Tennessee Tribune, Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist, Kossie Gardner, Brown's Hotel & Dinner Club

You’re now in the parking lot between the K. Gardner building and Craighead’s Barber Shop. This stop highlights the diverse range of Black-owned businesses on Jefferson Street. Some are still in operation, and others have closed their doors, but all are important. Walk to the sidewalk and look to your right. Let’s begin with one of the most successful Black-owned newspapers in the South. Founded by Rosetta Irvin Miller-Perry in 1991, the Tennessee Tribune is headquartered in the historic Universal Insurance building at 1501 Jefferson Street. The newspaper is a labor of love for Miller-Perry, a retired lawyer and public servant who served for 25 years with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The Tennessee Tribune has a readership of over 150,000 people and, in the words of Ms. Miller-Perry, “reaches the heart of Tennessee’s Black community.” 

Across the street from the newspaper’s headquarters is the Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist Church at 1410 Jefferson Street. This church was organized in 1885 on 11th Avenue by Reverend William Haynes, who purchased the lot where Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist Church now sits. Over its 130-year history, there have only been 11 pastors. During Reverend Charles Fields’s tenure, from 1901 to 1937, the current building was completed. Pleasant Green is involved with several outreach ministries including “Room In The Inn,” which provides food and shelter for the homeless, and a college ministry that connects with local HBCUs.

Look next door to the Tennessee Tribune to find Craighead’s Barber Shop. The owner Joe Trotter Sr. has owned Craighead’s since the 1990s, but the namesake was Robert Craighead. Robert opened the shop in 1947, and Joe began as an apprentice in the 1980s. There’s plenty of laughter and conversation to be had between haircuts and shaves at Craighead’s Barbershop. Craighead and Joe Trotter have kept this treasured business alive for more than 75 years.

Now it’s time to talk about Kossie Gardner Sr. The park across the street is named in his memory. If you have time, walk over and check out the historic exhibit along the back path. The building to your left also bears Gardner’s name and features a colorful mural. Kossie sometimes accepted chickens or other goods as payment for families who couldn’t afford burial services. Gardner was also the developer behind Nashville’s first Black subdivision and established the city’s first motorized ambulance service. Kossie’s granddaughter, Keisha Gardner Beard, said he was a “self-made man” who was dedicated to his community. 

The final highlight for this stop is Brown’s Pharmacy, Hotel, and Dinner Club. These bustling businesses operated in the space where the park now sits. The owner was Dr. Jackson H. Brown, a pharmacist who graduated from Meharry Medical College. This location was his second drug store, which opened in 1940. Eight years later, Dr. Brown built and opened Brown’s Hotel and Dinner Club. The hotel and restaurant was in a grand red brick building. Outside a canopy covered the sidewalk entrance, and inside there were beautiful crystal chandeliers and wine-colored drapes. Brown’s Hotel and Dinner Club was the first five-star hotel and restaurant for African Americans in Nashville. It was the destination for many notable people like Nat King Cole, B. B. King, Martin Luther King, Jr., Duke Ellington, and Sarah Vaughan. Brown’s Hotel gained national recognition in the Green Book traveler’s guide in the 1950s. The pharmacy, hotel, and dinner club closed after Dr. Brown’s death in 1968. Now, it’s time to head to Fisk University and Meharry Medical College.

Continue on Jefferson Street, passing the Fisk University campus on your left. When you’ve reached the light at Dr. D.B. Todd Jr. Boulevard, turn LEFT. Immediately turn RIGHT into the Otey Center parking lot.