Roger Williams University

Roger Williams University

Historical marker, 21st Avenue, Edgehill Avenue, higher education, African Americans, HBCU, college, Nashville

Roger Williams University first held classes in 1864, even before Fisk University. First located downtown, the school moved to 21st Avenue in 1874. Roger Williams provided courses that served as an equivalent to secondary education and some basic college training. The school produced many teachers for African American primary schools in the region and also trained African Americans in theology and practical subjects for the purposes of preaching and social work. The school struggled with poor facilities and lack of funding. After its campus, adjacent to Vanderbilt, was destroyed by a series of fires in the early 1900s, Roger Williams University moved to North Nashville and ultimately merged with Lemoyne Owen College and moved to Memphis in 1929.

American Baptist Home Mission Society of New York, Merry and Randall V. Vandavall, and other contributors

1864-1929

Former site of buildings

Location: 21st Avenue and Edgehill Avenue