NASHVILLE, Tenn (WTVF) — Dorothy "Dot" Holman remembers when her childhood backyard stretched all the way to Hadley Park.
"There were 4 houses on this side of 29th Ave and it was 5 on this side," Holman said.
Holman and her family were among dozens of families forced from their homes during construction of I-40 and Hadley Towers in the 1960s. She remembers feeling helpless.
"Like people do now they don't go to your councilman and maybe even a TV station to get support — it was like they didn't have anywhere to go to get help," Holman said.
Growing up in the neighborhood, she fell in love with trees — especially one still standing.
"The roots look like a hand holding onto the earth," Holman said.
Holman is being honored as one of the last survivors of the 29th Avenue neighborhood by Black Forest, an organization planting trees near Hadley Towers to honor displaced families and Black ancestors.
"At least they're recognizing we were human beings, we lived here and somebody is telling the story we were forced to move from here," Holman said.
Black Forest founder Ekene Ijeoma also brought volunteers to Vanderbilt's campus to plant trees honoring the historically Black Roger Williams College and the Black Cultural Center.
"So the story will be passed on to the next generations — many people will not know why, but they will after they hear her story," Ijeoma said.
Holman believes a tree is just like a person.
"You see the character of the tree when the leaves fall and that's another thing about people because we can see their true character," Holman said.
She plans to keep writing about trees and sharing a history she hopes future generations never forget — knowing her ancestors would be proud.
"I hope will do what I'm doing now, have a big smile. I hope they have big smile and be happy about it," Holman said.
Black Forest is looking for volunteers to help plant trees on Saturday near Hadley Park. You can learn more, here.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist 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.
