Nashville Sites, 1113 Kirkwood Avenue, Nashville, TN (2026)

04/13/2026

Announcing our newest tour! Please join us for the launch of our new tour, City Hall and Public Square, on Sunday, April 19, at 3:00 p.m. on the steps of the Historic Courthouse and City Hall. This free audio tour explores one of Nashville’s most important civic spaces, tracing the evolution of Public Square and the 1937 Art Deco building that brought local government under one roof.
The tour features narration by Mayor Freddie O’Connell and Vice Mayor Angie Emery Henderson and is the first Nashville Sites tour available in English, Spanish, and Arabic. Developed by a team of historians and students, it offers an accessible look at the people, places, and events that have shaped Nashville’s civic life.
April 19 also marks a defining moment in the city’s Civil Rights Movement, when thousands marched to the courthouse following the bombing of Z. Alexander Looby’s home. The protest helped bring national attention to local organizers and reshaped the course of the movement in Nashville.
We hope to see you there!
*In the event of inclement weather, the program will move inside to the second floor mezzanine.
HistoricCourthouseandCityHall NewTour

03/26/2026

The Nashville YWCA building at 211 7th Avenue North, completed in 1911, reflects the city’s early efforts to support working women during a period of rapid growth. Designed in the Georgian Revival style with limestone and brick detailing, it was built after a major fundraising campaign and quickly became a central hub for housing, education, recreation, and social services.

More than a residence, the building offered a place where women could find stability and support at a time when those opportunities were limited. It provided meals, classes, a gymnasium, and shared spaces for women building lives in the city, and later expanded to include services for African American women through the Blue Triangle branch.

The YWCA later relocated, and today the building is used as office space, but it remains an important part of Nashville’s women’s history. It reflects how women organized to create new opportunities for work, education, and independence.

Learn more on our Women's History Highlights Tour!

03/19/2026

From 1865 to 1913, Ward Seminary was one of Nashville’s leading schools for girls, founded by Eliza Ward and her husband William just months after the Civil War. Offering both college preparatory and collegiate instruction, Ward’s was regarded as one of the leading schools for young women in the South.

Each afternoon, students walked through downtown and up to the Capitol in a line behind their principals, earning the nickname the Ward Ducks. In 1913, the school merged with Belmont College to form Ward-Belmont, a high school and junior college for women. Today, Harpeth Hall School traces its origins to this early institution.

Featured on our Women's History Highlights and Downtown Schools and Education Tour, Ward Seminary reflects the city’s long commitment to education for women!

03/17/2026

Vanderbilt University has played an early and influential role in the history of women’s basketball. In 1897, the first publicly played women’s basketball game in Nashville took place on campus when Vanderbilt faced Ward Seminary. Coached by one of the university’s first female graduates, Stella Vaughn, the team won the game 5 to 0, marking one of the earliest organized competitions for women in the region.

Women’s athletics at Vanderbilt expanded significantly in the 1970s when the university established varsity programs after decades of intramural competition. Teresa Lawrence Phillips became the first Black woman to play a varsity sport at Vanderbilt and later built a distinguished career as a coach and athletic director at Fisk and Tennessee State University. Another standout Commodore, Carolyn Peck, went on to become the first Black woman to coach an NCAA championship winning team when Purdue captured the 1999 national title.

Learn more on our Women's Sports History Driving Tour!

03/12/2026

Josephine Groves Holloway devoted her life to expanding opportunities for African American girls in Nashville. Born in 1898 and educated at Fisk University, Holloway joined the Girl Scouts in 1923 after training with founder Juliette Gordon Low. She soon organized the first Black Girl Scout troop in Middle Tennessee, and by 1924 more than three hundred African American girls had joined the program.

When the Southern council considered ending troops for African American girls because of the cost, Holloway continued the work on her own, organizing an unofficial troop and steadily growing participation. By 1942 the number of Black Girl Scouts had grown so large that the council formally recognized the program. Hired as an advisor in 1944, Holloway helped establish thirteen additional troops and played a key role in securing land for Camp Holloway, which still operates today.

The council began integrating in 1951 and eliminated racially segregated troops in 1962. Holloway retired the following year, leaving behind a legacy of leadership that expanded access and opportunity for generations of girls.
Learn more on our North Nashville Leadership Driving Tour!

03/10/2026

Womankind Books, founded in 1977 by Carole de Bra Powell, was Nashville’s first feminist bookstore and an important gathering place for women across the city and surrounding rural areas. Powell, a single mother who had been active in civil rights and women’s rights movements, opened the store after connecting with Nashville’s le***an community and local feminist organizers. The bookstore quickly became a hub for conversation, organizing, and support, with nearly one thousand women on its mailing list.

More than a bookstore, Womankind hosted community programs and initiatives such as the Womankind Support Project and the Womankind Health Center, which offered gynecological and mental health services. The space also held monthly coffeehouses and distributed music from Olivia Records, a women’s label founded by le***ans. Though the store closed in 1984, many remember Womankind as a place where women of all backgrounds could find community and support.

Learn more on our LGBTQ Driving Tour!

03/04/2026

As we begin a series highlighting Nashville women’s history in honor of Women’s History Month, we start at Centennial Park. The park is home to the Suffrage Monument, unveiled in 2017 and created by sculptor Alan LeQuire, honoring Anne Dallas Dudley, J. Frankie Pierce, Sue Shelton White, Abby Crawford Milton, and Carrie Chapman Catt.

Centennial Park played a important role in Tennessee’s suffrage movement after the grounds of the 1897 Centennial Exposition became a public park. Organized by Anne Dallas Dudley and other local leaders, suffrage parades often began downtown and concluded with rallies at the Parthenon. On May 1, 1916, Dudley led a march that drew more than 2,000 supporters to the park, where she declared that the right to vote was "a matter of simple justice," marking a pivotal moment in the state’s fight for woman suffrage.

Learn more on our Woman's Suffrage and Centennial Park Tours!

02/27/2026

Hale Stadium, named for Tennessee State University’s first president William Jasper Hale, has been a centerpiece of campus life since it opened in 1953. Designed by McKissack and McKissack, the stadium and field house sit in a natural bowl that earned the nickname “The Hole.” From 1953 to 1999, it served as the home of TSU Tiger Football before the program began splitting games with Nissan Stadium.

Many legendary athletes began their careers here, including NFL Hall of Famer Richard Dent, who played for TSU from 1979 to 1983 after being recruited by Coach John Merritt. Dent went on to star with the Chicago Bears, earning MVP honors in Super Bowl XX. Other notable athletes who competed at Hale Stadium include Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Claude Humphrey, Dominique Rodgers Cromartie, Wilma Rudolph, and Chandra Cheeseborough.

Beyond the players, Hale Stadium is known for its atmosphere. Surrounded by earthen banks and packed bleachers, it offers an intimate game day experience shaped as much by the crowd as by the action on the field.

Learn more on our Tennessee State University Walking Tour!

02/20/2026

Join us tonight, February 20, at Municipal Auditorium as part of the Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball Tournament! With the theme “Our Court. Our Story. The History of Women’s Basketball,” it is a fitting setting to spotlight one of Nashville’s most accomplished teams.

From 1950 to 1969, Nashville Business College won 11 AAU national championships during an era when few colleges offered varsity athletics for women. Competing in what was then a national semi-professional league, the team played high profile games at Municipal Auditorium and helped establish Nashville as a center for women’s basketball.

Coached by John Head, the program produced national leaders in the sport, including Nera White, later inducted into both the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Long before Title IX reshaped college athletics, the "women of NBC" were pioneers of the modern game.

Learn more on our Women's Sports History Driving Tour!

02/19/2026

Woodcuts Gallery & Framing opened on September 23, 1987, the result of Nathaniel (Nate) Harris’s vision and determination. An engineer with a passion for woodworking, Harris began framing artwork in his garage before taking on the challenge of renovating a deteriorating building at 1613 Jefferson Street. With support from the Nashville Minority Business Development Center, he transformed the space and established a business that has remained a fixture in the neighborhood ever since.

Harris was equally committed to the future of Jefferson Street. As the first president of the Jefferson United Merchants Partnership (JUMP), he worked to demonstrate that Black owned businesses could succeed and lead revitalization efforts on the historic street. Woodcuts earned recognition from the NAACP and the Greater Nashville Black Chamber of Commerce and was featured in national publications. Harris passed away in February 2024, but his legacy endures through the gallery he built and the example he set as a business owner and community leader.

02/12/2026

Completed in 1892, Fisk Memorial Chapel stands at the center of Fisk University’s campus and its traditions. Funded through a bequest from General Clinton B. Fisk and his wife Geanette, the chapel reflects their belief in the importance of spiritual and communal life at the university.

Designed by architect William Bigelow, the chapel’s exterior gives way to a striking interior with high domed ceilings, exposed structural supports, and a balcony that wraps around three sides. For more than a century, Fisk Memorial Chapel has hosted concerts, services, convocations, lectures, and commencement ceremonies.

It has also welcomed an extraordinary range of national and international figures, including the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes, Thurgood Marshall, Booker T. Washington, and Louis Armstrong. The chapel remains the primary performance space for the Fisk Jubilee Singers and continues to serve as an important gathering place on campus.

Learn more on our Fisk University and Meharry Medical College Tour!

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Nashville Sites

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