African Americans Benevolent Cemetery Historical Marker Unveiling

December 9, 2021, Murfreesboro City TV Channel 3 The Benevolent Cemetery located off Church Street was covered in brush and broken headstones. Hundreds are buried there including members of the famed Buffalo Soldiers, a black cavalry regiment that fought in various battles including the Spanish-American War. Plans are underway to…

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Ideal Social Club, 1953

The Rutherford Courier, August 18, 1953 The Ideal Society Club consisted of a group of community servants who believed in fun, fellowship and service! The first mention of the Ideal Social Club in the Daily News Journal was October 3, 1933 (the club began meeting in 1932) when the Club…

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America W. Robinson (1855-1920) of the Fisk Jubilee Singers

July 28, 2021, Carol Robertson White of the Rutherford County Historical Society In 1866, Robinson enrolled on opening day in the new Fisk Colored School at Nashville, founded by the American Missionary Association. Her teaching career began at the age of thirteen. She earned money for tuition and living expenses…

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Cemetery School (Black), 1874-1962

CEMETERY SCHOOL BLACK 1874-1962 was on the southwest side of the old Nashville Highway and just northwest of Asbury Road. It was behind the Stones River Methodist Church. The site of the church is shown on the 1878 Beers Map. On February 9, 1874, Mrs. Eliza Burrus deeded one acre…

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“Unconstitutional” 231 School Had Short History

Frow Chips, March/April, 2021, Greg Tucker, Rutherford County Historian In 1962, eight years after the U. S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that segregated education was unconstitutional, the Rutherford County school system opened a new segregated school facility on U. S. Highway 231 South. The all black faculty taught black students…

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William Holland—Hero of the American Civil War

Carol Berning, RCHS Frow Chips, January/February, 2021 Just outside the Hazen Brigade Cemetery wall at Stones River National Battlefield stand two military grave stones. They mark the resting place of William Holland (1834-1909) and William Harlan (1895-1979). William Holland began his life as a slave. I have created a brief…

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Cedar Grove School (Black), 1901-1967

CEDAR GROVE SCHOOL BLACK 1901-1967, also called the JOHN E. WINDROW SCHOOL, was near the Williamson County line. It was on the John Windrow Road about one-half mile north of its intersection with the Rocky Glade Road and across from the Cedar Grove Missionary Baptist Church. On July 27, 1901,…

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