Bessie Smith center getting $40k grant
NASHVILLE — Chattanooga’s Bessie Smith Cultural Center will get a one-time $40,000 grant in the new Tennessee government budget that begins July 1, the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators announced Monday.
The money is among some $400,000 in grants for African-American museums and sites across Tennessee.
State Rep. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, chairwoman of the Black Caucus, thanked Gov. Bill Haslam for helping procure the funding.
The money “will go a long way toward maintaining and preserving the history of a deserving people,” she said in a news release. “The Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators is extremely proud to have helped these museums in their quest to inform the public.”
The Bessie Smith Cultural Center is both an African-American museum and event hall.
Other museums and sites receiving funding include:
› The Withers Collection Museum and Gallery, Memphis: $85,000
› The Allen-White School (originally the Hardeman County Training School), Whiteville: $90,000
› The Mayme Carmichael School (originally the Oliver Springs Colored School), Oliver Springs: $85,000
› The Beck Cultural Exchange Center, Knoxville: $40,000
› The African American International Museum Foundation, Memphis: $10,000
› The Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum, Memphis: $10,000
› Pickett Chapel, Wilson County: $40,000
› The Green McAdoo Cultural Center in Clinton will receive $100,000 in recurring funds.