Baptist Sunday School Board

With nearly fifteen million members in the United States, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is the largest Protestant denomination in the United States. It also maintains a strong presence in Nashville with many churches and publishing houses. This includes the Frost Building, which housed the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board and related administrative offices from 1913 to 2015.

The Southern Baptist Convention separated from the national Baptist organization in 1845 over the issue of slavery. The Southern Baptist Convention established a Sunday School Board in 1863—the same year the Emancipated Proclamation was issued by Abraham Lincoln. In 1995, on its 150^th anniversary, the convention officially acknowledged and apologized through a resolution that stated: “We apologize to all African-Americans for condoning and/or perpetuating individual and systemic racism in our lifetime; and we genuinely repent of racism of which we have been guilty, whether consciously or unconsciously and we ask forgiveness of our African-American brothers and sisters, acknowledging that our own healing is at stake.”

The basic purpose of any denominational Sunday School is to teach children about their religion and faith. In 1891, the SBC Sunday School Board was placed under the leadership of Dr. James M. Frost, for whom the building is named. The architects of the Frost Building were from Nashville—Hart Gardner Architects. It remains one of the city’s best examples of Neo-classical Revival commercial architecture. Two colossal Corinthian columns, flanked by similar pilasters, create a dignified front façade. 

The Frost Building was dedicated and opened for use in 1913, and until 1955 it was known as the Executive Building. From this building they printed Sunday School materials, curriculum, and other programming. In 1979, a renovation by the Sunday School Board preserved the original high ceilings, meeting rooms, hallways, cast iron railings, and marble steps on the stairway. Dr. Frost’s office was also restored.

While the Frost Building was one of the first headquarters for the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, it was not the last. In 1940, construction began on the Art Moderne Sullivan Tower directly adjacent to the Frost Building. In the 1990s three additional buildings were constructed between Eighth and Tenth Avenues. In 2015 the entire complex was sold to a private developer for $125 million dollars. Only the Frost Building and the headquarters remain.

Facing the Frost Building on Rosa L. Parks, continue to the RIGHT towards the Savage House. The Savage House is now The Standard Restaurant at the Smith House. It is on the same block as the Frost Building.