MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Seated inside historic Cemetery School, elementary students colored worksheets atop tables decorated with stars-and-stripes cloths as Middle Tennessee State University alumna Helen McKnight explained United States symbols.

“Bald eagles represent strength and bravery,” said the retired Murfreesboro City Schools teacher. “Now, do you know some of the symbols for Tennessee?”

McKnight’s instruction is part of Patriot Camp, which is being hosted at the newly renovated Cemetery School — one of Tennessee’s few surviving Black schools built during segregation whose preservation is being driven by the passion and commitment of alumnus and retired administrator Vincent Windrow and the expertise of MTSU’s Center for Historic Preservation.

The camp is one of many activities planned for the revitalized historic site, including the inaugural Juneteenth Celebration and fundraiser for those age 25 and older set for 4-8 p.m. Friday, June 19.

The event, in observance of the state and federal holiday celebrating the freedom of the last enslaved Black people in the U.S. in June 1865, will support ongoing renovations at the Cemetery School site, which had fallen into disrepair until Windrow and others took up a labor of love to ensure that what they considered hallowed ground was not lost to development and fading memory.

MTSU key to Cemetery School restoration

“This site will serve as a repository for everything related to Cemetery Community. We’ll curate exhibits and presentations that preserve and share these stories,” said Windrow, who has called the project his “swan song” and has made it his life’s mission to restore the place that served as a foundation for the Black community in rural Rutherford County.

The revival of Cemetery School represents years of collaboration among Friends of Cemetery School, the Center for Historic Preservation, community supporters and local leaders committed to preserving a place that educated generations of Black children in Rutherford County.

MTSU Center for Historic Preservation Director Carroll Van West and his students laid the foundation for restoration and documented the school’s existence and importance, which secured its spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 2022. Students also created interpretive panels to exhibit.

The story of Cemetery School is inseparable from the story of the Cemetery community itself.

“Cemetery School tells a powerful story about a neighborhood that emerged after the Civil War, founded by formerly enslaved Union Army veterans who established the Stones River National Cemetery,” said West, who recently retired from the university after 41 years of award-winning service.

Over 6,100 Union soldiers are interred at the cemetery, the majority of whom were killed in the Battle of Stones River in 1862-63, which is now preserved as Stones River National Battlefield and part of the National Park System.

As the community began to grow, education quickly became a priority, and a school was established less than a decade after the war ended.

Education foundation for community

But the current school building was completed in 1941 by the National Youth Administration, a New Deal program that trained young people in construction trades while building facilities that served local communities, West explained.

Today, much of the building’s historic character remains intact. Original light fixtures still hang from the ceiling. The blackboard remains in place.

“This site will serve as a repository for everything related to Cemetery Community. We’ll curate exhibits and presentations that preserve and share these stories,” Windrow said. “Because the Washington family played such an important role in preserving and overseeing the school after integration, many of their materials will be featured in the Washington Family Museum.”

After integration happened in the late 1960s, the Cemetery School was closed and students were sent elsewhere. Queen Washington and her sister-in-law, Bertha Washington, who lived by the school, purchased the property and began using the building as a gathering place for the Cemetery Community. Eventually, it became a storage facility for the family.

The late two-time MTSU alumna Leonora “Miss Boe” Washington, Windrow’s cousin who lived in one of the houses by the old school, wanted to restore the school she attended as a child. She sought help from West.

Those interpretive exhibits to be developed by MTSU students under the CHP’s guidance will tell the stories of the school, the community and the families who passed through its doors. More opportunities for engagement will continue as the project develops.

“It’s a great way for students to get hands-on experience and become directly involved in the work,” West said.

The school’s future will focus as much on education as preservation — through Patriot Camp, supported by a Tennessee 250 grant and Wilson Bank & Trust and conducted in partnership with Murfreesboro City Schools students learning about citizenship, leadership and civic responsibility.

“This is exactly where we want to be — engaging young people,” West said.

For Windrow, that connection between history and future generations is what makes the effort worthwhile.

“We want it to be a place where people can come and hang out,” he said. “It is an exciting time for Cemetery School. It’s coming back alive.”

If you go

Cemetery School, located at 3097 Old Nashville Highway, will host a Juneteenth Celebration from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, June 19. The 25-and-older event will feature live music by The Raq City Band and DJ 50 Cyn, along with food and drinks. General admission is $10 per person and tickets can be purchased at https://bit.ly/4vYTNXC.

— Nancy DeGennaro ([email protected])