First Community Church

In July 1932, the Rev. Wayman R. Horton organized the First Independent African Methodist Community Church. Instrumental in the Nashville Civil Rights Movement, the church's name was officially changed to First Community Church in 1966. The Rev. C.T. Vivian, who led the congregation from 1957 to 1961, initiated the building of this structure, which was completed in 1961. Civil Rights activist Johnetta F. Hayes, a life-long member of the church and the first woman to serve as president of the Nashville Chapter of the NAACP, was instrumental in the 1957 struggle to desegregate Nashville public schools. Continued The Rev. Vivian, a leading figure in the Nashville Civil Rights Movement, was a close associate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. On 19 April 1960, after the bombing of attorney Z. Alexander Looby's home, he and Diane Nash challenged Mayor Ben West, which caused the mayor to affirm that Nashville lunch counters should be desegregated. On 10 May 1960, Nashville became the first major southern city to desegregate its lunch counters.