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Our Community History
African Americans have been a part of the Sewanee community since the University’s beginnings. After Emancipation, formerly enslaved individuals from Sewanee and other nearby communities like Cowan, Decherd, and Pelham moved to the mountain to work. One neighborhood, nicknamed “Essie May,” was established near the Sewanee Military Academy. The other neighborhood, south of the university, did not receive the formal name of “St. Mark’s” until much later.
In 1875, St. Paul’s on the Mountain, a wooden Episcopal church, was built for Sewanee residents. White families had services in the mornings, while African American families attended church in the evenings. By 1891, a new stone church had been built for the white community, so the wooden church was set aside for the African American community..
The historic heart of our community was the St. Mark’s Mission Church, the Kennerly School and the Belmont Club. When the original wooden church was torn down by the white community as an “eyesore” in the early 1930s, the African American community established St. Mark’s Mission Church in 1936, which served not only as a religious institution but also a school. In 1949, the Kennerly School, named after beloved teacher and community leader John M. Kennerly, was built to teach the community’s children. The St. Mark’s Mission Church was renovated and consecrated in 1950. Although Otey Parish opened its doors to African American parishioners in 1962, services did not end at St. Mark’s Mission Church until 1968, after which point the church was sadly demolished.
In 1964, four white families and four African American families sued the Franklin County School Board for failure to desegregate. The lawsuit was successful, and the Kennerly School closed. Despite its years as a Head Start Center, this important community building was also demolished in the 2010's. The loss of these two buildings, as well as the loss of the Belmont Club to a fire, mean that several landmarks of our community’s history are missing from the landscape. However, our community is more than its buildings–it is also our people, our stories, and our memories.
For more than 160 years African American people have lived and worked in this community and shaped its history...
St. Mark’s Community Association: Black Sewanee’s Lodestar Rising
St. Mark’s Community Association: Black Sewanee’s Lodestar Rising
SEWANEE MOUNTAIN MESSENGER, Thursday, April 27, 2023
by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer
“With the Black school, the church, the swimming pool, and most of the neighborhood and old houses gone now, the St. Mark’s Community Center is the only remaining monument to Sewanee’s dwindling Black community,” said Evelyn Patton, chair of the St. Mark’s Community Association Board. “With the help of Housing Sewanee, the Roberson Project, and volunteers, we’re revamping the center for use as an event-venue rental. We hope to get people to come back.” The Save Sewanee Black History Heritage Trail has St. Mark’s Community Center and Stirling’s as its terminus points. Summing up the Heritage Trail project and rebirth of St. Mark’s, Roberson Project Director Woody Register said, “It’s about restoring the community’s imagination.”
The basketball goal on the St. Mark’s lot shouts to passersby, “Remember us!” The Alabama Avenue lot was once the site of Willie Six Field where the Sewanee Black baseball league hosted games, Patton said. When the Shedd family left, the house situated on the lot became an unofficial gathering spot. The leasehold is now the property of the St. Mark’s Community Association. In 1995, with materials supplied by the University, the community erected the St. Mark’s Community Center building. A four-member St. Mark’s Community Association Board formed. Original board member James Burnett, a tireless and generous volunteer, still serves in that capacity.
“This is the only structural marker we have left,” said Patton, a Sewanee native who has lived and worked on the mountain most of her life. Recent inside and outside work on the building includes painting, lighting, and a new HVAC system, with a special “shout out” thank you to Housing Sewanee, as well as the Sewanee Community Council Funding Project and the South Cumberland Community Fund. St. Mark’s Community Center also receives funding from the Sewanee Community Chest. Looking to the future, Patton envisions picnic tables, grills, a fire pit, a footpath through the woods to the Mountain Goat Trail, and a redo of the basketball court with funding from a University alum.
Register stressed the importance of “reinvesting energy and time” in the project. “There are still people here with strong roots,” Register said. Patton hopes to reach out to those who have moved off the Plateau, as well. She pointed out many people in the Black community were elderly, and she plans to partner with Folk at Home to help them enroll in Medicare, find transportation to medical appointments, and understand insurance.
Looking to the immediate future, a Juneteenth gala at 1 p.m., Sunday, June 18, will feature vendors, face painting, children’s games, and the official dedication of the Heritage Trail. Later in the month, the community will have the opportunity to participate in an archeological dig at the sites of the Black Kennerly School, St. Mark’s Church, and social club.
The St. Mark’s Community Center area was once called “The Bottoms,” Patton said, low land not especially desirable for building homes. “It’s a little bit ironic,” she commented, pointing to several new residences under construction. “We’re really at a beginning,” Register said. “Things are changing rapidly. We want the heritage trail and the community center to be part of the vitality of the neighborhood.”
The St. Mark’s Community Association welcomes new members. The $20 membership fee can be paid at Regions Bank or by sending a check, made out to the association, to Evelyn Patton, 157 Palmetto Avenue, Sewanee, TN 37375.
The community association board meets at 5 p.m. on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. Patton encourages those who want to get involved in spearheading the St. Mark’s Community’s future to attend.
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