Middle Tennessee State University’s Center for Historic Preservation is working closely with alumnus and retired administrator Vincent Windrow and the Friends of Cemetery School to help preserve one of the state’s only remaining black schools built during segregation.
“There are so few surviving examples of segregated schools built in the rural South. At one time there were thousands of them,” said Carroll Van West, director of the MTSU CHP and Tennessee State Historian. “Rutherford County has one of the best-conditioned black schools we have left. It’s remarkable.”
Tucked behind the historic Stones River Methodist Church at Old Nashville Highway and Mt. Olive Road, near the Stones River National Battlefield and National Cemetery, an aging concrete block building once served as a bustling hub of educational activity.
The Cemetery School has roots dating back to the late 1800s. The school served the Cemetery community that grew out of the post-Civil War formerly enslaved families who worked burying Union soldiers at the neighboring graveyard, now part of the National Park System.
A “Deep Dive” Into History
After integration happened in the late 1960s, the Cemetery School was closed and students were sent to other area schools. Queen Washington and her sister-in-law Bertha Washington, who lived by the school, purchased the property and began using the building as a gathering place for the Cemetery community. Eventually, it became a storage facility for the family.
“If they hadn’t bought it, they would have torn it down and the story would have been lost. Now we get to tell the story,” said Windrow, his eyes brightening as he talked about the history of the school his mother once attended. “And that’s powerful.”
Two-time MTSU alumna Leonora “Miss Boe” Washington, Windrow’s cousin who lived in one of the houses near the old school, wanted to restore the school she attended as a child. She sought help from West and the Center for Historic Preservation.
“Boe Washington made it her mission to save the school,” West said. “She first showed it to me 20 years ago and she said, ‘You can help me preserve the school.’”
West said several classes over 18 months “did a deep dive” on the school and community, which included doing interviews with former students and poring through documents. Since then, interpretive panels and an exhibit plan have been developed for the restoration project.
Windrow, who also pastors Olive Branch Church in Murfreesboro and Nashville, said they discovered the Cemetery School that stands today was constructed in 1941 by the National Youth Administration, a New Deal program started by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to help unemployed young people find jobs and teach them skills during the Great Depression.
The Cemetery School construction was based on plans for a Rosenwald School, a network of which were built in the early 1900s for black children in underfunded areas of the South. The building program was developed through a partnership between Julius Rosenwald, part owner and president of Sears & Roebuck Company, and the legendary black philanthropist and educator Booker T. Washington, founder of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
“They were effective, efficient and cheap to build,” West said. “A Rosenwald School had two rooms, a partition between them, and a stage at the end of a larger classroom.”
Restoration Plans Begin
When “Miss Boe” died in 2019, Windrow took over caretaking duties. And that’s when the plans for restoration got closer to a reality. The next step was “cleaning house.”
“We probably cleared about 85% of it out. There was a pool table in there. Old tires in there, mattresses. There’s still a wood-burning stove in there,” Windrow said, looking around at the dust-covered collection of items that remain.
Inside the school, there’s a musty smell of history. Muted sunlight streaming through the tall windows illuminates the dust hanging in the air. Laminate tiles are cracked, with some parts missing. There’s no electricity or operational plumbing.
But years ago, Washington made sure the roof was repaired to keep out rain to protect the interior of the structure. All things considered, wear and tear from 80 years of history has not damaged the structural integrity.
Remnants of the old school remain: 1940s-era desks with initials carved into the wood, coal burning stoves, dozens of ragged fabric-covered books with yellowed pages, an Art Deco antique radio and a well-worn piano. Outside there’s a dried-up water fountain connected to a well.
Those items will be incorporated into the restoration plans for a museum and community center.
“This side over here,” said Windrow, his long arms pointing to the right, “will be the museum showcasing the history of Cemetery School and the Cemetery community. I have all of Boe Washington’s report cards. We have the desks. We’ll have displays and signs telling the history and who taught here.”
The other side will be a gathering place and space for programming. Eventually they hope to have a park-like setting outside with pavilions.
The nonprofit Friends of Cemetery School group is working in concert with the battlefield and there are grants available to help with paying for the restoration and maintenance.
Plans for the Future
“We’ve just submitted an application for a National Trust for Historic Preservation grant. We’ve received a grant from the Pi Gamma Gamma Foundation and donations from individuals,” Windrow said regarding the “rebirth and renovation.”
“We are also looking to partner with construction firms who’d be willing to sponsor the electrical work, the roof repair, and the plumbing needs.”
Plans are to open the museum in the summer of 2026 to tell the history of a strong, vibrant community.
“This is a story of resilience, a story of hope. This was their educational experience and so they had to do what they had to do with what they had,” said Windrow, referencing their modest accommodations. “That’s using ingenuity. These teachers gave their lives to these students.”
West said the Cemetery School project has been beneficial for his graduate-level students who will eventually go on to preserve and manage historical sites much like this one.
“Students primarily come to the center for field project experience. Few other Ph.D. programs do as much as MTSU does,” West said. “The legacy I’ve instilled in these students is that community really matters. Dozens of graduate students have taken this model and applied it to communities across the country.”
Over the years, the CHP has expanded services to serve the entire Mid-South region, not just in Tennessee.
“We do many of these projects in a given year, and sometimes it can be challenging to manage everything simultaneously. However, we have an excellent staff at the center who help us keep all the balls in the air,” West said. “I don’t see any other way of doing public history, and it’s truly unique in all the different projects we do and how we serve communities.”
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For more information or to help with restoration efforts for the Cemetery School, contact Windrow at vincent.windrow@mtsu.edu or 615-981-0080; supporters can also donate funds to the Friends of Cemetery School on Cash App at $FOCSgive.
To learn more about the CHP and public history programs at MTSU, visit mtsuhistpres.org.
