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.
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.
At this location on December 5, 1959, African American students at Fisk University held a short "trial" sit-in protest against the Cain-Sloan Department Store. This small demonstration was held in preparation for a much larger demonstration by students at this and other department stores on February 27, 1960. These demonstration were part of a citywide campaign against segregated lunch counters and other discriminatory practices in Nashville.
At this location on February 20, 1960, university students from several Black colleges in Nashville joined together to challenge racial discrimination through a sit-in at the Walgreens lunch counter. Walgreens was one several downtown Nashville establishments selected for the sit-in protests. The students faced hostility and violence, but they continued their protests until May 10, 1960, when six nearby establishments agreed to serve all people regardless of race.
University students from nearby Black colleges chose the Woolworth building for the site of one of many sit-in protests in Nashville, Tennessee on February 13, 1960. The students protested the segregation of the dining counter in the Woolworth building. They were faced with backlash and violence but continued to protest until May 10, 1960, when six of the nearby segregated establishments agreed to serve all people regardless of race.
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.
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.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This walking tour begins at the Nashville Arcade where students and civil rights veterans met on February 13, 1960. The tour takes users to several of the lunch counters, department stores, and hotels in downtown Nashville where student-led sit-ins challenged racial discrimination. (This tour is in progress with updates to come).
