Exploring the lesser known history of Chattanooga
Who’s ready for another history snack? Next Wednesday, Chattanooga Organized for Action (COA) will be hosting a walking tour of Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. While this tour will cover some ghosts of Chattanooga’s past, this is no ghost tour.
Michael Gilliland, the board chair for COA, will lead the tour, which will cover the lesser known history of Chattanooga’s “popular action against racism.”
The tour will dust off stories that Chattanooga may have forgotten, from former slave Randolph Miller’s 1905 boycott of streetcar segregation (predating the similar boycott by Martin Luther King, Jr. by half a century), to the 1980 Klan shooting of five elderly black women, which was taken to court twice and ended in a settlement of $535,000 which signified a huge step in federal action against the Klan.
On top of that, Gilliland will discuss the battle for renaming MLK Blvd. as well as an array of sit-ins, organizing, lawsuits, and riots.
While the tour is free, be sure to register in advance at thechattery.org as only 25 lucky historians will be able to experience this tour. Come immerse yourself in the history of our town.