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City Cast Nashville

People, places, and scenes from Nashville's past.

Natalia Aldana

Margaret Kingsbury

Before it was a full-month celebration, there was Women’s History Week. In 1978, a group of women in Santa Rosa, California, recognized that 

 in academics, so they organized a week in March to celebrate and educate others about women’s contributions in the U.S.

During the week of March 8, over a hundred women participated in essay contests, distributed curriculum materials at local schools, and held a parade. The event's success soon inspired women’s groups nationwide to hold similar events.

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation declaring the week of March 8 National Women’s History Week. Seven years later, Congress designated March as Women’s History Month.

The group from Santa Rosa, now known as the 

, selected the week of March 8 to correspond with 

, officially recognized by the United Nations in 1977.

 of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The first Women’s Day on Feb. 28, 1909, honored the first anniversary of the garment worker’s strikes that saw thousands of women take to Manhattan’s streets. That strike was timed to honor another garment worker’s rally from March 1857. On March 3, 1913, thousands of 

 marched in Washington, D.C., to fight for a woman’s right to vote.

In 1911, inspired by the day of recognition held in the U.S., more than a million people rallied in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland to hold the first International Women’s Day rally. On March 8, 1917, 

many women went on strike during the Russian Revolution

, which many believe led to the selection of March 8 as the international day.

Here are some ways to honor women this month.

🎉 Women’s History Month Events in Nashville

Ryman Auditorium and the Opry House are welcoming many 

 this month, from Diana Ross to Trisha Yearwood.

 is hosting free events every Sunday this month centering Nashville’s suffrage legacy, from live music to craft classes.

 at the Bordeaux Library Branch throughout the month, and learn about the women who played an important part in the 

Learn more about how women got the right to vote by watching the acclaimed Tony Award-winning musical “

Show your appreciation of Dolly Parton at the Nashville Symphony’s “

Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs in Symphony

” from March 19-21, and by going to the “

” at The Fisher Center from March 20-22.

 is hosting a happy hour and panel on women’s contributions to Tennessee whiskey on March 21.

Women's History Month

🗳️ How Nashville Gave Women the Right to Vote

During March, we highlight and honor women’s great contributions to the U.S. Here's how to celebrate in Nashville.

Celebrate Women’s History Month in Nashville

How To Celebrate Women's History Month in Nashville

Nashville History

 celebrates its 160th anniversary this year. Here are five interesting facts about the historically Black university you might not know.

🏫 Fisk Is Nashville’s Oldest University

, later known as Fisk University, held its first classes, making it the oldest university in Nashville. Fisk’s previously enslaved student body ranged in age from seven to 70, and classes were held in former Union Army barracks near the present site of Union Station. Within the university’s first four months, more than 900 students enrolled. It’s the first Black university 

 from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

📝 Students Were Almost Expelled for Passing Notes

Three white men and abolitionists — John Ogden, Reverend Erastus Milo Cravath, and Reverend Edward P. Smith — 

. Their work was sponsored by the American Missionary Association, which later became part of the United Church of Christ. Daily prayer and attendance at religious services were required, as were adherence to strict moral rules. Two Fisk Jubilee singers broke the rules and 

 for passing notes to female students. The shame! Fisk retains its affiliation with the United Church of Christ, though I hope it isn’t quite so strict about note passing now.

Five years after the school opened, it was in dire financial straits. Fisk treasurer and music professor George L. White created a nine-member choral ensemble that would later become known as the 

 to tour the nation singing religious songs, raising money for the school. Their efforts succeeded, and they would later perform for Pres. Ulysses S. Grant and Queen Victoria.

👩🏿‍🏫 W.E.B. Du Bois Was Both a Graduate & Professor

Writer, Civil Rights activist, and NAACP co-founder 

 graduated from Fisk University in 1888, and later taught at the school. Other famous faculty and alums include Ida B. Wells, U.S. Rep. John Lewis, Diane Nash, and Nikki Giovanni.

, founded in 1949, is open to the public Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. while school is in session. It’s in a cool historic building, and has excellent art on view. While you’re there, 

 by celebrated Black artist Aaron Douglas in Cravath Hall.

🏫 A History of TSU

Fisk University celebrates its 160th anniversary this year. Here are five interesting facts about the university.

5 Facts You Might Not Know About Fisk University

5 Interesting Facts About Fisk University

Black history is American history, and though we pay special attention to the 

 and contributions Black Americans and people of African descent have made to this country during February, learning and honoring Black history is absolutely of year-round importance.

“Black History Month shouldn't be treated as though it is somehow separate from our collective American history,” said 

. “It's about the lived, shared experience of all African Americans, high and low, famous and obscure, and how those experiences have shaped and challenged and ultimately strengthened America.”

Black History Month’s roots started in 1915

 co-founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. He urged other Black scholars and civic organizations to promote their community’s achievements, and out of that motivation the Association sponsored Negro History Week in the second week of February 1926.

, Woodson’s concept was expanded into what we now recognize as Black History Month, officially recognized by President Gerald R. Ford during the 1976 bicentennial.

Woodson, considered the “father of Black history,” chose February to coincide with the birthdays of former slave and prominent abolitionist Frederick Douglass (believed to be Feb.14) and President Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12), who was influential in the emancipation of slaves. Woodson 

, as Black communities had already been honoring these two birthdays during the second week of the month.

Ways to Honor Black History Month in Nashville

🛍️ Support Local Black-owned Businesses

Feast at some of our favorite Black-owned restaurants: 

Discover new Black-owned local businesses by attending the 

 is performing at The Basement East on Feb. 3.

Dress in your nicest black clothes for the 

 at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center on Feb. 11.

 will be playing for free at The Frist’s Café Cheeserie on Feb. 12.

 at OZ Arts on Feb 12-14, which celebrates the power and legacy of majorette dance.

 pays tribute to jazz legend Carmen McRae with a free performance at The Frist on Feb. 15.

 at The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on Feb. 20.

numerous free Black History Month events for all ages

, from movies to story times to workshops.

National Museum of African American Music

local Black artist Barbara Bullock’s works

 at the Tennessee State Museum on Feb. 10.

Nashville Conference on African American History & Culture

Cheryl McKissack Daniel is in conversation with State Rep. Justin Jones about her book “

” on Feb. 19 at the Tennessee State Museum.

Black History Month

More About the Nashville Black Market

Black history is American history. Learn how Black History Month was created, why it takes place in February, and how you can celebrate in Nashville.

Black History Month Events and Activities in Nashville 2026

How To Celebrate Black History Month in Nashville

If you’re young or newer to Nashville, you’ve probably heard many of us old head locals reminisce about the ice storm of 1994 this week. It was one of the biggest ice storms in Middle Tennessee history, and its impact was very similar to Winter Storm Fern’s.

 from nearly 74 degrees to 23, and it began sleeting. That night, the sleet turned to freezing rain, coating powerlines, trees, and everything else. Across the South, more than two million people were left without power, including 100,000 in Middle Tennessee.

Not unlike this week’s storm, NES crews worked 16-hour shifts to restore power. Hundreds of trees fell, 

 and making travel treacherous. It was weeks before Nashville was back on the grid.

I was 10 when the ice storm hit, and lived in a rural area of White Bluff, about an hour outside Nashville. Our power went out immediately, and we all gathered into the living room with the fireplace crackling: My parents, two sisters, a neighboring teen, four dogs, four cats, and a cockatiel. We covered windows, doors, and the bird’s cage with blankets, and piled the remaining blankets on couches and mattresses pulled out from bedrooms.

We cooked canned food over the fire, played games, and got on each other’s nerves. Schools reopened before we had power back, and we drove to my grandparents’ house in Madison to take showers. A nearby nursing home was also still without power, and when a local news crew reported on its outage, our power was finally restored. We were out of power for three weeks, though it felt like months.

City Cast Nashville host Marie Cecile Anderson lived in Nashville’s Oak Hill neighborhood. They didn’t have power for two weeks after a hackberry in their front yard came crashing down across power lines. Most of their neighbors went to hotels, but their dad loved the idea of camping out in the house. The family stayed in a room with a cast-iron fireplace, with blankets nailed to the doors. They played cards, warmed up in their minivan, ate out at Shoney’s, and showered at the YMCA. Marie’s mom bought them each “teenager hygiene kits” from Walgreens with deodorant and other beauty products, which they loved. Their pets fared much worse than mine: Marie’s sisters’ pet birds froze to death, as well as one of her fish.

Folks older than me might remember what’s considered the worst ice storm in Nashville’s History: 

, which began on Jan. 29, 1951. In two days, Nashville was buried under eight inches of snow and ice. While we’ve had 

, for us, ice causes the most destruction.

The ice storm of 1994 was one of the biggest ice storms in Middle Tennessee history, and its impact was very similar to Winter Storm Fern’s.

A Glimpse Into 1994's Ice Storm in Nashville

Memories of 1994’s Ice Storm in Nashville

On May 4, 1964, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

. Before his speech, 70 Black students had picketed outside Morrison’s Cafeteria on West End Avenue. “You have moved in a uniquely moving orbit of creative protest,” he told the more than 2,000 attendees. “Nashville, the Athens of the South, must make a stride into freedom.”

 for leading one of “the best organized and the most disciplined [sit-in movements] in the Southland.” His leadership during the Civil Rights Movement spearheaded desegregation in Nashville and across the South.

Jan. 19 is MLK Day. Here are ways to celebrate and honor his legacy here in Nashville.

Students can create banners, attend workshops, and listen to speakers exploring King’s legacy at this free symposium at Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet High School.

This free, public youth rally at Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church will feature music, empowering speeches, and discussions. Afterwards, youth can attend the MLK Day march.

Jan. 19, 9-9:30 a.m. & 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

March along Jefferson Street with students and folks from across Nashville, then attend 

 at Tennessee State University with speaker Senator London Lamar. Gallatin is also 

5th Anniversary Celebration (MLK Day Community Day)

 is celebrating its fifth anniversary and MLK Day with free gallery admission and special programming examining King’s legacy through the history of Black music.

The James Lawson Institute at Vanderbilt University is moderating a roundtable discussion of King’s radical politics using selections from “The Radical King.” It’s free and open to the public.

Local college and university students are invited to meet at Tennessee State University to join groups volunteering across Nashville. Not a college student? You can still have a day of service! Check out our list of 

Take a self-led walking and driving tour of places central to the Civil Rights Movement in Nashville, from local schools that were among the first to desegregate, to buildings where activists led sit-ins.

🖤 The HBCU That Trained John Lewis

MLK Day Events in Nashville

How To Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s Legacy in Nashville

, and propelled us into becoming the country music capital of the world. Here’s how it all started.

In 1925, National Life and Accident Insurance Company 

 with headquarters in a small downtown Nashville studio. “We Shield Millions,” or WSM, officially launched on Oct. 5, 1925. A month later, WSM hired George D. Hay, a prominent announcer known for his successful National Barn Dance program. Hay and Uncle Jimmy Thompson, a 77-year-old fiddle player, launched WSM Barn Dance on Nov. 28, which is considered the official day the Grand Ole Opry was born.

The program became known as the Grand Ole Opry in 1927, when Hay announced, following a classical music program, "For the past hour we have been listening to the music taken largely from the Grand Opera, but from now on we will present the Grand Ole Opry.”

The Grand Old Opry featured folk music, fiddling, and country-western music. WSM recognized a growing nostalgia for the rural past, and required live performers to 

The show became so popular that people would crowd the fifth-floor hallways within the National Life building at 7th and Union to watch the broadcasts. National Life 

 to accommodate the fans, but soon outgrew those, too.

From 1934-1936, the Opry moved to the Hillsboro Theater, which later became 

. Artists often performed twice in one night to accommodate audiences. Still searching for its perfect venue, the Opry 

moved into East Nashville’s Dixie Tabernacle

 in 1936, with a dirt floor, wooden plank benches, and roll-up canvas walls. In 1939, they upgraded to the War Memorial Auditorium, but rowdy fans wore out their welcome by 1943.

, brought the Opry to the Mother Church in June of that year, and the radio program would remain there until 1974. It still returns every winter.

 was the first venue built specifically for the program, opening in 1974 with 4,400 seats. 

, Hank Snow, Stonewall Jackson, Jeannie Seely, and many more performed at its opening ceremony. In 2010, the Opry briefly moved back to the War Memorial Auditorium following historic flooding that devastated the Opry House — but the wooden circle in the stage survived.

Many famous performers have sung for the Opry over the years. In December 1945, Earl Scruggs 

 with Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, coining a new bluegrass sound. 25-year-old Hank Williams took the stage for the first time in 1949. 

 performed in 1954, where he was not well received by the country music audience. Johnny Cash was 

 in 1956, where he later met his wife, June Carter Cash. 

 first performed at the Opry when she was 10.

Modern performers include Reba McEntire, Randy Travis, Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, Brad Paisley, and 

After all these years, the Grand Ole Opry still 

🎶 A Short Documentary About the Opry

The Grand Ole Opry was founded 100 years ago, in 1925. Here's how it's shaped country music.

A History of the Grand Ole Opry

The Grand Ole Opry Celebrates Its 100th Birthday

the most famous ghost stories in American history

 is said to have taken place right here in Tennessee? Just 40 miles north of Nashville, in the small town of 

, folklore from the early 19th century has been passed down through generations about 

A Brief History of the Bell Witch Hauntings

From 1817 to 1821, John Bell and his family were tormented on their farm by an evil spirit. The 

 was said to be in the form of a “dog-like” creature, which John Bell attempted to scare off with his gun, only to watch it vanish into thin air. Soon after, strange disturbances began on the Bell family farm and within their cabin — loud knocking on doors and windows, dogs barking at the ends of their beds, scratching sounds, and chains being dragged across the floor.

Before long, the spirit escalated her hauntings from scary noises to physically abusing John Bell and his daughter Betsy — slapping, pinching, pushing, and even tying their hair in knots. 

, the Bell Witch eventually began communicating with the family. When asked who she was, the spirit responded, “I am a spirit. I once was very happy, but I have been disturbed and made unhappy.”

In 1820, John Bell passed away after years of torment. Some say the Bell Witch poisoned him and even visited his funeral, where you could hear her singing at his burial. After his death, the hauntings lessened and soon stopped altogether.

In 2008, the Bell Witch Cave was added to 

 and is visited each year by thousands of tourists, historians, 

. The family that currently owns the property 

 and a replica of the Bell family cabin. The granddaughter of the current owners, who was raised on the property and serves as a tour guide, recently shared her firsthand supernatural experiences on the City Cast Nashville podcast.

This chilling tale of the Bell Witch continues to captivate imaginations, cementing its place as one of the most infamous ghost stories in American history.

Discover the chilling legend of the Bell Witch, one of America's most infamous ghost stories set in Adams, Tennessee. Learn all about the hauntings, history, and the legacy that continues to captivate visitors today.

The Bell Witch, A Haunting Legend from Tennessee

The Legend of Tennessee’s Bell Witch

On Saturday, Oct. 4, Friends of Shelby is showing a free outdoor screening of “

Crosswinds: The Courageous Life of Cornelia Fort

.” This documentary explores the life of the trailblazing woman 

 is named after. Here’s more about her life.

🌹 A Southern Belle With Other Intentions

Dr. Rufus Fort was a prominent member of the Nashville community. A surgeon at Nashville General and a breeder of Jersey cattle, he was the owner of 

Fortland, a massive property in East Nashville

 at what is now the intersection of Eastland and Riverside Drives. His two daughters — Cornelia, born in 1919, and her sister Louise — were brought up to be proper Southern debutantes, whose comings and goings were 

Cornelia bristled against the future her family set out for her, falling in love with aviation, attending Sarah Lawrence College, and taking up flying lessons. 

She did not tell her family about her secret passion

 until after her father’s death in 1940.

Cornelia became the first female flight instructor in Nashville

. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Civilian Pilots Training Program, she moved to Ft. Collins, CO, and was hired in 1941 to teach flying in Hawaii to the military men stationed there. On December 7th, 1941, she and a student were in the air off John Rodgers airfield when they barely dodged a collision with a hostile aircraft; looking out over the horizon, she realized 

Pearl Harbor was under attack from the Japanese Navy Air Service

Thanks to the United States’ entry into World War II, Cornelia was soon invited to join a brand new squadron: 

The Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron

. Based in Delaware, the WAFS tested and delivered aircraft throughout the country, as well as training male cadets. It took until 1977 for the WAFS women to be designated as military personnel and entitled to full military benefits. Sadly, Cornelia did not 

She was killed in a routine ferrying mission over Dallas Love Field in 1943.

One of Nashville’s most popular outdoor areas is named after female pilot Cornelia Fort. But do you know her story?

Nashville History

How To Celebrate Women's History Month in Nashville

5 Interesting Facts About Fisk University

How To Celebrate Black History Month in Nashville

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