Civil Rights - Special Collection Topics

Scope and content: A collection of documentary sources related to the Baker v. Carr "one man, one vote" case about Tennessee reapportionment, spanning ca. 1959 to ca. 2003 (bulk ca. 1960-ca. 1965). The papers relate to the lawsuit filed by urban voters against Tennessee's Secretary of State and Attorney General in the U.S. District Court of Middle Tennessee, (Civil Action No. 2724). Includes documentation of the record on appeal amended and supplemental...

Scope and content: The documentary collection consists of primary and secondary sources about the African American Civil Rights Movement, with information about key events, participants, and reform movements aimed at abolishing public and private acts of racial discrimination against African Americans. The collection documents Nashville's role, including information about the Nashville student sit-in movement and the students from Fisk and Tennessee...

Scope and content: Sixty-three framed black and white photographs of civil rights activities (boycotts, sit-ins, arrests, arraignments) in the city of Nashville, Tennessee, taken by Harold Lowe, Jr., for the Tennessean newspaper during the years 1960-1964.

Scope and content: A small quantity of materials 1958-1991 created by Nashvillian Dr. Irene S.P. Francis including: biographical sketches of Dr. Francis, Adolpho Birch, Mary Carlotta Hughes, and Lillie Mae Howard; a 1958 constitution of the Haynes Heights Community Civic Organization and one letter to the Council of Community Agencies in 1965 with recommendations for a community center; various opinion pieces and letters written 1971-1991 by Francis...

Scope and content: A small quantity of materials concerning school integration in Nashville, Tenn., focusing on the leadership of principal Margaret Cate at Hattie Cotton Elementary School in the wake of the bombing that took place there early on Sept. 10, 1957. A significant portion of the collection also focuses on the local and national attention that the event received in the days and months following the bombing. Documents from the Nashville...

Scope and content: To date the largest collection in the Special Collections Division, the Nashville Banner Archives documents the final sixty years or so of a great Nashville newspaper, the Nashville Banner (publication life 1876-1998). After the Banner ceased publication on February 20, 1998, co-owners Irby Simpkins and Brownlee Currey donated the paper's entire morgue -- clippings, photos, negatives, books -- plus many of its awards and artifacts...

Scope and content: Scrapbook compiled by Prudence Polk (1865-1952) a retired Nashville Public School teacher documenting a river boat cruise she took onboard the Gordon C. Greene from June 17-30 1950. The scrapbook which is not in chronological order, contains mostly undated newspaper clippings (three feature Miss Polk and include her photo), a cruise itinerary and souvenir booklet, one photograph of Miss Polk sitting in an interior room of the boat,...