closed in 1979. That year, when the station building was acquired by the General Services Administration for use as a federal office building. In the 1980s, investors came forward to restore the space and convert it into a luxury hotel. After evaluating the cost of a major rehabilitation project, the property was conveyed to the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County in 1985 through the Historic Surplus Property Program. In the following years, Union Station was rehabilitated into a hotel and restaurant. The building continues to be run as a hotel to the present day, with many of its unique architectural features, including the 65-foot, barrel-vaulted lobby ceiling, gold-leaf medallions and original Luminous Prism stained glass, still intact. 

Union Station Hotel

Treasury architect William Appleton Potter's design of the Custom House so pleased Washington officials that it was chosen to be displayed at the Centennial Exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia. Built in four sections, the center portion including the clock tower began in September of 1875. A rear portion, designed by Treasury architect, James Knox Taylor, was added in 1903. The wings, designed by James Wetmore, were added to the east and west ends of the structure in 1916. Its name was shortened to the Custom House and Post Office Building in 1906 and changed once again, in 1948, to the Federal Office Building.Ownership was transferred in 1977 from the federal government to the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County through the Historic Surplus Property Program. The current owner rehabilitated the building's interior.

This beautiful Gothic Revival building was constructed beginning in 1875 and originally called the Customs House, Courthouse, Post Office Building. Other sections were added on in the coming decades. The building was proposed in 1856 but the Civil War and the post-war Reconstruction period prevented its construction. When it was built, it was seen as a symbol for the end of Reconstruction, as funding for it came from the federal government. President Rutherford B. Hayes, who appointed a Southerner to his cabinet, was in attendance at the laying of the cornerstone ceremony. Today, the building is now the location of a private firm that leases out office space. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. 

Nashville Customs House

"Are you a supporter of the red rose faction or the yellow rose faction?" While one might assume such a&nbsp;question referred to a political dispute in England, it was the leading question of lawmakers in Tennessee leading up to the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Harkening back to Tennessee's "War of the Roses"-a 19th-century political contest between rival sides who wore different colored roses- legislators once again indicated their position by the color of the rose on their suit jacket. While some men and women supported the constitutional amendment to grant women the legal right to vote, half of the state legislature opposed the ratification of the 19th Amendment. The 19th Amendment, which prohibits anyone from being denied the right to vote on the basis of sex, was approved by Congress on June 4, 1919, and thus went to the states for ratification. By March 1920, 35 states had ratified the amendment, meaning that it was&nbsp;only one state short of the 36 needed to add the amendment to the US Constitution. Among the states that had not yet voted, Tennessee was considered by the “Pros" (those in favor of&nbsp;suffrage), to be the most likely remaining state to ratify the&nbsp;amendment. This argument was strengthened by the fact that in 1919,&nbsp;Tennessee had approved a law that allowed women to vote in Presidential elections. The "Pros"&nbsp;symbolized their support of women's suffrage by wearing a&nbsp;yellow&nbsp;rose. Meanwhile, the&nbsp;“Antis” showed their opposition to enfranchisement by&nbsp;wearing&nbsp;a&nbsp;red rose. The Antis included men and a significant but&nbsp;shrinking&nbsp;number of female supporters as state after state enacted pro-suffrage legislation. Feeling besieged by societal change, the Antis were&nbsp;determined to retain the vote for men only, believing that this might help them arrest other societal changes while preserving the traditional patriarchal nature of American politics and society. The situation led to a perfect war of politics. Because both sides used the Hermitage Hotel as their headquarters, this hotel became the front line of the conflict. The motion to approve the 19th amendment eventually passed the Tennessee Senate and then went to the state House of Representatives in August. After an attempt to table the motion resulted in a tie, the motion was put forward for a vote. Two votes were taken, both resulting in ties, and a third vote began. What happened next is the stuff of legend--and myth. Reportedly, the&nbsp;youngest member of the House, Harry Burn from Niota, wore the&nbsp;red rose and intended to vote against the amendment. But that morning, he had received a telegram which troubled him. Burn’s mother, Phoebe Ensminger Burn, known to her friends as “Miss Febb,” had written to her son, “Hurrah, and vote for suffrage! Don’t keep them in doubt... I have been watching to see how you stood, but have not noticed anything yet.” When his turn came, Burn unexpectedly cried out “Aye” – so quickly, in fact, that his colleagues did not immediately notice his defection. With that one vote, the amendment passed the House, and thus became part of the Constitutional. It is said that, following his vote, Burn was forced to flee to the attic of the state capitol to escape the wrath of the “red rose” colleagues who believed that he had betrayed them.&nbsp;&nbsp; Many of the&nbsp;“Antis” refused to&nbsp;accept suffrage. They accused Burn of bribery and other nefarious crimes. These forces called for a rally at the Ryman Auditorium the following day, August 19th, to gain support for an attempt to legally reverse the result. The city’s conservative newspaper, The Banner, posted the headline “Go to Mass-Meeting, Ryman Auditorium, Tonight. Will Make Protest Against Ratification.” The paper also printed affidavits alleging that Burn had been promised $10,000 by suffrage supporters. On the other hand, the more progressive newspaper, The Tennessean, published a long article defending Burn and stressing the influence Miss Febb had wielded on her son’s decision. “I knew that a mother’s advice is always safest for her boy to follow,” said Burn. The publisher of The Banner, Edward Bushrod Stahlman, a conservative German immigrant and businessman, was a speaker at the rally. A major theme of the meeting, reflected in the language of the poster, was the “Anti” movement’s attempt to “save the south,” rather than America or Tennessee specifically. House Speaker Seth Walker reportedly remarked, “Forty seven names [among the House legislators] have been signed in the blood of the South to keep this a white man’s country and a white man’s government.” It was widely feared by many of the people gathered there that women’s suffrage would lead inevitably to the full enfranchisement of African-Americans. The following day, The Banner reported that no less than 5,000 people had attended the “monster outpouring” at the Ryman. But neither the newspaper nor the movement it supported could reverse history. On August 23, Gov. A.H. Roberts certified the legislature’s vote, and a few days later the women of America were at last enfranchised – thanks to the outspoken mother of a single Tennessee legislator.

On August 18, 1920, the Tennessee House of Representatives passed – by one vote – a motion to ratify the 19th Amendment, a federal measure that extended suffrage to all American citizens regardless of gender. With that vote and the support of the governor, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment. With support for the Amendment being fairly limited in other Southern states, Tennessee's action was both symbolic and historically significant--it meant that the 19th Amendment had been ratified by three-fourths of the states--the requirement set forth in Article V of the Constitution prior to the adoption of any Constitutional Amendment. 

In response, some of the opponents of women’s suffrage, known then as “Antis,” held a protest meeting that saw the extension of suffrage by federal action through the lens of state's rights. On the day following the vote, August 19th, the “Antis” held an historic mass rally at the Ryman Auditorium – later famous as the home of the Grand Ole Opry – to protest the result and try somehow to overturn it. Speakers appealed to notions of patriarchy and "traditional" gender roles, as well as playing to anger against the perception that women's suffrage would erode the power of Southern whites. One pro-suffrage newspaper gleefully reported that the meeting failed to attract an audience, while the leading paper of the Antis reported a "monster" crowd in attendance. Well-attended or not, this rear-guard action failed, as Governor A.H. Roberts supported the decision of a majority of state legislators and added his signature to the bill. 

"Mass Meeting" Against Women's Suffrage at Ryman Auditorium, August 19, 1920

The famous "Mother Church of Country Music" was built by Captain Thomas Ryman, a well-known gambler in Nashville. Ryman decided to build a church after hearing the Reverend Samuel Jones speak at a tent revival. Ryman was so moved by the preacher's words, he vowed to raise the funds for a building so Jones did not have to give his empowered sermons in tents. It took a total of seven years to build the church, but in 1892, the Union Gospel Tabernacle was finally completed. Reverend Jones suggested the church be named after its builder, but Ryman was not in agreement with that suggestion. It was not until 1904, after Ryman's death, that the Union Gospel Tabernacle became the Ryman Auditorium. The church can seat almost 2,400 people and the pews are curved to face the orchestra, evoking an ancient Greek theater look.In the beginning, the Ryman Auditorium was deep in debt and booked boxing matches and concerts in attempt to make money. Even New York's Metropolitan Opera performed at the Tabernacle in 1901. The person in charge of doing the booking was a woman by the name of Lula C. Naff, who went by L.C. because of the male-dominated industry, and Lula became the premiere booking agent in Nashville. Naff is credited with earning the Ryman the nickname " the Carnegie Hall of the South." Besides entertainers, Naff also booked influential figures to speak. The illustrious list includes: Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan, and Eleanor Roosevelt.In 1943, the famous Grand Ole Opry moved to the Ryman Auditorium to fit its increasing number of attendees. Thousands of performances would take place on the worn-out wooden stage over the next twenty-one years. In 1949, a young singer named Hank Williams performed on the Opry for the first time singing "Lovesick Blues." The crowd was so enthusiastic he was called back for a record number of six encores. Elvis Presley played the Opry in 1954, and Johnny Cash and June Carter met backstage at the Opry in 1956; the couple would marry twelve years later. The Grand Ole Opry eventually outgrew the Ryman. The area backstage where performers would mingle before sets was notoriously cramped, there were no changing rooms, few technological accommodations were available, and, there was no air conditioner. On March 15, 1974, the last Opry performance was held at the Ryman and the show moved to The Grand Ole Opry House at Opryland. Just before the Opry relocated, an eight foot square of wood was cut from the Ryman floor and carved into a circle six foot in diameter. The circle remains in the center of the Opry stage.Once the Opry left Downtown Nashville, the area began to decline. National Life Insurance, the company that owned the Ryman, announced plans to bulldoze the historic church, but locals and country music singers balked at the notion and banded together to save it. After it was saved from demolition, the Ryman sat empty for over a decade. That changed in the early 1990s when singer Emmylou Harris held a series of performances at the Ryman. Only 200 people were allowed inside due to the fact that so much of the building was deemed condemned, especially under the balcony. These performances regained interest in the one-hundred year old church, and a multi-million dollar renovation took place, revamping the exterior and interior. In 1998, the Grand Ole Opry returned to the Ryman for a short period of time, and now, the Ryman hosts the Opry from November to January. The Ryman Auditorium continues to host musicians of all genres and remains one of the most historic buildings in Downtown Nashville.

The Ryman Auditorium is affectionately known as the "Mother Church of Country Music." Built as a tabernacle in the 1890s by Thomas Ryman, the church is most known for being the home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974. The formative years of the Opry that would change Nashville and country music took place on that historic wooden stage at the Ryman. Legendary performers such as Bill Monroe, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, and many more would come to the Ryman to perform to more than 2,000 spectators seated in the pews. After the Opry left the Ryman, the historic church fell into disrepair. Finally, in the 1990s, the Ryman underwent a multi-million dollar renovation, and the National Historic Landmark remains one of the most visited venues in Music City. 


Ryman Auditorium

The Ernest Tubb Record Shop is the quintessential country music record shop, and one of the most well known in the country. Its rich history began in 1947, when country music singer Ernest Tubb, known as the "Texas Troubadour," opened it with partner and tax accountant, Charles Mosley. Tubb was inspired to open the record shop after touring the country and talking to fans about the difficulty in finding their favorite country records. Even in Nashville, finding records by country artists was hard because the majority of retailers sold classical and pop records. The first Ernest Tubb Record Shop opened on May 3, 1947 at 720 Commerce Street, and it was strictly a mail-order shop. After a few months of the shop being open, record dealers around the country reported an increase in sales of country music records advertised on the Grand Ole Opry. Wanting to promote the mail-order business, Tubb bought airtime on the Opry and soon started the famous Midnite Jamboree.In 1951, the record shop moved to 417 Broadway to have more room for the Jamboree every Saturday night. The building in Downtown Nashville that is home to the Ernest Tubb Record Shop had an illustrious history prior to hosting the record store. It was built around 90 years before the store opened and was home to an ornamental plaster business owned by William Stockell. Stockell's plaster was used on iconic buildings such as the Tennessee State Capitol and the famous Belmont Mansion. After the Civil War broke out, the building was used as a hospital for Confederate soldiers. Many soldiers who fought in the Battle of Nashville ended up dying in the hospital, and they were taken down to the morgue in the basement. It has been reported that the soldiers continue to haunt the building, some employees have stated they had problems with electronics and have heard random footsteps.Over the years, there have been multiple Ernest Tubb Record Shop locations, including one near Opryland, one in Pigeon Forge, and one in Fort Worth. In 2015, the Midnite Jamboree, hosted at the Texas Troubadour Theatre in Music Valley Village, was in jeopardy because of the cost in staging it and airing it every Saturday. It was decided the show would go on hiatus while an association was formed to support the weekly show. The show now airs at 10 CST instead of midnight. The record shop has been featured on television over the years but it gained the most notoriety when it appeared in the 1980 movie Coal Miner's Daughter, a biopic about Loretta Lynn, who gave one of her first performances at the Ernest Tubb Record Shop. The Ernest Tubb Record Shop offers a range of vinyl country albums covering decades and remains a staple in Downtown Nashville.

The Ernest Tubb Record Shop was founded by country music singer Ernest Tubb in partnership with his tax accountant Charles Mosley in 1947. Tubb was also the creator of the second-longest live radio show, second only to the Grand Ole Opry radio program, the "Midnite Jamboree."The main shop moved in 1951 to its current location at 417 Broadway to allow for more room for the live in-store broadcasts. The "Midnite Jamboree" is now recorded at the nearby Texas Troubadour Theatre. The Ernest Tubb Record Shop remains a staple in Downtown Nashville and is one of the most recognized record shops in America. 

Ernest Tubb Record Shop 

Johnny Cash was born in Kingsland Arkansas on 26 February 1932 as John R. Cash; he had six siblings.1 &nbsp;The performer was nicknamed “The Man in Black” due to his frequent dress code of completely Black clothes.2 &nbsp;His youth was spent laboring in farm crops with his family all while being exposed to several music styles.&nbsp; Cash would hear folk songs from his mom, hymns and labor music from the crops and railroad.&nbsp; This became significant for influence on his music in the older days of his career.&nbsp; Not long after graduating from high school he joined the U.S. Air Force and was in service until being relieved in 1954.&nbsp; It was also in 1954 that Cash started on the road to his music career when he performed for Sun Studios, with whom he sent out his first single “Hey Porter.”&nbsp; However, it was with his fourth song, “I Walk the Line,” that Cash really gained recognition.&nbsp; The song was No.1 on the Billboard Chart for 43 weeks and sold more than 2 million transcripts.&nbsp; In 1958 Cash left the Sun Studios label and went to Columbia Records with the hope of getting to produce more of the type of music he wanted to (originally he wanted to make gospel music).

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Career-wise, during the last of the 1950s and 1960s,&nbsp;Cash was doing well with songs such as “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town,” “I Got Stripes,” and “Ring of Fire” to name a few.&nbsp; He was a guest on the Ed Sullivan Show and the Tonight Show.&nbsp; His personal life, however, was suffering; it was obvious that he and his wife were going to split and due to his chaotic career he turned to drugs and alcohol to deal with it, leading him to become hooked on the substances.&nbsp; This eventually began to affect his work.&nbsp; In 1967, with the assistance of June Carter and her family, Cash beat the substance abuse.&nbsp; Cash and Carter married the following year and his music became successful yet again.&nbsp;

In 1969 Cash won the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist awards.&nbsp; From 1969 to 1971 the Johnny Cash Show was played on ABC, involving several musicians.&nbsp; Cash made history in 1980 when he was 48 when he was initiated into the Country Music Hall of Fame, making him the most youthful, still alive initiate.&nbsp; In 1995 he was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this included him in a small group of country musicians having both honors.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In the 1990s Cash joined the American record label and received the Grammy for best contemporary folk album for the 1994 American Recordings album.&nbsp; June Carter Cash died in May 2003 and just a few months later Johnny Cash died 12 September 2003 in Nashville, Tennessee due to struggles with diabetes.1

This museum gives tourists a view into both the professional and private life of Johnny Cash.  The contents of the museum include messages from Cash and other records of Cash’s.  Included in these is a composition of the final song he wrote shortly prior to his passing. The museum can be found in Nashville, Tennessee and is open Monday-Sunday from 8:00am-7:00pm.

The Johnny Cash Museum

In 1946, a returning World War II veteran named Walter Sharp, with the help of a few music-loving friends, founded the Nashville Symphony. Its first concert was held on December 10th of that year with William Strickland, its first Musical Director, conducting. The orchestra at first performed at Nashville’s War Memorial Auditorium and then, after 1980, at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. In 1983, Kenneth Schermerhorn was appointed Principal Conductor and Music Director, and over the next 22 years, he led the orchestra to national and international acclaim. The symphony has received 14 Grammy Award nominations for its many recordings, of which it won seven awards. In 2003, ground was broken for a new venue for the Nashville Symphony: Schermerhorn Symphony Center, named after the conductor. (He died in 2005, before the center’s opening in 2006.) The symphony schedules over a hundred events per year at the center. The center was designed by architect David M. Schwarz in a neo-Classical style, inspired by the city’s traditional architecture. The four-story structure measures 301 by 274 feet, and the 29-foot-high north entrance, which is bordered by columnns, echoes the look of Nashville's civic buildings. Streamlined balustrades, cornices, parapets and other details add a somewhat more modern touch. A 125-foot colonnade on the building's west side encloses a landscaped garden and a café area. Inside, the center includes the Laura Turner Concert Hall and the Mike Curb Family Music Education Hall, as well as a number of meeting rooms. The Laura Turner Concert Hall is designed in a rectilinear “shoebox” shape and boasts superb acoustics. The hall contains three unusual features: natural interior light which streams through 30 soundproofed windows; a motorized seating system, which can convert rows of raked orchestra-level seats for classical music performances into a hardwood ballroom floor of over 5,700 square feet for pop and jazz concerts; and a large, custom-built concert organ with 3,568 pipes. The Mike Curb Family Music Education Hall is a 3,000-square-foot space featuring a 14-foot ceiling and large windows that allow in much natural light, and hosts programs for schoolchildren, small recitals, lectures and other presentations. The interior decoration of the building contains many interesting and unique designs. These reflect the history of Nashville and the iconography of various supporters of the symphony, as well as that of Laura Turner, the woman after whom the concert hall is named. The sculptural relief panels that decorate the box seats symbolize aspects of Ms. Turner's life, and include a horse, horseshoes, roses, tulips, a musical staff and a keyboard. Pilot's wheel motifs can be glimpsed on the balconies on the north side of the building, alluding to Nashville's traditional barge industry. The flying lyre motif on the building's exterior north facade refers to Apollo, the god of music; the cast nickel-silver coffee beans that appear on the top of each elevator car are a nod to the Cheek family, which founded the company that became Maxwell House; and iris and passionflower designs (Tennessee's state flower and wildflower, respectively) can be seen in multiple locations. In early May 2010, a devastating flood damaged many of the city's buildings, including the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. The center’s entire basement was flooded by 5.25 million gallons of water, the level of which stopped just four inches short of the Turner hall itself. The water completely destroyed the building’s complex electric control system, its large kitchen area and the contents of its storage rooms. However, the hall was able to reopen for a New Year’s Eve concert in December 2010, headlined by Itzhak Perlman. The total repair cost, at $39.6 million, was slightly less than the original estimate.&nbsp; In early 2013, the board of the center conceded that the organization was in need of a “comprehensive financial restructuring.” The center had been forced to default on $102 million in bonds used to build the structure. The causes of the organization’s financial crisis were the enormous expense of constructing the center, the economic downturn that began in 2008 and that had negatively affected arts organizations throughout the country, and the flood that forced the building to close for eight months in 2010. An auction was planned in June 2013 to satisfy the organization’s main creditor, Bank of America. However, the situation was resolved shortly before the auction when an agreement was struck between the center and its creditors, which brought the center’s debt down to a more manageable $20 million. Martha Ingram, a Nashville philanthropist, provided the equity to close the transaction.

The Schermerhorn Symphony Center, which first opened on September 9, 2006, and was named for the late Kenneth Schermerhorn, is home to the Grammy-winning Nashville Symphony, which was founded in 1946 and which Schermerhorn led for 22 years. Located in downtown Nashville, across the street from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the Center was constructed at a cost of $123.5 million and totals 197,000 square feet in area. It is Nashville’s premier classical music venue, though jazz and pop music events of many kinds also take place there. Its main venue is the 30,000-square-foot Laura Turner Concert Hall, which features 1,844 seats over three levels and is one of the few American concert halls which extensively employs natural lighting. Despite its relatively recent history, it has already had to withstand two major crises. In May 2010, a devastating flood hit Nashville, causing extensive damage to the center, which cost millions in repairs. In addition, in 2013 the organization faced a debt crisis in which the property was threatened with foreclosure, and a public auction was scheduled. Fortunately, due to the last minute intervention of a patron, a settlement was reached in which the center’s debt was greatly reduced, and the auction was canceled. 

Schermerhorn Symphony Center

The Country Music Association (CMA) first devised the idea of a Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in 1961. The CMA realized the need of a site to house their growing collection and to tell the story of the history of country music. After the initial fundraising stages, the cornerstone ceremony for the Museum took place on March 16, 1966, and it opened the following year on the corner of 16th Avenue South and Division Street. The Walkway of the Stars, a series of stars featuring prominent artists’ names, graced the entrance and lobby of the Museum. Since 1964, the Hall of Fame and Museum has been operated by the nonprofit Country Music Foundation.Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, and Fred Rose were the first to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961; all three were inducted posthumously. The first living artist to be inducted was Roy Acuff in 1962. The inductees are annually selected by a panel of industry executives chosen by superior officials. Originally, those inducted into the Hall of Fame were honored with bronze plaques that hung in the Tennessee State Museum, but since 1967, these have been on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The plaques are currently featured in the grand Hall of Fame Rotunda.Also seen in the Rotunda is Thomas Hart Benton’s “The Sources of Country Music,” the last piece of art ever done by Benton. In 1975, two years after beginning the painting, Benton went out to his studio to attempt to complete the painting and sign it. Unfortunately, the 84-year-old artist died of a heart attack before doing so. “The Sources of Country Music” has hung in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum since 1975, unsigned and unfinished.In 1987, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum earned accreditation from the American Alliance Museums. Thirteen years later, after more than thirty years of growing its collection and size, the Museum closed down for a year as their new building, located in the heart of Nashville, was completed. In 2014, the Hall of Fame and Museum underwent a $100 million expansion, doubling its footprint downtown and bringing in a record number of visitors.The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Moving Image Collection contains over 30,000 moving images on a variety of film, video, and digital formats. The Collection boasts an equally massive audio archive that dates back to pre-World War II, and an artifacts collection featuring over 800 stage costumes and 600 musical instruments. There are also many historical and iconic vehicles here on location. These include Elvis’s 1960 “Solid Gold” Cadillac and Webb Pierce’s 1962 Pontiac Bonneville.Throughout the Museum, visitors can see numerous exhibits, such as “Sing Me Back Home: A Journey Through Country Music,” which takes visitors through the journey of country music. In addition to the rotating exhibits that can be seen in the Museum, there is also the Taylor Swift Education Center, the Hatch Show Print shop, and a gift shop. The Hall of Fame also offers daily tours of the historic RCA Studio B, where famous country artists Elvis Presley, Waylon Jennings, Porter Wagoner, Dolly Parton, and many others once recorded. As one of the largest museums in the country, and one of the most visited sites in “Music City,” the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum prides itself on being the leading custodian of country music’s rich history.

Opened in 1967, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum refers to itself as "custodians" for preserving, celebrating, and sharing the culture of country music. The Country Music Hall of Fame, called the "Smithsonian of country music," is the top tourist attraction in the city of Nashville. The current museum opened in 2001 and unveiled a $100 million expansion in 2014. The 350,000 square foot building holds galleries, archives, retail stores, space for events, and the Taylor Swift Education Center. The CMA Theater and Ford Theater often play host to live music and award shows. Guests can take guided tours or self-guided tours of the Museum's galleries and the Hall of Fame Rotunda that features legends such as Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Garth Brooks, and many others. In addition to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, visitors may also visit the legendary Hatch Show Print shop and the Historic RCA Studio B.

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Hatch Show Print was started by William Hatch in Prescott, Wisconsin, who trained his two sons, Charles and Herbert, in the art of letterpress printing. In the mid-1870s, the Hatch family moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and Charles and Herbert founded their own print shop called CR and HH Hatch. The Hatch brothers first print job publicized the appearance of the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher, and soon, they became noted for their simple print jobs made with the perfect blend of type size and style.As the years passed, Hatch posters were seen across the country, plastered on buildings and barns, and promoting circuses, vaudeville acts, minstrel shows, carnivals, and other types of entertainment. To create billboard-sized advertisements, the shop installed two fonts of extra-large wood type that measured 40 x 8 inches.Hatch Show Print boomed during the period of the 1920s to the 1950s. Charles Hatch, William’s son, took over Hatch Show Print and would remain at the helm until his death in 1952. During this time, Hatch Show Print became the face of country music. As the genre grew in popularity, William Hatch became known for “chiseling and gauging” some of the most iconic images of country music singers ever made. In display of Hatch Show Print’s link to country music, in 1925, they opened a shop directly behind the historic Ryman Auditorium. Beyond country music, Hatch Show Print created posters that promoted jazz and blues entertainers like Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Bessie Smith.The famed print shop promoted more than music and entertainers, they also created posters for gas stations, movie theaters, grocery stores, and much more. Even with the progress made in printmaking, the country music industry remained faithful to Hatch Show Print, and different forms of entertainment, such as wrestling and rock and roll, began to purchase their posters from Hatch Show Print as well.Over the years, Hatch Show Print was under the ownership of individuals such as Jim Denny and even Gaylord Entertainment. In 1992, Gaylord donated Hatch Show Print to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. From then until 2013, the print shop was located on lower Broadway in Nashville and became more in demand than ever. While continuing to utilize nineteenth century letterpress printing, Hatch Show Print produced around 600 posters annually, still promoting country music but also making artwork for food packages and postal stamps.When the shop outgrew the space on lower Broadway, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, which had recently undergone an expansion, included Hatch Show Print in their facility. The shop now has four different spaces designated for them in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and they welcome over 100,000 visitors annually. At Hatch Show Print, visitors may watch printers create posters or even participate in the making of a custom print.

Hatch Show Print in Nashville has been producing custom prints and posters for special events and occasions for over 140 years. Now located inside of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, visitors can stop by the print shop and take a tour to learn more about the art of letterpress printing and even create their own work. Iconic posters featuring legendary artists such as Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, and many more can also be viewed and purchased. Hatch Show Print produces new posters daily and continues to promote the music of modern artists with the same turn-of-the-century methods and appeal.

Highlights of Downtown Nashville Walking Tour

Frist Center for the Visual Arts

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information