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Black Nashville in History & Memory

This guide covers the history of African Americans in Nashville from the founding of the territory to the end of the Modern Civil Rights Movement (HIST 4325).

History

As the largest inland stone fortification built during the Civil War, Fort Negley stood as the centerpiece of Union occupied Nashville. Fort Negley represents the effects of war and sudden occupation, the heartbreak of the Battle of Nashville, and the legacy of the Depression-era Works Progress Administration (Nashville Parks & Recreation).

Fort Negley Postcard

(Courtesy of the Cultural Landscape Foundation)

Postcard: Aerial view of Fort Negley

WPA:Fort Negley

Credit: Library of Congress

Keeping Watch

Credit: Library of Congress

View of Stockade

Credit: Friends of Fort Negley Park

Blacks and the Civil War