Elevating local African American history

African Americans have contributed in countless ways to the history and culture of Nashville and Tennessee.

Some contributions are well known — like the lunch counter sit-ins and school desegregation. Others have been lost to history. Today, we hear from those who work to preserve and elevate their history. The Nashville Conference on African American History and Culture is an all-day conference in its 44th year. The Nashville City Cemetery Association created a program to honor the more than 6,000 African Americans buried there, almost 3,000 without identification in the formal record. Dr. Edward Robinson, who has written a book about prominent Nashville faith and business leader, Preston Taylor, joins the show as well.

This episode was produced by Mary Mancini.

Guests

• Linda Wynn, Historian and Co-founder, Nashville Conference on African American History and Culture
• Dr. Edward Robinson, Author, To Pave the Way for His People: A Life of Preston Taylor
• Betsy Thorpe, Board Member, Nashville City Cemetery Association
• Natalie Bell, Board Member, Nashville City Cemetery Association

Further Reading & Listening

• In 2021, the Nashville Conference on African American History and Culture released the second edition of Profiles of African Americans in Tennessee, first published in 1996. You can read the full book here: Profiles of African Americans in Tennessee (Second Edition)