OLLI0032 - Fort Negley: Past, Present & Future

Course Description

Nashville's Fort Negley is a Civil War fortification on St. Cloud Hill built by enslaved and free black people. During the war it was defended by several regiments of the United States Colored Troops. Both groups risked their lives and earned their freedom at the end of the war, and afterward many settled nearby in what would become Nashville's oldest black neighborhoods. As Nashville's black population fought for equality, white supremacist organizations worked to erase the black history of St. Cloud hill and terrorize the neighboring communities. In 1928, the City of Nashville purchased the property, and during the depression, the Works Progress Administration rebuilt the fort. In 2007, the Fort Negley Visitors Center opened, and in 2016, Fort Negley made national news as a controversial development was slated to begin at the site. In 2019, the park caught the international eye when it became one of only four sites in the U.S. on the UNESCO Slave Route. Now labeled a site of significance to the global understanding of slavery, resistance to that institution, and recovery from it in a rapidly gentrifying city, the future of the park is once again full of possibilities. This course will cover the expansive history of Fort Negley, the significance of the UNESCO Slave Route designation, and explore the various futures of one of Nashville's most underrated historic sites. Course includes optional walking tour of the site given by the instructor, date and time TBD.