Alcove 16:
Nashville Today

Metropolitan Nashville has expanded out past its suburbs into what was once farmland, and has migrated back again to revitalize its old neighborhoods. It is a place of opportunity for all, with fine universities, a variety of cultural amenities and several major sports teams. Panel 1 turns an affectionate eye on a favorite landmark: the Edgehill neighborhood's concrete polar bears, originally created to advertise frozen custard. Panel 2 shows Tennessee State University track star Wilma Rudolph, an African American and first American woman Olympian to win three gold medals in a single Olympiad. She is flanked by famed TSU track coach Ed Temple and Ed "Too Tall" Jones, a TSU football hero later drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. Panel 3 memorializes two of Nashville's most important mayors of the modern era, Ben West, whose meeting with Civil Rights marchers on the steps of the courthouse served as a public acknowledgement of the rightness of their cause, and Beverly Briley, who combined city and county into Metro Government. Panel 4 provides a glimpse of Nashville today through its architecture old and new, from the Capitol to historic church steeples to the Titans stadium, the spire of the Arena, the "Batman" building and the Church Street façade of the Main Library. The final panel shows Riverfront Park on the banks of the Cumberland, where Nashville gathers every 4th of July for a gala celebration featuring the Nashville Symphony.

Special Thanks
Further Reading