NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — As we all know, Nashville has often played a role in US history. Sometimes there are elements of those stories that become undertold.
One of those stories will now reach people in a new way.
Even in the rain, a crowd showed up on Church Street Saturday morning. A blue tarp covered something about to be unveiled. It was a bit of history so important to Richard Schweid, it brought him from his home in Barcelona back to the city where he grew up; Nashville.
"I feel great about the number of people who have turned up, many of whom I haven't seen for a long time," Schweid said, looking around.
It's all changed so much now, but on a stretch of Church Street, there used to be two particular bookstores.
Schweid's grandfather, Reuben M. Mills, opened R.M. Mills Bookstore at Fourth and Union in 1892. The store moved to a few places downtown before ending up at the famous spot on Church Street in 1957. There, it was run by the daughter of the original owner and her husband; Bernard Schweid and Adele Mills Schweid. They ran their bookstore just doors down from the neighboring Zibart's Books and Records.
"My parents were always very sympathetic to the idea that all people are born equal," Schweid remembered. "They always inculcated that in me when I was 15."
The ideals of of the Schweid family were shown in the 1960s.
The Nashville sit-ins were going on nearby as a group of young people from historically Black colleges and universities worked to desegregate downtown. Schweid's parents opened up their bookstore as a place where people involved in the efforts could find refuge or even just phone a parent.
"[They could] tell them who'd been arrested, who'd been beaten, who was in the hospital, who was in jail," Schweid said. "Then that parent would call the other parents to let them know how their kids had fared during that particular action. It was the first time I'd ever seen non-violent strategy applied to something that was wrong. It was so clearly wrong."
By 1970, both the Zibart's and R.M. Mills bookstores left Church Street. R.M. Mills had locations in several other parts of the city including Hillsboro Village before the business closed in 1990.
On Church Street, the Metro Historical Commission unveiled a new marker. One side of the marker honored Zibart's, the other side honored R.M. Mills.
"Mills and Zibart's!" Schweid smiled. "We were once fierce competitors! Fierce competitors. My father would just worry endlessly about what Zibart's was doing, and I bet Zibart's worried about what my father was doing. Now, we're right there together commemorating the fact that in one block Nashville supported two great independent bookstores."
It really is something for Schweid, seeing his parents' names on a downtown marker all these years since they died.
"I feel like they'd be very happy for Nashville that they stood up for what's right," Schweid said. "They were always strongly against segregation and did everything they could to promote integration. They'd be happy. They'd love to have that marker there."
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
I'm so thankful Robb Coles highlighted the Kamer Davis clinic in Hermitage and the hardship that may force its closure. The clinic provides care for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities and there is no other place like it nearby. You can tell the staff is so passionate about the care they provide. I hope by shining the light on this, the right person can step in and make a difference.
- Carrie Sharp
