Goodwill Manor

Goodwill Manor, also known as the President’s House, was constructed in 1915 by the Black architectural firm McKissack and McKissack. Tennessee State University’s first president, William Jasper Hale, and his wife, Hattie Hodgkins Hale, were the first to live in Goodwill Manor. In many ways, this building now stands as a monument to the couple’s lives and the intimate connection they shared with their students and Nashville’s African American community.

William Jasper Hale became the first president of Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State Normal School, and presided over the school’s opening in July 1912. Hattie Hodgkins, a North Nashville native and Fisk graduate, accepted a job as faculty and Hale’s personal secretary. Hodgkins, described as being one of Nashville’s “most brilliant young ladies,” quickly caught the president’s eye. A romance blossomed, but for months, the couple kept their relationship private.

Finally, on October 6, 1913 President Hale called for an evening assembly for all students and faculty. At 8 p.m., the doors to the auditorium swung open and a smartly dressed President Hale stepped forward with Hattie Hodgkins on his arm. The music director from Fisk University and a small musical ensemble, who had been secretly invited, began to play the Wedding March as the couple made their way down the aisle. As the couple made their way to the front of the hall, a minister stepped forward—and they were married right then and there. As first lady of the university, Hattie Hale was an active member of Nashville’s Colored Women’s Club Movement, dedicating her time to improve the plight of the city’s most impoverished Black women. The Hales lived, worked, and raised their family here at Goodwill Manor until Hale’s retirement in 1943. The couple had three children, all of whom graduated from Tennessee A&I State College.

At the top of the hill, turn LEFT to see Hankal Hall and Queen Washington Building on your right.