Freedman's Bank/Duncan Hotel

The Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company Bank opened its doors in December 1865—ten months after the end of the Civil War. Local Black leaders organized the bank and included: Chairman Nelson Walker, a businessman and barber; Peter Lowery, a preacher and real estate developer; Henry Harding, a hotel owner; William C. Napier, a businessman and father-in-law of Nettie Napier; and Nelson G. Merry, a preacher. The Freedman’s Bank, as it was called, was one of thirty-three branches that opened in the fifteen former slave states. Congress authorized the bank to help new freed men and women establish accounts and to encourage financial stability. To that end, banks allowed depositors to place ten cents a day in savings. The incentive to put money in the bank was a generous six percent interest, which was worth nearly $500 after ten years ($8,000 by today’s standards).

Local Black businessman Alfred Menefee became the first cashier of the Freedman’s Bank. By June of 1866, the Nashville branch had almost $20,000 in deposits. In 1871, the trustees completed a three-story bank building, Liberty Hall, located on 44 Cedar Street. Cedar Street (today’s Dr. M.L.K. Jr. Blvd. and Charlotte Avenue), along with Jefferson Street, were areas where Black life, business, and culture thrived in the New South era. Liberty Hall served as the location for many cultural events including the annual State Colored Men’s Convention.

The Panic of 1873 was a six-year economic depression that witnessed over 18,000 business closures, including banks. As a result, prices declined and thousands of workers lost their jobs. The national average for unemployment during these years was eight percent, but the percentage was nearly triple for African Americans. Frederick Douglass was appointed as the national bank president in an effort to save the bank’s branches. In the end, he had no choice but to ask Congress to liquidate remaining assets and all Freedman’s Bank branches closed in 1874. In Nashville, most depositors received only a small percentage of their money when the Freedman’s Bank closed.

Fifteen years later, the former Freedman’s Bank building was razed and William Duncan, a wealthy Nashville businessman, opened the Duncan Hotel in 1889. It was constructed of brick with stone trim. Located on the corner of Cherry Street and Cedar Street, now 4th Avenue North and Dr. M.L.K. Jr. Blvd., postcards and menus showcase the hotel’s luxurious accommodations. The hotel closed in 1916, and the building was purchased by Henry Allen Boyd, who transformed it into the first Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) for Black men. Boyd was a prominent African American leader, businessman, philanthropist, and son of Richard Henry and Hattie Boyd who were also part of Nashville’s Black elite. Boyd was editor of The Globe, a newspaper for African Americans with a national circulation, and he succeeded his father as president of Citizens’ Bank. The building was torn down in the early 1970s.

Continue west up Dr. M.L.K. Jr. Blvd. On your left you’ll pass St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows, the oldest surviving church in downtown Nashville. Learn more about St. Mary’s on the Capitol and Church Architecture Tour and the Old Time Religion Tour. On your right you’ll pass the John Sevier State Building, featured on the Civic and Public Spaces Tour. Once you cross Sixth Ave. North, cross to the right side of Dr. M.L.K. Jr. Blvd. at the Motlow Tunnel and the entrance to the State Capitol. For a better view, climb the stairs on either the right or the left of the tunnel entrance to reach the Edward Carmack statue then another set of stairs to reach the base of the capitol. If you cannot access the stairs, call ahead to make accommodations to use the tunnel entrance. Tours of the capitol are also available daily, if you would like to see the interior.