Statements

Mission

The mission of Historic Nashville, Inc. is to preserve and promote the historic places that make Nashville unique.

Background

Historic Nashville, Inc. was originally chartered in 1968 as "The Historic Sites Federation of Tennessee." In 1975, the name and mission changed in response to the urgency of threats to historic landmarks in Nashville. The nonprofit 501(c)3 organization became 'Historic Nashville, Inc.' with the mission to 'preserve and promote the historic places that make Nashville unique."Over the years, HNI has successfully advocated for the preservation of many downtown landmarks, including the Ryman Auditorium, Union Station, Hermitage Hotel, Shelby Street Bridge, and the Second Avenue, Printer's Alley, Lower Broadway, and East Nashville historic districts. In 1982, HNI established the state's first Preservation Easement program and currently owns easements on 17 historic landmarks with a market value of over $30 million. HNI hosts an annual membership meeting, maintains a website, gives special tours of local historic landmarks, hosted educational programs at historic sites; partners with Habitat for Humanity's ReConstruct program; provides pro bono services to owners of historic properties and government agencies; and in 2009 launched the annual 'Nashville Nine' endangered properties list.

Needs

Currently, our most pressing needs are the creation of a solid infrastructure capable of the marketing, membership and development requirements of a full-time staff (estimates around $20,000-40,000 annually); sponsors for special educational programs at historic sites that focus on families and minorities ($500+ per program); seed money for establishing a revolving fund to help save endangered properties ($2,500+); and an office space in a historic building, either donated or discounted rent.

CEO Statement

My vision for growth and outreach this year is simple: We are not an organization that is only for professional historians and preservationists. Historic Nashville should be approachable to all people who are interested in preserving our city's history and heritage, regardless of what it is they do for a living. I believe that people can be historians in their own way. I am not an historian, and I know when I started with the organization I was worried what I thought wasn't as relevant because of that. I want to spread the word that is not the case and open the dialogue about what history is important to all people of our community. And, that all people can play a part in preserving those pieces of Nashville's history that makes our city unique.

Board Chair Statement

Historic Nashville has one of the hardest working, most dedicated non-profit governance boards in Nashville. Without them, and the generous dedication of their passion, knowledge, time and leadership, our organization would not exist. It is as simple as that. Today our organization is working to fulfill the promise of its rebirth. As many know, after huge preservation wins in the first half of its existence, Historic Nashville went dormant. During that first half, it preserved much of the city we know and love today. Imagine Nashville without the Ryman, the 2nd Avenue and Lower Broadway historic districts. Without Union Station or the Hermitage Hotel. Through innovative, committed and brave work, Historic Nashville saved those places for us to enjoy today. But the organization faded. The story since then has been how to bring it back. If that sounds like a challenge, it was. Historic Nashville sought to revitalize an organization with no funds, no headquarters and no staff whose heyday was in a time of direct mailing - which is to say no built in virtual communities, tools, social media, or electronic donor databases. In the last three years this all-volunteer group (no paid staff, no Executive Director) has made huge inroads. In the last three years we have established an email database and send out e-newsletters every month. Our Facebook page (begun in 2010) is up to 3,262 followers. We have an established web presence with our website (which we funded through a Frist technology grant). This year we started our twitter account and began sharing news across that medium as well. We have updated our payment options to include a web component - this is huge. Not too many years ago all we could do was accept mail-in checks. At the board level we are making governance more efficient. We sent and analyzed the results of a board survey last year and used those learnings to guide us this year. We have evolved to a more efficient board that better utilizes the precious time that board has to gather together and strategize. Committees send in reports and share important information in advance of these meetings. We worked hard to create a three-year strategic plan, and are utilizing that document as our guidepost. To make this plan a reality, we need to further strengthen our donor database and membership outreach. Our Easement Program is a powerful preservation tool. Currently, we own 17 easements on property worth over $50 million. Our challenge is to grow that. The greatest success we have had in the last three years is growing community awareness (our brand) and grassroots advocacy. Historic Nashville has worked hard to get our name back out there. We participate in events (like the Metro 50 Birthday Celebration this year), host monthly tours and events, create and distribute educational material (like this year's Civil Rights Walking Tour Brochure). We collaborate with partner organizations to advocate for threatened historically significant buildings (like the Cordell Hull building) by working with lawmakers, sharing public educating and calling for advocacy through tactics like on-line petitions and media outreach.

Service Categories
Primary Category:	Arts, Culture & Humanities  - Historical Societies & Historic Preservation
Secondary Category:	Arts, Culture & Humanities  - Historical Organizations
Tertiary Category:	-

Areas Served

Nashville and Davidson County, TN

TN - Davidson