1. History of Scarritt College (1892–1988)

2. Architectural significance

3. Civil Rights History
     Desegregation    Visit from Martin Luther King, Jr.    Student Civil Rights Activism    Campus Grill Boycott (1963)    Downtown Demonstrations (1964)  

4. Scarritt Bennett Center (1988–present)

5. References

6. External links

Scarritt College for Christian Workers was a college associated with the United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. The campus is now home to Scarritt Bennett Center.

History of Scarritt College (1892–1988)

The Scarritt College for Christian Workers was started as the Scarritt Bible and Training School in 1892 in Kansas City, Missouri by Reverend Nathan Scarritt.^[3][4] It was Belle Harris Bennett, a Methodist worker, who fundraised for the Missouri campus.^[5] The President was Methodist minister Jesse Lee Cuninggim.^[6]

By 1924, under President Cuninggim's leadership,^[6] the college name was changed to the Scarritt College for Christian Workers and it was relocated to Nashville, Tennessee.^[7] Architect Henry C. Hibbs, who had designed the campus buildings of the George Peabody College for Teachers, designed the campus buildings in the late Gothic Revival architectural style.^[1] Construction of the Belle Bennett Memorial, which included Scarritt Hall, Bennett Hall, Wightman Chapel and the Tower, as well as the Susie Gray Dining Hall began in 1925.^[3] Built with Crab Orchard stone, it was completed in 1928.^[3] The Wightman Chapel was named in honor of Maria Davies Wightman, a renown women's rights activist in Louisiana and the wife of Bishop William May Wightman.^[8] Sartain Lanier, the chairman of Oxford Industries, married his wife in Wightman Chapel in 1934.^[9]

By the 1930s, the college "offered a bachelor's degree and graduate education in the fields of community and family service, social work, and religious education."^[7] From 1940 into the 1960s, the campus was expanded with the construction of six additional buildings.^[3] During the Civil Rights era, Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke in Wightman Chapel.^[4] In 1973, J. Richard Palmer, formerly of Berea College, was brought in as president to increase fundraising and enrollment.^[7] However, he resigned in 1977 due to internal politics.^[7]

The college became known as the Scarritt Graduate School from 1981 to 1988.^[4] During that time, it was a graduate school for Church Music and Christian Education.^[4] The school closed in 1988.

Architectural significance

Several of the campus buildings have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since August 26, 1982. The historic district is made up of the original campus buildings built before 1940: Administration Building, Memorial Tower, Susie Gray Dining Hall, Bennett Hall, and Wightman Chapel.^[3]

Civil Rights History

Desegregation

Scarritt College welcomed its first black students—Leila Robinson and DeLaris Johnson—in 1952,^[4] making it one of the first private, predominately white colleges in Tennessee to desegregate.^[10] Robinson and Johnson became active in student life on campus: Robinson served as editor of the yearbook, and Johnson became Treasurer of the student council 1953–54.^[11] Scarritt College's desegregation also prompted Vanderbilt University, which is located across the street, to reconsider its policies on race and integration, since the two schools were affiliated through Joint University Center and Library at the time.^[11]

Visit from Martin Luther King, Jr.

On April 25, 1957, Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke in Wightman Chapel at Scarritt College to the Conference on Christian Faith and Human Relations.^[12] The Conference on Christian Faith and Human Relations was hosted by Scarritt College and Vanderbilt Divinity School and co-sponsored by the Tennessee Council of Churches and [https://www.ncpedia.org/fellowship-southern-churchmen the Fellowship of Southern Churchmen (FSC)]. “The salvation of the world lies in the hands of the maladjusted,” King said, “…the challenge to you is to be maladjusted to the evils of segregation [...], the madness of militarism, and the self-defeating method of physical violence.” ^[4] Dr. King spoke on the last day of the conference and addressed some 350 church leaders,^[12] the day after receiving the Social Justice Award from the Religion and Labor Foundation in New York.^[13] King's speech was titled, "The Role of the Church in Facing the Nation’s Chief Moral Dilemma."^[12]

Student Civil Rights Activism

Campus Grill Boycott (1963)

In the spring of 1963, Lorine Chan, a Scarritt College student from Fiji, was denied service at the Campus Grill, a local “greasy spoon.”^[14] Around the same time, Rev. Abel Muzorewa and his wife, Maggie Chigodora, arrived in Nashville to attend Scarritt College. The local Methodist church near Scarritt College who had sponsored them refused membership to them upon their arrival in Nashville because Maggie was black.^[14] In response to these events, Gerry Bode, Sue Thrasher, Archie Allen, Mary Pless, and others formed the Christian Action Fellowship to work against racial discrimination.^[14] They also joined students at Peabody College and Vanderbilt University to form the Joint University Council on Human Relations.^[15] The Joint University Council on Human Relations coordinated a boycott of the Campus Grill, coordinating with black student leaders, John Lewis and Lester McKinnie.^[14] By November, Vanderbilt, Peabody and Scarritt College students and faculty organized a boycott of the restaurant until it served black students.^[14]

Downtown Demonstrations (1964)

Following the Campus Grill boycott, Scarritt College students continued to participate in civil rights demonstrations. In 1964, demonstrators, led by John Lewis and Lester McKinnie, organized demonstrations focused on establishments that refused to desegregate, including Krystal, Morrison’s Cafeteria, and the Tic Toc restaurant.^[16] During one demonstration, on April 27, 1964, Archie Allen was attacked by the employees and knocked down on the sidewalk while attempting to talk with Tic Toc employees.^[16] On April 28, Scarritt College student, William Barbee, was severely beaten by police while Barbee was holding onto a light pole.^[16] Barbee was arrested on disorderly conduct charges and later admitted to Hubbarb Hospital.^[16] In addition to a concussion, the beatings Barbee endured resulted in injuries from which he suffered for the rest of his life.^[16]

Scarritt Bennett Center (1988–present)

After Scarritt College closed, the campus was purchased by the Women's Division of the United Methodist Church, who formed Scarritt Bennett Center, a nonprofit organization that operates on the campus today.^[4] Scarritt Bennett Center is a conference, retreat, and education center that seeks to carry on the legacy of the Scarritt College students, faculty, and staff. Scarritt Bennett Center's mission is to create space where individuals and groups engage each other to achieve a more just world.^[17] Scarritt Bennett Center's programming focuses on the empowerment of women, eradication of racism, prophetic justice, radical hospitality, sacred rituals, spiritual enrichment, and transformative education.^[17]

References

External links

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