CIVIL WAR
“Plan Your Visit” to learn more about Jackson and West Tennessee’s sites.
To begin to tell the stories of the Civil War and the impact on the communities — let’s just say we’re still uncovering them. From Shiloh National Military Park to the Denmark Presbyterian Church, Jackson and West Tennessee saw tremendous activity over the course of the war.
Yet, out of the ashes of war, both black and white Tennesseans built a new society where slavery was abolished and citizenship redefined. As such, Congress has designated the state as the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area. Tennessee’s landscape contains many powerful reminders of the Civil War, from battlefields and monuments in places such as Shiloh and Chattanooga, to the sites along the Civil War trails stretching from Memphis to the Tri-Cities. See the maps of the time, the flags that led the regiments and the timeline of events that forever changed the physical, social and economic face of Tennessee.
Visit TNcivilwar.org for a look at the state of Tennessee in its entirety, or select “Plan Your Visit” to learn more about Jackson and West Tennessee’s sites.
LOCAL HISTORY
Civil Rights Trailblazers
A new exhibit at City Hall will honor the “freshman four” civil rights pioneers from Lane College, including Shirlene Mercer, Kimmie Davis, Wesley McClure and Ernest Brooks Sr.
In the fall of 1960, young college students fought to end racial segregation in a southern town through sit-in protests at Woolworth’s store. The activists endured threats, harassment and had objects thrown at them when they chose to sit at the “whites only” lunch counter within the store. This protest sparked a movement throughout the city as demonstrations moved on to other businesses downtown in an effort to fight Jim Crow laws and end segregation. The brave actions by this group are part of Jackson’s history and American history.
The “freshman four” were instrumental in changing the laws in Jackson and subsequently had a lasting impact on generations of African Americans in Jackson. Woolworth’s was located at the corner of Main Street and North Liberty Street in Jackson, Tennessee. This is where the City Hall is now located.
This is the second Woolworth sit-in exhibit in Jackson and will be located on the first floor of city hall. The first exhibit can be found at the Old Country Store in Casey Jones Village and was installed in February 2020. Stools for the exhibit were donated by the late Clark Shaw of Brooks Shaw’s Old County Store.
Sue Shelton White
“One of Tennessee’s most effective suffragists and a West Tennessee native was one of the first women court reporters in the state in 1907. White joined the woman suffrage movement and helped organize the Jackson Equal Suffrage League in 1911. While working to increase support for suffrage in Tennessee, she served as recording secretary for the Tennessee Equal Suffrage Association beginning in 1913. She later came to believe that the policies and methods of the more activist National Woman’s Party (NWP) were more effective and changed her allegiance in 1918.” – to learn more visit the website and facebook page.
Walking Tour of Jackson’s East Main Historic District
Jackson’s historic East Main Street encompasses a wide variety of stunning architectural styles, from Victorian, Italianate, Gothic, Colonial Revival and Craftsman bungalows dating from the decade of the Civil War to the early 20th century. The district is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
