Life in the Scenic City: The Bessie Smith Cultural Center

As we honor and recognize individuals and communities during Black History Month, we owe it to ourselves to learn more about the past and the trials and tribulations of many who fought for civil rights, equality and dignity.

In Chattanooga there is no better place than visiting the Bessie Smith Cultural Center.

I visited the center and was awed by the exhibits recounting the story of the Big Nine District, a vibrant center of Black commerce, culture and community shaped by determination and vision of Black individuals in the late 1800s through the mid-20th century. The Big Nine had private hospitals, Black owned beauty stores, restaurants and the first preschool in the city.  

As for the music scene the Big Nine District rivaled that of Bourbon Street in New Orleans and Memphis’ Beale Street as the mecca for Black entertainment.

The Bessie Smith Cultural Center sits in the heart of what was the Big Nine District along East Ninth Street now called M.L.K. Blvd.

Inside the center I was reminded that before Rosa Parks’ 1955 arrest for refusing to move from her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, there was 15-year-old Claudette Colvin who was arrested nine months prior for also refusing to move from her seat.

I learned that the Martin Hotel was the first African-American owned business to receive a beer license after prohibition and how the hotel was the unofficial center for the Black community.

I learned about Walden and Carver Hospitals. Owned by African-American, employing Black doctors and nurses and providing care for the Black community.

I learned about Dr. O. L. Davis. She was the first and only Black female in the south to graduate from Dentist School and started a practice in the James Building on East Ninth Street.

I learned about the history of Howard School. I learned a lot more about famous football star Reggie White and other athletes from this area.

I was reminded of the horrific events that occurred during slave trades. Millions of enslaved Africans died on ships after they were taken from their homeland. I learned about the Trials of Zong, the mass killing of 130 enslaved African people and it shook me inside.

I read about Jacob Cummings and Chattanooga’s first railroad: The Underground Railroad. Cummings is recognized as one of the first "railroad passengers" in the city; he escaped from a plantation on Moccasin Bend in 1839. He used a canoe to cross the Tennessee River, landing on Williams Island. From there he swam across the river and landed on Walden’s Ridge. He then hid for a while in the Sequatchie Valley before making it to Kentucky and then Ohio.

On the other end of the center is the permanent exhibit called: Chattanooga’s Black Soundtrack.

Of course, I learned more about the famed “Empress of the Blues,” Bessie Smith. Born in Chattanooga, in a neighborhood once called Blue Goose Hollow, Smith had a successful recording career with Columbia Records. 

I learned about world traveler and award-winning Harpist Anee Lee Patton. Her and her husband Dr. Levi Patton owned a stately home on Missionary Ridge, something unheard of in the south during their era.

I knew some musicians and actors grew up in Chattanooga, for example I knew Samuel L. Jackson and Usher grew up in the Scenic City. But I learned Kane Brown was born here too.

I learned about local street musician Boots Roots (Robert Montgomery). Boots Roots used to play music for everyone who passed him by in the street by the Tennessee Aquarium. He lived in Chattanooga for 30 years before heading back to his hometown Miami. He passed away in 2021.

I learned that Broadway actress Montego Glover was a Chattanooga native. Glover received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance. Additionally, she won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical.

I learned a lot of things I never knew before and was reminded about horrors and injustices we should strive to never repeat. The only way to make sure we don’t repeat inexcusable actions is to learn about them.