This month, Historic Nashville is celebrating its 46th anniversary! On November 13, 1968, five women chartered the Historic Sites Federation of Tennessee. The original mission of the nonprofit was to furnish professional and other services to, and coordinate the activities of, organizations operating and maintaining historic sites in Tennessee, and to assist them in attaining a high standard of excellence. The charter members were Margaret Lindsley Warden (1904-2007), Anne Brown Herbert (1908-1991), Evelyn Fite Anderson (1912-1995) of Murfreesboro, Katherine Parrish Bright (1910-1992), and Sarah Bryan Benedict (1914-1998). Original board members included William T. Alderson (1926-1996), Elizabeth Craig (b.1897), Clara Hieronymous (1913-2013), Stanley Horn (1889-1980), Albert Williams Hutchinson, Jr. (1909-1986), Darthula Williamson June (1905-2011), Nellie Marie Lish (1923-2010) of Hendersonville, Kath R. Pickering (1912-1988), William Waller (1898-1995), Hester Warfield (b.1899), and Dr. Kate Savage Zerfoss (1895-1988). Unless noted, all were from Nashville. These men and women were community leaders, historians, contractors, architects, art critics, physicians, writers, attorneys, and preservationists. In the early 1970s, the Federation worked closely with the newly organized Metro Nashville Historical Commission to save high profile places such as the Ryman Auditorium, Printers Alley, 2nd Avenue, and Lower Broadway. In 1975, the nonprofit organization formally changed its name to Historic Nashville, Inc. and focused its mission solely on preserving historic places in Nashville. This followed the creation of Knox Heritage in 1974 and Memphis Heritage in 1975. Throughout the rest of the year, we will feature stories about some of our founders and our early history. If you have information about some of these people or old photographs, we would love to hear from you!
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 22:19:34 +0000