Tennessee now has 17 sites along the United States Civil Rights Trail, giving visitors the opportunity to experience landmarks tied to the struggle for equality.
In Nashville, stops along the trail include the Civil Rights Room at the Nashville Public Library, Clark Memorial United Methodist Church and Fisk University.
Now, two more locations are joining that list: the Museum of Christian & Gospel Music and the Jefferson Street Sound Museum.
For decades, Jefferson Street was known as the heart of Nashville’s Black entertainment scene, with music spilling from nightclubs that once lined the corridor.
“This was the street in Nashville for Black folk,” Lorenzo Washington said.
But in the 1960s, construction of Interstate 40 tore through the neighborhood, destroying hundreds of homes and businesses and forever changing the area.
About 15 years ago, Lorenzo Washington decided those musical legacies would not be forgotten.
He founded and curated the Jefferson Street Sound Museum inside what used to be his own home.
“They were afraid their legacy was being lost,” Washington said. “And that’s why I turned my house — this was my house. We’re sitting in what used to be my living room.”
Now, that history is receiving national recognition.
The museum has officially been added to the U.S. Civil Rights Trail — a collection of more than 130 sites across multiple states and Washington, D.C., where activists challenged segregation in the 1950s and 1960s.
“Tennessee itself has 17 sites — that’s pretty fantastic,” said Karen Coffee, the museum’s vice president.
Coffee said the house itself is part of that history.
“This house was built in 1909, and it’s a testament to the Civil Rights Movement,” Coffee said. “All the marches happened right in front of this house.”
For Washington, the recognition is deeply personal.
“A lot of those artists I got a chance to know lived through Jim Crow,” he said. “They would be ecstatic — elated — to know all of this is happening on historic Jefferson Street.”
Washington said the designation is proof that both the music and the movement continue to resonate.
The Jefferson Street Sound Museum is open Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and by appointment Tuesday through Thursday.
This story was reported by Aaron Cantrell and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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