 Location of former headquarters of the Nashville Student Movement | |
| Abbreviation | NSM |
|---|---|
| Founded at | Nashville, Tennessee |
| Purpose | To challenge segregation in Nashville's public accommodations |
| Location | |
| Methods | Nonviolence |
| Leader | James Lawson |
| James Bevel and Diane Nash | |
The Nashville Student Movement was an organization that challenged racial segregation in Nashville, Tennessee, during the Civil Rights Movement. It was created during workshops in nonviolence taught by James Lawson. The students from this organization initiated the Nashville sit-ins in 1960. They were regarded as the most disciplined and effective of the student movement participants during 1960.[1] The Nashville Student Movement was key in establishing leadership in the Freedom Riders.[2]
Members of the Nashville Student Movement, who went on to lead many of the activities and create and direct many of the strategies of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, included Diane Nash, Bernard Lafayette, James Bevel, John Lewis, C. T. Vivian, Jim Zwerg, and others.[3][4]
Protesters intentionally dressed 'sharp' during protests in anticipation of their arrests.[5]
Prominent figures of the Civil Rights Movement, such as Martin Luther King Jr., recognized the brilliance of the Nashville Student Movement. King praised the individuals of this movement for their amazingly organized and highly disciplined attitudes.[6] The Nashville Student Movement, using Gandhian methods, shone a light on the proficiency of these nonviolent methods, which ultimately allowed for the 1960s movements to have the success they had. Nonviolent methods and tactics allowed for the message to travel further and led to the Nashville Student movement becoming a pillar of success during the age of the Civil Rights Movement.[7] An impressive accomplishment achieved by the actions of the Nashville Student Movement, was the ending of segregation in Nashville.[8] This helped Nashville lead the way for desegregation in the United States and acted as an example for other American cities to follow. Lawson, a vitally important member of the movement, served as an effective mentor for the younger generation, and using his knowledge of nonviolence which he gained by religious practices he helped others use pacifism as a method for ending Jim Crow laws.[9]
- ^ Turner, Jeffrey A. (2010). Sitting In and Speaking Out: Student Movements in the American South, 1960-1970. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press. pp. 50–56. ISBN 9780820335933.
- ^ "UT-Martin Civil Rights Conference includes Native American Civil Rights struggles in Tennessee". Clarksville Online. February 24, 2009. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
- ^ Hall, Heide (March 2, 2017). "Diane Nash refused to give her power away". Tennessean. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
- ^ Anderson, Cynthia (October 18, 2018). "Civil Rights History Brings Tourists to Nashville". The Tennessee Tribute. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
- ^ Gonzales, Tony (November 20, 2016). "Newly Discovered, These 1960s Nashville Police Mugshots Of John Lewis Take On New Meaning Today". Nashville Public Radio. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
- ^ Summer, David E. (1995). "Nashville, Nonviolence, and the newspapers: The convergence of social values with news values". https://web-p-ebscohost-com.
- ^ Cornfield, Daniel B.; Coley, Jonathan S.; Isaac, Larry W.; Dickerson, Dennis C. (2021). "The Making of a Movement: An Intergenerational Mobilization Model of the Nonviolent Nashville Civil Rights Movement". Social Science History. 45 (3): 469–494. doi:10.1017/ssh.2021.18. ISSN 0145-5532. S2CID 239742113.
- ^ Cornfield, Daniel B.; Coley, Jonathan S.; Isaac, Larry W.; Dickerson, Dennis C. (2021). "The Making of a Movement: An Intergenerational Mobilization Model of the Nonviolent Nashville Civil Rights Movement". Social Science History. 45 (3): 469–494. doi:10.1017/ssh.2021.18. ISSN 0145-5532. S2CID 239742113.
- ^ Dickerson, Dennis C. (2014). "James M. Lawson, Jr.: methodism, nonviolence and the civil rights movement".