News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Black History Museum of McMinnville presents its annual Black History Month program Saturday.
Museum Founder and Curator Wayne Wilford said his passion for Black history stems from being raised in the early sixties. Wilford said he experienced a culture shock that changed his life when he moved from St. Louis to Tennessee and saw the harsh realities of the 1900s.
“When I came and I saw I couldn’t go in front of a building, the entrance, I couldn’t eat at the counter, I had to go upstairs at the movie theater, there were fountains I couldn’t drink out of, bathrooms I couldn’t go into,” Wilford said. “So yeah, this was a culture shock for me.”
Wilford said McMinnville holds a special place in its heart for Black History because of the people who came before. Wilford said the events are focused on education and celebration. He said the event will feature speakers from Motlow, along with refreshments and food. Wilford said the event will be held at noon at 103 Bernard Drive, McMinnville.
Wilford said McMinnville is home to several notable figures in African American history, including Carl T. Rowan.
“His name was Carl T Rowan,” Wilford said. “Sand he was the ambassador of Finland, he was in 180 newspapers, he wrote for newspapers, he was the director of intelligence for John F. Kennedy and Johnson.”
The museum will host a second February event on February 22, focused on younger generations.
“Now the twenty-second is the one where the program is basically set up for youth,” Wilford said. Where we’ll have round table discussions and well have a speaker and the kids from the high school, the culinary arts are gouging to come and provide the food.”
Wilford said there are plenty of other people besides Rowan to hail from McMinnville who embody the African American Pride including Mark Gwyn who passed away in 2024. Wilford said Gwyn was the TBI director for fourteen years, the longest streak in TBI history.
“You heard of the FBI but here was the TBI, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation,” Wilford said. “And he had the term for fourteen years, which overseeds any other TBI director. And so that was kinda neat to have those two people coming from Warren County.”
