Desegregating Nashville's Lunch Counters

Desegregating Nashville's Lunch Counters is a Tennessee historical marker in Davidson County.

Get directions ↗Start a road trip Historical trails

After the pre-dawn bombing of atty. Z. Alexander Looby's home, approx. 3000 civil rights leaders and students from Tenn. St., Fisk, Meharry, American Baptist College, and Pearl High School marched along this route on April 19, 1960, to meet with Mayor Ben West at the courthouse. In response to Diane Nash, a leader of the student sit-ins, the mayor recommended that store owners end segregated lunch counters. On May 10th, under an agreement between black leaders and city merchants, Nashville became the first major southern city, outside of Texas, to begin desegregating its public facilities.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

Historical map archives, georeferenced via Allmaps

Historical maps covering this location

1903 · Greenbrier, Tennessee (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)
1932 · Nashville, Tennessee (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)
1950 · Complete map of Nashville and suburbs (Historical map archives, georeferenced via Allmaps)
1952 · Nashville West, Tennessee (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)
1968 · Nashville West, Tennessee (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

Example

For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

Upload your family tree and TreeAlive finds the markers near where your own ancestors lived.

See your family's markers

Start with a tree file, a FamilySearch sign in, or a WikiTree ID.

Report a problem with this page

The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

We may pass what you report to the state's marker program. Please don't include personal details.

Marker text and location from the Tennessee Historical Commission, as the Commission publishes them on its marker map.

More markers nearby

Donley Harold Turpin, D. D. S. 1892-1948under 1 mi
Jubilee Hallunder 1 mi
Centennial of Pi Chapter, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incunder 1 mi
Fisk Jubilee Singersunder 1 mi