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MUSIC CITY
MULTICULTUR AL NASHVILLE
MUSIC CITY MULTICULTURAL EVENTS,
ATTRACTIONS & POINTS OF INTEREST
Diversity is a key part of the city’s past,
present, and future. Nashville is a model of the
American “melting pot” with a deep African
American history, an active Native American
population, thriving Hispanic community, and
a growing Middle Eastern and Asian presence.
Different cultures, religions, ideas, and customs
come together harmoniously in Music City.
A F R I C A N S T R E E T F E S T I VA L
aacanashville.org
Each September, the African Street
Festival celebrates the sounds of Africa. This
free three-day event offers daily stage shows
featuring poetry, rap, reggae, blues, jazz, gospel,
R&B, and drama. During the festival, there
are over 150 vendors from around the country
selling Afrocentric wares from ankhs to zebra
skin fabrics.
C E L E B R AT E N A S H V I L L E
C U LT U R A L F E S T I VA L
celebratenashville.org
In a city where one in six residents
is foreign-born, the Celebrate Nashville
Cultural Festival is a celebration and
reminder of what makes Nashville a
unique and diverse city. This international
festival takes place at Centennial Park
featuring food, art, and fun, which draws
representatives from more than 50 cultures
showcasing the diversity of Middle Tennessee
each October. Activities include music,
dance, an international food court, and an
international market.
JEFFERSON STREET JAZZ
& B L U E S F E S T I VA L
jumpnashville.com
Each June, Jefferson Street keeps the
music tradition alive with its annual Jazz
& Blues Festival. This festival is a full day
of music and great food. From the 1940s
through the early 60s, Jefferson Street was
one of America’s best-known districts for
Tommy Sims at the Music City Soul Series
jazz, blues, and R&B. Famous AfricanAmerican musicians like Little Richard,
Jimi Hendrix, Ray Charles, Fats Domino,
and Memphis Slim played repeatedly in the
many clubs.
NAIA POW WOW
naiatn.org/powwow
The NAIA Pow Wow brings together
Native Americans from across the nation
and Canada. Held at Long Hunter State
Park in October during Tennessee Native
American Indian Month, the festival
includes competitive dancing, storytelling,
demonstrations, fine art displays, and
food booths with traditional dishes from
different tribes. Billed as the largest Pow
Wow east of the Mississippi River, the
festival serves as a reunion of family and
friends, as well as a celebration of culture
still nurtured by the 19,500 Indians who
call Tennessee home today.
N A S H V I L L E G R E E K F E S T I VA L
nashvillegreekfestival.com
In September, experience Greek culture
with dance, music, and food at the annual
Greek Festival at Holy Trinity Greek
Orthodox Church. Tours of the cathedral
with its Byzantine-style sanctuary and
hand-painted iconography are included
with the admission cost.
MULT ICULT URAL AT T RA C TIO NS
THE AMERICAN NEGRO
P L AY W R I G H T T H E AT R E
anpt.org
The American Negro Playwright Theatre
(ANPT) is a local theatre company housed
at Tennessee State University’s Thomas
Edward Poag Auditorium. Students perform
various roles, including acting in major
productions, and also have an opportunity to
work with professionals in the area of theatre.
ANPT aims to bridge theatre arts and the
community, inviting anyone to witness the
black experience, regardless of their own race
or family background. These plays are drawn
from the experiences of black Americans
and are intended to dissipate stereotypes and
promote cultural diversity.
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ANDREW JACKSON’S
H E R M I TA G E : H O M E O F T H E
PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT
thehermitage.com
Born a slave on The Hermitage
plantation and known simply as Alfred, this
now legendary man assisted with the horses
and maintained the wagons and the farm
equipment. After emancipation, he chose to
remain on the plantation as a tenant farmer
and lived at The Hermitage longer than
anyone else, white or black. Additionally,
when The Hermitage was opened to the
public as a presidential home, Alfred was
the first tour guide telling visitors authentic
stories about President Andrew Jackson.
When Alfred died in 1901, his funeral was
held in the center hall of the mansion, and
he was buried in the family garden next to
the President himself. Alfred was the only
non-family member buried in Rachel’s
garden.
B E L L E M E A D E P L A N TAT I O N
bellemeadeplantation.com
This historic venue showcases the
1853 Greek revival mansion and seven
outbuildings including the colossal Carriage
House and stables housing an antique
carriage collection. Experience the stories
of enslaved African Americans who helped
build and maintain the world-famous
thoroughbred plantation in the 19th century.
One hundred years of history come to life as
costumed guides tell stories of life at Belle
Meade.
CIVIL RIGHTS ROOM
library.nashville.org/civilrights/home.html
The Civil Rights Room is located
in the Downtown Public Library. The
collection of materials documents Nashville’s
contributions to the Civil Rights Movement
and the room features a replica lunch counter
with timelines of local and national events in
the Civil Rights Movement.
The nationally-historic Nashville sit-ins
of the 1960s were the inspiration for the
special collection. Large format photographs
of those sit-ins form the backdrop of the
room. In the center of the room resides
a circular lunch counter surrounded by
stools designed to replicate the settings of
many nonviolent demonstrations led by
students from local universities that began in
Nashville on February 13, 1960.
Additionally, the Nashville Public Library
continues to grow its Civil Rights Oral
History collection. Seeking to collect the oral
histories of participants and witnesses of the
student sit-ins in Nashville, the library has
collected 129 interviews to date.
FISK UNIVERSITY
fisk.edu
Founded by the American Missionary
Association and the Western Freedman’s Aid
Commission, Fisk University began in 1866
as the Fisk School, a free school for blacks in
Nashville. Jubilee Hall, completed in 1875,
was the first permanent building erected for
the higher education of African Americans
in the United States, and is now a National
Historical Landmark. Money for its
construction was raised by the Jubilee Singers
whose worldwide singing tours brought them
international acclaim. Additionally, the
Little Theatre, built in 1860, is the oldest
structure on the campus of Fisk University.
Erected as part of the Union Army Hospital
barracks during the Civil War, it was
readapted for use as the campus theatre in
1935.
FORT NEGLEY
nashville.gov
Fort Negley was the largest and most
important fortification built by Union troops
occupying Nashville during the Civil War.
Built in 1862 on St. Cloud Hill, the complex
fort was designed with European features.
Using a partial star-shape design, the unique
layout of the fort allowed crossfire against the
Confederate Army.
Intent on keeping control of Nashville
because of its important transportation
means with river and rail, the Union Army
constructed the 180,000-square-foot fort
covering four acres. Two thousand AfricanAmerican workers, some slaves and some
free blacks, built the fort for the Union Army
in preparations for the Battle of Nashville.
Approximately 800 people died while
building the fort, and many more AfricanAmerican soldiers died during the Battle of
Nashville. Because the Union Army would
not supply weapons to the black soldiers or
slaves, they were forced to protect themselves
with shovels and picks.
The fort fell into disrepair after the war
but was restored in the 1930s by the Works
Progress Administration only to deteriorate
again. Because of its rich Civil War history,
the fort was again renovated and reopened
to the public in 2004 and the Fort Negley
Visitor Center opened in 2007. Fort Negley
is listed on the National Register of Historic
Places.
HADLEY PARK
The Civil Rights Room at the
Downtown Public Library
nashville.gov/Play/Parks-and-Recreation.aspx
Established in 1912, Hadley Park is
thought to be the first public park for
African-American citizens in the United
States. The 34-acre park stands on part of
the antebellum plantation of John L. Hadley,
a white slave-owner committed to helping
post-Civil War freed men and women adjust
to their new status. At Hadley’s invitation,
Frederick Douglass spoke to former slaves
in 1873 from the porch of the Hadley
house, which stood in the park until 1948.
Tennessee State University stands on
another portion of the Hadley land. Today,
Hadley Park also offers baseball fields, tennis
courts, picnic shelters, a playground, and
summer concerts. The park is located at
the intersection of 28th Avenue North and
Centennial Boulevard.
HUBBARD HOUSE
seayhubbard.org/the-hubbard-house
George W. Hubbard, a professor in local
African-American schools after the Civil
War, built a house in 1920 when he retired
as president of Meharry Medical College.
The house, designed by Moses McKissack
III, is a four-square Colonial Revival-style
structure and is the last vestige of the original
Meharry campus. Now on the property of the
Seay-Hubbard United Methodist Church,
the house is listed on the National Register of
Historic Homes.
JEFFERSON STREET
jumpnashville.com
From the 1930s through the early 1960s,
Jefferson Street was one of America’s bestknown districts of jazz, blues, and rhythm and
blues. Famous African-American musicians
played regularly in the many clubs: Club
Baron, Del Morocco, and the New Era Club.
Little Richard, Jimi Hendrix, Ray Charles,
Fats Domino, B.B. King, Ike and Tina Turner,
and Memphis Slim performed here regularly.
Etta James recorded a live album, Etta James
Rocks the House, at The New Era Club.
Nashville artists, many with hit records,
made the district their home.
Show business headliners stopped in
Nashville to try their acts. The Silver Streak,
the great off-Jefferson Street ballroom,
booked such big names as Duke Ellington,
Cab Calloway, Count Basie, and Ella
Fitzgerald.
Members of the old Negro Baseball
League and recording artists such as Ruth
Brown, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington,
and Ella Fitzgerald stayed at Brown’s Hotel
and played the famous Blue Room at Del
Morocco, owned by “Uncle” Teddy Acklen.
In 1994, a group of concerned citizens
— homeowners, business owners, longtime
residents and developers with new
construction in mind — met to create a
framework for advancing Jefferson Street.
The result of their vision of progress
was the Jefferson Street United Merchants
Partnership (JUMP), a non-profit
organization whose mission is “To develop,
foster, and promote cooperative economic
development through revitalization,
acquisition, education, and public safety
programs in North Nashville.”
M O U N T A R A R AT C E M E T E RY
Founded in 1869, Mount Ararat
Cemetery was Nashville’s first AfricanAmerican cemetery. The cemetery, acquired
in 1982 by Greenwood Cemetery, has been
restored and renamed Greenwood Cemetery
West. One of the many leaders buried there
is Dr. Robert Fulton Boyd. Boyd was an
African-American physician and graduate of
Meharry Medical College who helped found
the National Baptist Association, a national
association for black physicians.
N AT I O N A L M U S E U M O F
AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSIC
nmaam.org
The National Museum of African
American Music, opening in 2018, will stand
as an international iconic cultural museum
dedicated to the vast contributions African
Americans have made in music. As the
only museum in the nation with a dedicated
focus on all dimensions of the contributions
African Americans have made to American
music, NMAAM will encompass musical
distinctions that reinforce the impact of
African Americans across the country and
around the world.
WILLIAM EDMONDSON
AT C H E E K W O O D
Hubbard House
cheekwood.org/Art/William_Edmondson.aspx
Born in Davidson County around 1883
to former slave parents, William Edmondson
worked as a railroad and hospital laborer
until 1931, when he began to produce
primitive limestone carvings. A deeply
religious man, Edmondson believed that he
was called by God to carve stones. Without
formal training, he first began carving simple
tombstones and later primitive animals,
angels, Biblical characters, and even
celebrities such as Eleanor Roosevelt. Famed
photographer Louise Dahl-Wolfe’s images of
Edmondson’s works for Harper’s Bazaar led
to a 1937 exhibit at the Museum of Modern
Art in New York. Edmondson was the first
African-American artist to be honored with
a one-man exhibit at the museum. Much of
Edmondson’s works are part of Cheekwood’s
permanent art collection.
POINT S OF I NT EREST
AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL
C H U R C H S U N D AY S C H O O L U N I O N
is an African American-owned publishing
company.
500 8th Avenue South
amecpublishinghouse.com/about_us.php
A M E R I C A N B A P T I S T C O L L E G E was
founded by the Southern Baptist Convention
in 1924 for the development of AfricanAmerican pastors.
1800 Baptist World Center Drive
abcnash.edu
B A P T I S T W O R L D C E N T E R is
headquarters for the National Baptist
Convention of the United States of America.
1700 World Baptist Center Drive
nationalbaptist.com
T H E C U P C A K E C O L L E C T I O N is
located in the heart of Historic Germantown.
The Cupcake Collection features made-fromscratch daily cupcakes and icings, at only
$1.50 each.
1213 6th Avenue North
thecupcakecollection.com
F I S K J U B I L E E S I N G E R S were the
first world-touring musical group and the first
representatives of Nashville as Music City.
They were among the inaugural inductees
in the Music City Walk of Fame in 2006.
fiskjubileesingers.org
F I S K J U B I L E E R E L AT I O N S
I N S T I T U T E was organized in 1942 to
analyze the reasons for division among races,
ethnicity, and religion. fisk.edu/about/history
FISK UNIVERSITY’S AARON
D O U G L A S G A L L E R Y was established
in 1994 in honor of the famed Harlem
Renaissance artist and former Fisk art
professor Aaron Douglas. The gallery features
works from the permanent collection as well
as art works by faculty, students, and leading
contemporary artists.
1000 17th Avenue North fisk.edu
G A R D E N B R U N C H C A F E is one of
Nashville’s premier brunch venues that has an
upscale and comfortable atmosphere. Enjoy
original cuisine, artwork, and ambiance. On
occasion, Garden Brunch Cafe will entertain
you with spoken-word or jazz inspired nights.
924 Jefferson Street gardenbrunchcafe.com
T H E G R A N D O L E O P R Y has been on
the air for more than 90 years. Charley Pride
got his start in Nashville on the stage of the
Opry. Other inductees include DeFord Bailey
and Darius Rucker.
2802 Opryland Drive opry.com
G R E E N W O O D C E M E T E R Y was
established in 1888 by Preston Taylor, one of
the founders of Citizens Bank. Outstanding
Nashvillians buried in the cemetery include
three of the original Fisk Jubilee Singers,
DeFord Bailey (the first black Grand Ole
Opry performer), civil rights leader Kelly
Miller Smith, famed evangelist Marshall
Keeble, and others.
greenwoodcemetery.com
H A R P E R ’ S R E S T A U R A N T serves
mouth-watering Southern food and is
owned by Paul and Senator Thelma Harper,
prominent Nashvillians and community
leaders.
2610 Jefferson Street harperssoulfood.com
MARY’S OLD FASHIONED PIT
B A R - B - Q U E is a Nashville tradition for
mouth-watering ribs.
1108 Jefferson Street
M E H A R R Y M E D I C A L C O L L E G E at
one time was responsible for graduating more
than 50 percent of African-American health
care professionals in the U.S.
1005 D.B. Todd Jr. Boulevard mmc.edu
The Fisk Jubilee Singers
were among the first
inductees in the Music
City Walk of Fame.
N A S H V I L L E M U LT I C U LT U R A L
C H A M B E R S / O R G A N I Z AT I O N S
include:
- Jefferson United
Merchants Partnership
(JUMP)
1215 9th Avenue North
jumptojefferson.com
- Nashville Area Chamber of
Commerce
211 Commerce Street, Suite 100
nashvillechamber.com
- Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of
Commerce
P.O. Box 40541
nashvillehispanicchamber.com
- Nashville Black Chamber of
Commerce
4322 Harding Pike, Suite 100
nashvilleblackchamber.org
- NAACP
1308 Jefferson Street
naacpnashville.org
- Tennessee Chinese Chamber of
Commerce
1801 West End Avenue, Suite 1150
tccc.us
- Tennessee Christian Chamber of
Commerce
5543 Edmondson Pike, Suite 208
tnchristianchamber.org
- Tennessee Latin American Chamber
of Commerce
9003 Overlook Boulevard
tlacc.org
- Urban League of Middle Tennessee
2214 Rosa L. Parks Boulevard,
Suite 100
urbandleagueofmidtn.org
NASHVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY
offers a permanent exhibit in the Civil
Rights Room, which captures the drama of
the 1960s when non-violent demonstrations
in Nashville sparked the Civil Rights
Movement.
615 Church Street library.nashville.org
R . H . B O Y D P U B L I S H I N G C O R P. is
one of the oldest minority-owned publishing
companies in the country, celebrating 120
years.
6717 Centennial Boulevard
rhboydpublishing.com
S W E T T ’ S R E S T A U R A N T is the oldest
minority-owned restaurant in Nashville,
serving unforgettable meals since 1954.
2725 Clifton Avenue swettsrestaurant.com
T E D R H O D E S G O L F C O U R S E was
named for the first African-American
Nashville native to ever play in a PGA event.
1901 Ed Temple Boulevard
nashville.gov/Play/Parks-and-Recreation.aspx
T E N N E S S E E S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y ,
founded in 1912, has produced more Olympic
gold medalists than any other university
in the United States. This historically
African-American school is the alma mater
of Olympic champion Wilma Rudolph and
Oprah Winfrey.
3500 John A. Merritt Boulevard tnstate.edu
The African American Guide to Nashville can
be accessed online, please visit taagtn.net for
additional information.
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