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| Date: | 2012-02-06 |
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| Article Title: | Experience African American History Up Close And Personal With A Black History Tour |
| Article: | Nashville, TN – February 6, 2012 Since 1984, Bill Daniel has been instrumental in educating people on Music City’s black cultural heritage. His interest in tourism began after working with a friend who owned a company providing black tours all over the country, Daniel decided, he too, wanted to develop a career in the tourism industry and enrolled at Tennessee State University where he studied travel and tourism management. He graduated in 1986 and in that same year, with three thousand dollars, started Nashville Black Heritage Tours where he has been conducting tours for more than a quarter of a century. One of the unique aspects of Daniel’s tours is that you have an opportunity to learn about Nashville from an African American perspective. The tour gives insight on past, present and future history makers because Daniel feels covering history from all angles and periods is crucial considering most African Americans relate to Black history from slavery and the Civil Rights Movement. What many people don’t know about Nashville is that 23 to 25 percent of successful Blacks, according to Daniel, were free men and women and not slaves. During theearly1900s, his tour denotes that freed Blacks owned 35 grocery stores, 5 meat markets, 89 churches and there were 95 doctors practicing medicine. It wasn’t until around 1925 and leading up to the Great Depression that these businesses began to diminish. When you take a tour Black heritage tour of Nashville, the historical journey will begin at 12th & Broadway. Daniel’s significance in starting the tour at this point is that African Americans use to gather at that particular location during the 30s and 40s to go the Cumberland River for baptisms. The three-hour tour ends at the World Baptist Center because of its symbolism of power of the African American church. To date, the World Baptist Center has more than 8.5 million members. Other highlights of the tour include important notations in the field of medicine and education and how the city’s diversity has evolved over the years. A Nashville Black Heritage Tour runs about $650 and accommodates 55 people. The tour includes a tour of city, a tour guide and transportation and requires a minimum three day lead for bookings. For information on tour deposits or other information, contact the Nashville Black Heritage Tours at (615) 967-9955. |
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