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How Nashville can preserve and amplify the city's African American history | Opinion

The Metro Human Relations Commission is asking Nashville to purchase the historic Morris Memorial Building to honor and share important Black history.

Multiple authors

The signatories and partner organizations listed below are endeavoring to realize two long-awaited dreams: the creation of a museum dedicated to Nashville’s African American and civil rights histories and the preservation of the historic Morris Memorial Building. 

Often referenced and celebrated as fundamental to Nashville’s development into a welcoming, world-class community, the local civil rights movement and the brave individuals who risked everything have not been adequately memorialized. The city must do more to tell the comprehensive story of the movement within the context of Nashville’s African American history. Our community should take every opportunity to show its pride in how this era shaped the future of Nashville and, ultimately, the nation.

Although information about the important role Black Nashvillians played in the Civil Rights movement is more accessible, stories about their contributions to Music City's history and development remain elusive or unacknowledged.

A substantial amount of the city’s infrastructure, policies, and social reforms were shaped by African Americans, either in response to their actions and/or to punish/marginalize them. African American culture has played and continues to play a vital role in Nashville’s story, and it is time to honor and memorialize this history. 

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Support is growing for an African American history museum in Nashville

The Morris Memorial Building opened in 1926 and was named for Elijah Camp Morris, National Baptist Convention USA Inc.'s first president. Born enslaved in Georgia, Morris studied at Nashville Normal and Theological Institute. This five-story building was designed by the prominent, Black-owned architectural firm of McKissack & McKissack and constructed for the National Baptist Convention, an African American Christian denomination.

The Morris Memorial building: "This neoclassical building illustrates the work of Moses McKissack. He, with his brother Calvin, founded McKissack & McKissack, a black architectural firm established in 1918 and one of the first organized and staffed by African Americans in the United States."

Baptist Sunday School Publishing Board, McKissack & McKissack, Citizens Savings Bank and Trust Company, and Atlanta Insurance Company's Nashville location were all housed there. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 for its significance in architecture and Black history.

The Metro Human Relations Commission has made a capital request to purchase and rehabilitate the building to hold a civil rights and African American history museum and Metro offices. In tandem with this, a community campaign is coalescing individuals and organizations that agree it is time to canonize African American presence in Nashville before more of it is lost.

This initiative is raising awareness and funding to cover the development and short-term viability of the museum. The Community Foundation has initiated a fund and events are being organized for June 17 and July 15 by Rosedale Collective.

To be clear, the immediate goal is not to decide what exhibits will be in the museum. A committee made up of historians, archivists, and curators is assembling to develop community input processes to be implemented when the funding to create the museum has been raised. The initiative’s focus is providing the optimal environment for the museum to thrive while being accessible and affordable to all.  

Morris Memorial building

The signatories look forward to working with organizations, elected officials, government agencies, historians, historically marginalized neighborhoods and communities, academic institutions, houses of worship, and all neighbors who are committed to a just and inclusive Nashville to make this dream a reality. 

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Here is how to take action and share your support

  1. Let the Mayor (mayor@nashville.gov) and Council Members (councilmembers@nashville.gov) know you support Metro saving the Morris Memorial Building.
  2. Go to the following link to support fundraising efforts for the museum: www.cfmt.org/civilrightshistory.
  3. Attend/support the upcoming events on June 17 and July 15. For more info, visit: www.SavetheMorris.org.

Individual signatories:

  1. King Hollands
  2. Aisha White
  3. Betsy Phillips
  4. Charles Bone, Sr.
  5. Charles Robert Bone
  6. Chief Public Defender Martesha Johnson Moore
  7. Chris Sanders
  8. Cindy Politte
  9. CJ Sentell
  10. Council Member Angie Henderson
  11. Council Member Bob Mendes
  12. Council Member Brandon Taylor
  13. Council Member Brett Withers
  14. Council Member Burkley Allen
  15. Council Member Courtney Johnston
  16. Council Member Delishia Porterfield
  17. Council Member Emily Benedict
  18. Council Member Erin Evans
  19. Council Member Freddie O’Connell
  20. Council Member Ginny Welsch
  21. Council Member Jeff Syracuse
  22. Council Member Jennifer Gamble
  23. Council Member John Rutherford
  24. Council Member Joy Styles
  25. Council Member Kyontze Toombs
  26. Council Member Russ Pulley
  27. Council Member Sandra Sepulveda
  28. Council Member Sean Parker
  29. Council Member Sharon Hurt
  30. Council Member Zulfat Suara
  31. County Clerk Brenda Wynn
  32. Courtney Vrablik
  33. Criminal Court Clerk Howard Gentry
  34. Dr. Carole Bucy
  35. Dr. Gatluak Thach
  36. Dr. Forrest Harris
  37. Dr. Learotha Williams
  38. Dr. Marisa Richmond
  39. Erica Perry
  40. Hal Cato
  41. Hon. Megan Barry
  42. Hon. Sheila Calloway
  43. Jamel Campbell Gooch
  44. Jennifer Oldham
  45. Jerome Moore
  46. Jim Gingrich
  47. John Lasiter
  48. Juvenile Court Clerk Lonnell Matthews, Jr.
  49. Kaki Friskics- Warren
  50. Kasar Abdulla
  51. Keith Caldwell
  52. Kristen Keely-Dinger
  53. Maryam Abolfazli
  54. Matt Wiltshire
  55. Metro Trustee Erica Gilmore
  56. Michelle Johnson
  57. Mike Smith
  58. Odessa Kelly
  59. Pastor Aaron Marble
  60. Pastor Davie Tucker
  61. Phyllis Hildreth
  62. Ralph Schulz
  63. Raquel Barlow
  64. Renata Soto
  65. Rep. Bob Freeman
  66. Rep. Harold Love, Jr.
  67. Rep. Jason Powell
  68. Rep. John Ray Clemmons
  69. Rep. Vincent Dixie
  70. Rev. Venita Lewis
  71. Rosetta Perry
  72. Sabina Mohyuddin
  73. Sen. Charlane Oliver
  74. Sen. Heidi Campbell
  75. Sen. Jeff Yarbro
  76. Sharon Kay
  77. Tasha French Lemley
  78. Tequila Johnson
  79. Terry Vo
  80. Timothy Hughes
  81. Tom Negri
  82. Vivian Wilhoite, Davidson County Property Assessor
  83. Vanessa Lazon
  84. Yuri Cunza

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Group signatories

  1. Nashville Civil Rights Veterans
  2. American Baptist College
  3. American Muslim Advisory Council
  4. AWAKE TN
  5. Black Nashville Assembly
  6. Community Foundation
  7. Celebrate Nashville Cultural Festival
  8. Entrepreneur Latina Leaders of America
  9. Faith and Culture Center
  10. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
  11. Humanities Tennessee
  12. Interdenominational Ministers Fellowship
  13. Metro Arts Nashville
  14. Metro Human Relations Commission
  15. Metro Nashville Community Oversight Board
  16. Mosaic Changemakers
  17. NAACP Nashville
  18. Nashville International Center for Empowerment
  19. Oasis Center
  20. R.H. Boyd
  21. Rosedale Collective
  22. Stand Up Nashville
  23. The Equity Alliance
  24. The Nashville Food Project
  25. TN Equality Project
  26. TN Justice Center
  27. TN Latin American Chamber of Commerce