Otey’s Center, Fisk University, Meharry Medical College, Z. Alexander Looby

Here we find some of North Nashville’s most prominent institutions and landmarks. This shopping center is part of the commercial legacy of the Otey family, which opened as Otey’s Quality Market here in 1950. Flem Otey II started the business, which became the largest Black-owned grocery store in Nashville. The current shopping center is owned by John Otey Jr. We’d also like to mention that the Ritz Theater, no longer standing, was on this block. The Ritz opened in 1937 and was the only local theater managed by African Americans. The theater was demolished in 1969. 

Begin walking down Jefferson Street away from Dr. D.B. Todd Blvd and stop when you get to the historical marker for the “Nashville Student Movement Offices.” In 1959, students and leaders of the Nashville Christian Leadership Council conducted “Test Sit-Ins,” which led the following year to a successful, organized Sit-In movement of segregated lunch counters in downtown businesses. Students active in the movement were Marion Barry, John Lewis, Bernard Lafayette, and Diane Nash—all of whom became national figures. You can learn more by taking our Civil Rights Sit-Ins walking tour and Civil Rights driving tour. Both are narrated by Linda Wynn, a professor at Fisk University and an expert on African American history in Nashville.

Walk back to Dr. D.B. Todd Blvd. Let us introduce you to the campuses of Fisk University and Meharry Medical College—two of the most significant HBCUs in the United States. Fisk was established by the Freedmen’s Bureau and American Missionary Association in 1865. The university incorporated and moved from downtown to this location on Jefferson Street in 1867. Fisk quickly became one of the nation’s premier Black, liberal arts universities—and remains so today. A fun fact: The Fisk Jubilee Singers formed in 1871, and after a performance, Queen Victoria of England said they must be from a “Music City.” In 2021, the Fisk Jubilee Singers won a Grammy Award for the Best Roots Gospel Album.  

Across the street from Fisk, Meharry Medical College began in 1876 as part of Central Tennessee College. Meharry Medical Department separated from Central Tennessee in 1915 as an independent medical school and moved here in 1931. Meharry remains the largest private HBCU in the United States dedicated to health care, science, and medicine. Its dental school is one of the only two historically Black dental programs in the United States. There is so much to tell you about these two schools. That’s why we’ve created a separate walking tour for Fisk University and Meharry Medical College on Nashville Sites. It begins near the Fisk University gates, so please take the tour—written by Dr. Reavis Mitchell, Jr. and narrated by Dr. Brandon Owens.

Now, head back to your car while we tell you about Z. Alexander Looby. Born in the British West Indies in 1899, he immigrated to the United States and earned his law degree from New York University. Looby came to Fisk in the 1930s, where he worked with Black residents to challenge racial segregation in schools and businesses. He served as legal counsel for local college students arrested during the Sit-In protests. Then, on April 19, 1960, his home was bombed in an act of terrorism. He was not injured, and, in fact, the event created a public outrage that led to the desegregation of lunch counters.

It’s now time to head to the next stop. On your way look for a historical marker for Looby’s house on Meharry Blvd. You’ll also pass the Fisk campus on your left and drive through part of Meharry’s campus.

Your next destination is Citizens Bank, located at 2013 Jefferson Street. To get here, exit the Otey’s parking lot and turn RIGHT onto Dr. D.B. Todd, Jr. Blvd. Take an immediate RIGHT onto Meharry Blvd. You’ll pass the Dr. Looby marker before taking a RIGHT onto 21st Avenue North. You can enter the parking lot for Citizens Bank to your left.