Hello all! I do hope you’re enjoying this warmer weather. We are getting closer to spring every day; thank the good Lord!

This month we’re going to do an update on the old Cemetery School, located on Old Nashville Highway directly behind the Stones River United Methodist Church. I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Vincent Windrow, who has taken the lead on bringing the historic school back to life.

Windrow is working with the Friends of Cemetery School nonprofit group, with support from the MTSU Center for Historic Preservation, the Stones River National Battlefield and other community members to preserve the history of this community, which sprung up just after the Civil War, comprised of recently freed slave families.

We discussed the importance of the segregated, all-black Cemetery School, including the folks who helped create it and the folks who benefited from it. Cemetery School was built by the former slaves and U.S. military veterans of color in the community, many of whom got work helping bury soldiers at the Stones River National Battlefield Cemetery, hence the name of the community.

As the cemetery and battlefield grew, those former slaves got pushed out to where the Methodist Church is today. The Cemetery community had three main parts to it—there was the church, there was the school and then there was a cemetery, which still stands across from the Harley Davidson dealership on Broad Street. The community started in the 1870s, just after the Civil War. Some of these U.S. troops stayed in the area and became government workers.

The actual school was founded in 1874; the building that is there today was built in 1941.

Much of Tennessee was still segregated up until the 1950s and ’60s.

In more recent years, the Cemetery School has been a fellowship hall for the church and a storage facility for the Washington family, who owned the owned the land.

I found out that Vincent’s mother went to school there and his grandmother taught there. They’ve been working on rehabbing and remodeling the school for the last four or five months and it’s now about 75% complete. Once it’s ready, those restoring it will hold a dedication of the school. One half of the school is going to be archives and a museum. The other half will be set up to look like the school did back in the 1940s.

Photos by Bill Wilson

In June, Murfreesboro City Schools will pick 100 youth to go to Patriot Camps. While there, they will learn about their civic duty and what it means to be a citizen of our country, the United States of America. Part of their study of history, during this summer when we will be celebrating our country’s 250th year of independence, will involve the history of the Cemetery School.

While Vincent was going through some things at the school, he found a book that his mother, Veral, had used and she had written her name in the book when she was a student at Cemetery School.

As far as the school update, they’ve got the HVAC installed. They have running water with a bathroom and a nice kitchen. It’s looking great! I am so happy to have folks in our community like Vincent Windrow who help keep history alive.

I’ve known Vincent since seventh grade, when we learned about civics at Central Middle School. He is a pastor at the Olive Branch Church here in Murfreesboro and Nashville. He’s also an author, public speaker and owns a consulting business.

We need to always learn from our history.

I look forward to hearing more about these Patriot Camps in June, when the youth will learn about the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, patriotic songs, citizenship and history.

Now, everybody go out and do something nice for someone else. God bless!