Nashville was an important city for the civil rights movement starting with school desegregation in the late 1950s and then with the sit-in's of the 1960s, Courageous student activists from the city's black colleges and universities, including John Lewis, Diane Nash, James Lawson, and James Bevel, became leaders of the movement and changed the world through their non-violent actions.
The Civil Rights Room at Nashville Public Library (NPL) is a "space for education and exploration of the Civil Rights Collection." Visitors can view a timeline of photographs of events, sit at a symbolic lunch counter, view films, and request a guided tour.
The digital Civil Rights Collection contains oral histories, images, and other primary sources from the time period.
Take a self-guided walking tour or a virtual tour of the Nashville civil rights sit-ins through Nashville Sites.