Nashville Black History Moments...92Q NEEDS YOUR HELP!

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Comment by Mona on February 16, 2009 at 11:13am

The Black history information I am sharing was written by Emma White Bragg, the daughter of one of the Stone sisters. This information was retrieved from TSU's Library web page:
The Stone sisters became the proprietors of the first black-owned beauty parlor in downtown Nashville. Their business was on the corner of Sixth Avenue, North, and Union Street near the present site of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. The sisters catered to a clientele of wealthy white women, and they introduced the first permanent-wave machine, which they learned to use at Frederick's in New York City. They sold hair pieces and wigs from France and used hair-weaving equipment, hair dryers, and hair-cutting tools, among other innovations. The sisters developed "Stone-White," a skin bleach lotion, and sold it at their beauty parlor. The Stone sisters resided at 1613 Jefferson Street, immediately across the street from Fisk University's Jubilee Hall. In 1915, the sisters bought the McIntyre Beauty Parlor from its white owner, May McIntyre, for the sum of $500. The sisters operated the lucrative business until the 1930s. The Luke Leas, the Percy Warners, the Robert Cheeks, and other prominent white families frequented the Stone sisters' downtown establishment. The mother of the Stone sisters, Sallie Brooks Stone (1858-1923), was born a slave. The father of the girls, John Secrest, was a prosperous white Jewish planter in Maury County. The girls inherited some Indian blood from their maternal grandmother, Sallie. The Stone family was compassionate and sensitive to the issue of racial oppression. The mother often visited the sick and gave money and food to the poor. The sisters unsuccessfully used money and influence to gain the release of a black Knoxville man accused of killing a white woman in 1919.

Comment by Cynthia on February 13, 2009 at 6:24pm

My Black History moment is the Late John A Austin Sr. was one of the first of 5 black bus driver hired to drive the now MTA Bus Services in Nashville.. The other were: Sam Whitlow, John Watkins, TC
Cauthers, John Fly, And I think he was one of the first two black to run for Councilman in East Nashville, The other one was Charles Townsend.

Comment by VIctoria on February 13, 2009 at 11:39am

I have a "Black History Moment" that I would like to share. Bishop Joseph Johnson was the first African American student admitted to Vanderbilt in 1953. (Joseph Johnson earned the Bachelor of Divinity and the Ph.D. degrees from Vanderbilt in 1954 and 1958, respectively.) Affectionately termed "The House" by Vanderbilt students, faculty, and staff, the Johnson Black Cultural Center provides educational and cultural programming on the Black experience for the University and Nashville communities. Additionally, the Center serves as a "home away from home" for students.

The Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center (BJJBCC) was dedicated in 1984...
During the dedication ceremony for the Johnson Black Cultural Center, Chancellor-Emeritus Joe B. Wyatt affirmed the following: "One unique aspect of a university is that it is never allowed finishing touches; its challenge always is one of laying new foundations, building upon those foundations, reaping the benefits and laying still more foundations. Few new foundations will be more important for the University's future than our own iron-willed commitment to develop the opportunity for Black students to benefit from their experience at Vanderbilt, and for Vanderbilt to benefit from Black students' presence on campus." The dedication of The Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center represented that new foundation.