Harvey's and Cain-Sloan Department Stores

This stop includes two separate buildings that were used as “test” sit-ins in 1959. Only one part of Harvey’s Department Store remains and is today known as the Cornerstone Building. The building was completed in 1894. In 1942, Fred Harvey opened a store and a restaurant at the corner of Sixth Avenue North and Church Street. The department store expanded and eventually spanned the entire block. Harvey’s was chosen by the sit-in leaders, in part, because of the large number of African Americans who shopped here.

Continue your walk along Church Street to the corner of Fifth Avenue. You can listen as you walk or press pause and resume the narration once you arrive at Puckett’s Grocery and Restaurant at 501 Church Street. 

Puckett’s Grocery is in the St. Cloud Building—completed in 1869 in the aftermath of the Civil War. In 1903, Nashville’s Cain-Sloan Store opened in this building, co-founded by Paul Sloan and John Cain. Three years later, the store moved to a larger location across the street. Harvey’s expanded into the St. Cloud Building. Ninety years after its construction, the building became the second site in a new fight for civil rights. Members of the Nashville Christian Leadership Council met with owners Fred Harvey and Paul Sloan to ask if they would voluntarily serve African Americans. Both refused, fearing they would lose business. The decision was made to conduct “test sit-ins” at both stores to affirm the exclusionary policy of segregation and to gain a sense of the resistance student protestors could expect.

The first test took place at Harvey’s on November 28, 1959. Students entered the store, made small purchases, and proceeded to the store’s lunch counter where the staff refused to render them service.  On December 5, 1959, future Congressman John Lewis led a group of students who entered the Cain-Sloan store and repeated the protocol used at Harvey’s. Sixty-two years later, on January 1st, 2021, Fifth Avenue was renamed Rep. John Lewis to honor his life of activism and public service. The effort was led by Councilwoman Zulfat Suara.

Although both stores refused them service, the reactions varied significantly. At Harvey’s, they received surprisingly polite responses, while the staff at Cain-Sloan treated them with contempt. The students planned to launch their full-scale campaign in January. However, leaders of the NCLC delayed to provide more time to raise funds for bail, attorneys, and physicians.

Before we make our way down Rep. John Lewis Way, here’s a piece of trivia for you. Cain-Sloan ceased operations in downtown Nashville, but it’s still in business, albeit under a different name. What store? Cain-Sloan joined Dillard’s retail franchise in 1988.

Turn LEFT onto John Lewis Way and continue walking until you reach the Nashville Sit-Ins historical marker just past Woolworth’s on your left.