Posted by anderc8 on Monday, October 10, 2016 in Historic Black Nashville.

When Jane approached me about co-teaching Historic Black Nashville, I jumped at the prospect of working with a colleague who has devoted her career to bringing hidden histories to light, and I was thrilled to be a part of a course that promises to bring so much to the Vanderbilt curriculum. In seminars I have taught on slavery, segregation and civil rights, my students have done enough original research in local archives to teach me to see the city of Nashville differently. With all the construction sites and gleaming towers, it can be hard to find Nashville’s past. It has been paved over, forgotten, and neglected in countless ways, but it’s there, with a wealth of new lessons about the complex nature of slavery, freedom, equality, and citizenship. Scholars over the decades have done excellent work on the history of African Americans in Nashville, but so much awaiting discovery. The students in this course are poised to make important contributions to how we understand our city and ourselves.

Educating Vanderbilt students about the African American experience in Nashville seems particularly important at this moment, and the coursework will do that through experiential, hands-on learning both in and out of the classroom. The content explores Nashville’s first 150 years, from the frontier and first settlement of Nashville in the late 18th century into the 1930s, and shines a light on many of the city’s untold stories.

During the Fall 2016 semester, we will research and/or visit a number of sites across the area, from the Hermitage to 19th-century black-owned businesses such as the Hotel Afrique, from Fort Negley to Fisk. Students will also hear from guest lecturers and conduct immersive research projects that they will present at the end of the term.

We have already taken the class to visit the Hermitage and the Metro Archives at the Nashville Public Library, and will post blog entries and photos from those trips in the coming weeks. Additional site visits to Fort Negley, Fisk University and downtown Nashville are scheduled for later in the semester.

Our students will chronicle the course throughout the semester, blogging about site visits and sharing photos. I invite you to follow along by checking our blog page regularly!