As This Is Nashville observes the national holiday to mark the Emancipation Proclamation reaching all enslaved people, consider these episodes for deep and informative listening.
A cemetery for people enslaved by Andrew Jackson has been uncovered at The Hermitage
Researchers have discovered a cemetery for people enslaved by Andrew Jackson, the seventh U.S. president, who made his home in Nashville. The graves are located just 1,000 feet from Jackson’s main house at The Hermitage.
Tennessee House kills bill that would have banned local officials from studying, funding reparations
Tennessee’s Republican-dominant House has spiked legislation that would have banned local governments from paying to study or dispense money for reparations for slavery. The move marked a rare defeat on a GOP-backed proposal initially introduced nearly one year ago.
Hannibal Lokumbe’s new opera takes Nashville audiences through generations from Africa to enslavement to triumph
“The Jonah People,” a new work that premieres this weekend with the Nashville Symphony, is at once a large-scale opera, oratorio, jazz symphony, and storytelling experience.
Nashville’s role in the slave trade
In 1860, more than 30% of Davidson County’s roughly 47,000 residents were enslaved. That’s nearly 15,000 people. As significant as those numbers are, they underlie another, equally unsettling truth: Nashville was a key location in the sale of enslaved people.
Exploring the living history of Promise Land, Tennessee
Promise Land was established and settled by formerly enslaved people near Charlotte, Tenn., during Reconstruction.
Interactive map: 50+ 2022 Juneteenth celebrations happening in Middle TN
As the popularity of Juneteenth has continued to grow, WPLN News has compiled 50 events and counting for the holiday happening across Middle Tennessee. Many are being organized by Black-led organizations.
Interactive Map: 45+ Juneteenth Celebrations Happening This Weekend In Middle TN
Popularity of Juneteenth continues to grow — evidenced by more than 45 events happening this weekend in Middle Tennessee. Many are organized by Black-led organizations.
Remains Of Confederate General Exhumed For Relocation To Middle Tennessee
The group responsible for relocating the monument of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest say the remains of Forrest and his wife are gone from a Memphis park.
Juneteenth: A Nashville Historian Sees Slavery As Only ‘Two Grandmas Away’
For many white people, the idea of slavery seems distant. But for African Americans, like Tennessee State University history professor Learotha Williams Jr., it’s much closer. “I’ve always been cognizant of the fact that slavery is only about two grandmas away from me,” Williams says.
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