Pearl High

Pearl High School provided African Americans with an exceptional education in the 1920s. It was the only high school available to black students in middle Tennessee.

Pearl High School Memories

Explore the memories of four people from the Pearl High School community.

Living with Segregation

African Americans were confined to the least paid, least desirable, most dangerous and unstable jobs. 

African American Medical Pioneers

Vivien Thomas followed in the footsteps of other African Americans who made advances in medicine and helped to improve people's lives.

Heart in History

The heart symbol, the popular icon for the heart, can be traced to before the last Ice Age. 

Vivien's Baltimore

In 1941, Vivien Thomas moved to Baltimore, Maryland, a place just as segregated as Nashville, but with its own distinct black culture and community. 

Protest & Resistance

Kwame Lillard and Elizabeth McClain, whose civil rights activism spans decades were leaders of the Nashville sit-ins, discuss their early experiences with resistance.

Footprints Through Time

Read profiles of Blalock, Thomas, Helen Taussig, and the medical professionals who followed in their footsteps.

Meet the Filmmakers

Partners of the Heart came to fruition more than ten years after producer/director Andrea Kalin first conceived it. 

One Small Step, Part 2: Transcript

One Small Step, Part 1

As NASA prepared to launch Apollo 11, Ralph Abernathy led a Poor People's Campaign protest at the Kennedy Space Center.

One Small Step, Part 2

As NASA prepared to launch Apollo 11, Ralph Abernathy led a Poor People's Campaign protest at the Kennedy Space Center.