Meharry Medical College and Dr. D.B. Todd Blvd.

In the 1820s, a young Kentucky teenager named Samuel Meharry experienced a random act of kindness that would lead to the founding of the medical school that bears his family name. Samuel Meharry was driving a salt wagon when it slipped off the muddy road. He turned to the nearest cabin for help and found an African American family who put him up for the night and helped get him back on the road. Though that family has been lost to history, Meharry promised to pay back this kindness when he could.

Nearly fifty years later, Samuel Meharry and his brothers made good on his promise, donating $30,000—over a half a million dollars in today’s money—to Central Tennessee College’s fledgling medical department. At the time, it was the only medical program in the country that admitted Black students. Meharry Medical College became an independent school by 1915 and added dental, nursing, and pharmacy programs. New Hampshire native George Whipple Hubbard, a former Union soldier, served as founding president, instructor, and fund-raiser until 1920. Later that decade, the school moved from its original location in South Nashville to the present one near Fisk University.

In continuous operation since its founding in the 1870s, Meharry Medical College includes the School of Medicine, the School of Dentistry, the School of Graduate Studies and Research, the School of Allied Health Professions, the Metropolitan General Hospital of Nashville-Davidson County, two health centers, and the Harold D. West Medical Sciences Center. Today, Meharry graduates can be found in medicine, politics, and educational services throughout the world.

To reach the next stop, continue walking up D.B. Todd Blvd. until you reach Meharry Blvd. Cross Meharry Blvd. and turn LEFT. As you walk to your next stop, we’ll tell you a little about the namesake of the street you’ve been walking on, Dr. D.B. Todd Jr.

Born in Jefferson County, Alabama in 1931, David B. Todd Jr. graduated from Morehouse College before attending medical school at Meharry Medical College. After completing his residency and post-doctoral requirements, Todd returned to Meharry as a professor of surgery and head of the division of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery. As such, he was the first Black cardiovascular surgeon in Nashville, and in 1972, he led the team that performed the first open heart surgery at Meharry. Todd died at Riverside Hospital after a heart attack in 1980. This section of 18th Ave N between Charlotte Ave. and Clarksville Pike was named in his honor in 1982.

Once you’ve turned onto Meharry Blvd., continue walking until you reach St. Anselm Episcopal Church on your right. This is your next stop.