Editing Nashville, Tennessee (section)

===Earlier 20th century===
[[File:Sky line view of Nashville, Tenn (74039).jpg|thumb|Depiction of Nashville skyline c. 1940s|alt=|left]]
By the turn of the century Nashville was home to numerous organizations and individuals associated with revisionist [[Lost Cause of the Confederacy]] pseudohistory, and it has been referred to as the "cradle of the Lost Cause".<ref name="simpson29">{{cite book |last1=Simpson |first1=John A. |title=Edith D. Pope and Her Nashville Friends: Guardians of the Lost Cause in the Confederate Veteran |date=2003 |publisher=University of Tennessee Press |location=Knoxville, Tennessee |isbn=978-1-57233-211-9 |oclc=428118511 |pages=29–31}}</ref> In 1893, the magazine ''[[Confederate Veteran]]'' began publication in the city.<ref name="goffjstorarticle">{{cite journal|last=Goff|first=Reda C.|title=The Confederate Veteran Magazine|journal=Tennessee Historical Quarterly|volume=31|issue=1|pages=45–60|jstor=42623281|date=Spring 1972}}</ref> In 1894, the first chapter of [[United Daughters of the Confederacy]] was founded in the city, and it hosted the first two conventions of the organization.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Simpson|first1=John A.|title=Edith D. Pope and Her Nashville Friends: Guardians of the Lost Cause in the Confederate Veteran|date=2003|publisher=University of Tennessee Press|location=Knoxville, Tennessee|isbn=978-1-57233-211-9|oclc=428118511|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Dwh0dEOFS8C&q=9781572332119&pg=PA75}}</ref> Prominent proponents of the mythology, the so-called "guardians of the Lost Cause", were concentrated Downtown and in the West End, near [[Centennial Park (Nashville)|Centennial Park]].<ref name="simpson29" />

At the same time, [[Jefferson Street (Nashville)|Jefferson Street]] became the historic center of the African American community, with similar districts developing in the Black neighborhoods in East and North Nashville. In 1912, the [[Tennessee State University|Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial and Normal School]] was moved to Jefferson Street.<ref name=BitterSoutherner /> The first [[Prince's Hot Chicken Shack]] originated at the corner of Jefferson Street and 28th Avenue in 1945.<ref name=BitterSoutherner /> Jefferson Street became a destination for jazz and blues musicians,<ref name=BitterSoutherner /> and remained so until the federal government split the area by construction of [[Interstate 40]] in the late 1960s.<ref name="tennesseanfootpathbecame">{{cite news |last1=Deville |first1=Nancy |title=Footpath became heart of city's black middle class. From '40s to '60s, Jefferson Street among best known music districts in the nation |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/244959050 |access-date=May 6, 2018 |work=The Tennessean |date=June 24, 2004 |pages=1; 11 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |url-access=registration |archive-date=May 7, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180507085606/http://www.newspapers.com/image/244959050/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1925, the establishment of the [[Grand Ole Opry]] marked the beginning of Nashville's journey as the 'Country Music Capital of the World',<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 2, 2024 |title=Nashville: Country music capital of the world |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/nashville-country-music-capital-of-the-world/MAES5BENW4PUSZL3HQYQ5IP7RQ/ |access-date=March 2, 2024 |website=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |language=en-NZ |archive-date=December 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226043021/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/nashville-country-music-capital-of-the-world/MAES5BENW4PUSZL3HQYQ5IP7RQ/ |url-status=live }}</ref> drawing musicians and fans alike to the city and setting the stage for its future as a country music powerhouse.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Senator & William Frist |first=Senator Fred Thompson-- Collector |date=2000 |title=Grand Ole Opry |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/legacies/loc.afc.afc-legacies.200003532/ |access-date=March 2, 2024 |website=lcweb2.loc.gov}}</ref>

In 1950, the state legislature approved a new city charter that provided for the election of city council members from [[single-member district]]s, rather than [[at-large]] voting. This change was supported because at-large voting required candidates to gain a majority of votes from across the city. The previous system prevented the minority population, which then tended to support Republican candidates, from being represented by candidates of their choice; apportionment under single-member districts meant that some districts in Nashville had Black majorities. In 1951, after passage of the new charter, African American attorneys [[Z. Alexander Looby]] and Robert E. Lillard were elected to the city council.<ref>Spinney 1998, p. 96</ref>

During the mid-1950s, Nashville underwent a musical transformation with the emergence of the '[[Nashville sound|Nashville Sound]],' which was characterized by "smooth strings and choruses", "sophisticated background vocals" and "smooth tempos" associated with [[traditional pop]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Byworth |first=Tony |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music |publisher=London: Flame Tree Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-84451-406-9 |pages=115–117, 169}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dawidoff |first=Nicholas |title=In the Country of Country |date=March 10, 1997 |publisher=Faber and Faber |isbn=0-571-19174-6 |location=Great Britain |pages=48–50}}</ref> The new sound broadened country music's appeal and solidified Nashville's status as a music recording and production center.

With the United States Supreme Court ruling in 1954 that public schools had to desegregate with "all deliberate speed", the family of student Robert Kelley filed a lawsuit in 1956, arguing that Nashville administrators should open all-White East High School to him. A similar case was filed by [[Reverend]] Henry Maxwell due to his children having to take a 45-minute bus ride from South Nashville to the north end of the city. These suits caused the courts to announce what became known as the "Nashville Plan", where the city's public schools would desegregate one grade per year beginning in the fall of 1957.<ref name=BitterSoutherner />

Urban redevelopment accelerated over the next several decades, and the city grew increasingly segregated. An interstate was placed on the edge of East Nashville while another highway was built through Edgehill, a lower-income, predominantly minority community.<ref name=BitterSoutherner />