African American Heritage Tour

From Jonesborough to Memphis

African Americans have always had an important role in Tennessee. Across the state, visitors will find aspects of Tennessee influenced by African Americans in one way or the other.

East Tennessee

Your trip begins in the northeastern region of the state in Tennessee's oldest town, Jonesborough Historic District and Visitors Center, home of the International Storytelling Center. On West Main Street, look for a marker celebrating where The Manumission Intelligence and The Emancipator were published from 1819-1920. These publications were the first in the United States devoted exclusively to the abolition of slavery.

A little off the beaten path, toward New Market, is the Highlander Research Foundation. Its predecessor was the Highlander Folk Center, an important training center where a group of activists challenged the status quo of segregation and attracted students such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks to its doors in the 1950s.

Take time for lunch at New Market Family Restaurant before heading west to Knoxville to visit Greater Warner Tabernacle AME Zion Church. It is said that this church, which dates to 1845, served as a station on the Underground Railroad, which assisted slaves in escaping to freedom.

You will also find the Alex Haley Statue at Haley Heritage Square in Knoxville, a tribute to Roots author Alex Haley, who spent the last 14 years of his life in East Tennessee. A 13-foot statue of the author anchors the square. The Beck Cultural Exchange Center is a learning museum of African American history and culture that researches, collects, conserves and exhibits achievements of African Americans.

A short drive to the southwest is the Chattanooga African American Museum/Bessie Smith Hall, which emphasizes both African and African American influences on the city's growth. One of the first blues greats to take that music to the masses, Bessie Smith, was from Chattanooga, and the city has honored her with Bessie Smith Hall, a performance venue that also showcases her life. Chattanooga also has Shiloh Baptist Church, founded in 1866 by former slaves who worked 30 years to raise the funds for the land and building.

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Enjoy dinner and dancing aboard the Southern Belle Riverboat as you cruise down the majestic Tennessee River.

Middle Tennessee

An early start toward Nashville leads to worthwhile history exhibits and experiences. In Murfreesboro, stop at the Bradley Academy Museum & Cultural Center, built in 1917 as a school for African Americans. It features restored classroom, Civil War and local history exhibits.

In Nashville, visit four famous colleges that are tributes to African American intellectual life and the drive to improve social standing through education.

Founded in 1867 and considered one of the country's best historically black universities, Fisk University Historic District has produced many outstanding graduates, including: author W.E.B. Du Bois; Margaret Murray Washington, wife of Booker T. Washington; John Hope Franklin, premier African American historian; Nikki Giovanni, nationally known poet; and many others. A national historic and architectural landmark, Jubilee Hall is a six-story Victorian Gothic building completed in 1876, the first building constructed from funds raised from performances by the world-renowned Fisk University & Fisk Jubilee Singers (TM).

Tennessee State University was founded in 1912 as Tennessee State Agricultural and Industrial College for Negroes. Its nationally recognized marching band, Aristocrat of Bands, its Olympic athletic tradition, exciting football teams and large, loyal alumni group make it one of the most popular historically black universities in America.

Meharry Medical College, the first training ground for African American doctors and dentists, was also the site of the nation’s first Institute on Healthcare for the poor and underserved. American Baptist College has been training African American ministers and leaders in service-related careers since the 1920s.

Established in 1912, Hadley Park is considered the first park for African Americans in the United States.

Stop by the for lunch where you can grab a lunch of Mexican, Greek, Middle Eastern, Asian, Mediterranean, Jamaican or Southern fare. Then tour the Civil Rights Collection at the downtown Nashville Public Library - Main.

Also in the downtown area, the historic First Baptist Church Capital Hill served as an important meeting place during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's. Founded in 1832, Capers Memorial Christian Methodist Episcopal Church is the oldest African American church in Nashville. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, its building was designed and built by the nation's oldest continuously operated, African American architectural firm, McKissack and McKissack.

A few blocks away is Fort Negley, a unique, star-shaped Union fort from the Civil War. It was built in 1862 to defend Nashville against Confederate Army attacks. Black laborers, both free and slave, were instrumental in building Fort Negley.

End the day in the heart of downtown Nashville with some Southern and Cajun comfort food and great live music at B.B. King's Blues Club, where you can eat, drink and dance your blues away!

West Tennessee

Begin with a trip up the road to Clarksville, where a statue at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Museum honors hometown pride and joy Wilma Rudolph, an Olympic champion runner who overcame polio, segregation and gender bias to win international fame in 1960. Her three gold medals in Rome were also a shot in the arm to the civil rights movement at the time. Another Clarksville stop is St. Peter A.M.E. Church, listed on the National Register of Historic Places; founded in 1866 and remodeled in 1890, it remains an outstanding church edifice.

Next is a stop in Jackson at the Lane College Historic District, an historic African American college supported by the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. The J.K. Daniels Library boasts an excellent African American Heritage Collection. Be sure to stop for the famous buffet lunch at Brooks Shaw's Old Country Store/Casey Jones Village.

Heading west toward the Mississippi River, you’ll find the small town of Henning, where Alex Haley first heard his family's tales of Kunta Kinte and Chicken George. Alex Haley Museum is now a museum to the author of Roots, and nearby is Bethlehem Cemetery, containing a Haley family plot where Chicken George is buried. The power of Roots and its narrative is such that it's a great place to begin any venture into African American history and genealogy.

Another stop that may interest your group is the Biblical Resource Center & Museum in Collierville. This museum features artifacts and replicas of the Bible, a library and museum store. The tour includes a slide presentation in the theater and guided tour of the gallery, exhibits and Bible Laboratory.

The last city on our tour is Memphis, the heart of African American history in Tennessee. Begin at world-famous Beale Street Historic District, where business and music flourished and attracted blacks from around the Southeast. Today, Beale Street is entertainment-focused, with B.B. King's and many other places to enjoy great music and great food.

A block away is Church Park , created in the late 1800s by Robert R. Church, a businessman said to be the South's first African American millionaire. Over the next decades, the park's auditorium became a meeting place visited by President Theodore Roosevelt and used to host meetings of African Americans to discuss the agendas of the day.

A few blocks off Beale is the National Civil Rights Museum, housed in the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968. Today, the museum enshrines his room and the balcony where he died, and offers a multi-media history of the civil rights era in one of the most heavily visited sites in Memphis.

A short drive down Second Street takes you to a white clapboard house, built in 1849 by German immigrant Jacob Burkle. The Burkles opened their home, now known as the , as part of the Underground Railroad for runaway slaves seeking freedom in the north. A tour of the house includes a visit to the secret cellar where slaves waited to escape.

The Stax Museum of American Soul Music is built on the site of the original Stax Records studio, the heart of Soulsville USA, where Memphis soul burst out over the nation through the music of Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Booker T. and the MGs and others during the '60s and '70s.

A trip to Memphis means a trip to Elvis Presley's Graceland! Touring Graceland is a one-of-a-kind experience that will lead you on Elvis's fascinating journey to superstardom. Experience the cultural changes that led to the birth of Rock 'n' Roll through Presley’s “blue-eyed soul music.”

Memphis, of course, is the founding ground of the Church of God in Christ; the Mother Church, Mason Temple , is still operating today. That was the site of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famous “Mountaintop” speech in 1968. First Baptist Beale Street was where Ida B. Wells operated her newspaper, Free Speech and Headlight, and waged her anti-lynching fight until she had to leave town for her own safety.

Once you’ve finished your tour, take time to kick back and enjoy dinner and live music on Memphis’s incomparable Beale Street Historic District!

Additional Attractions

Ashwood Rural Historic District
Chattanooga National Cemetery
First Baptist Church of Chattanooga
Fort Pillow State Historic Park
Frank H. McClung Museum - University of Tennessee
Green McAdoo Cultural Center
LeMoyne-Owen College
Savannah Cemetery
Sumner County Museum
W.C. Handy House Museum

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