A historically black college in Nashville that educated African American leaders from 1866 to 1929.
Roger Williams University was founded in 1866 as the Nashville Normal and Theological Institute by the American Baptist Home Mission Society to educate freedmen in the South. Named after Roger Williams, the Baptist founder of Rhode Island and an early abolitionist, it became the largest Baptist college in Nashville for African American education. The institution operated on a prominent 28-acre campus near Hillsboro Pike from 1874, offering undergraduate and master's degree programs.
The university faced severe setbacks when fires of suspicious origin destroyed its main buildings in January and May 1905. The campus was subsequently sold under restrictive covenants that barred African Americans from residing on the land. After reopening at a new location in 1908, the institution struggled with declining enrollment and financial difficulties exacerbated by the 1929 stock market crash. In 1929, the university ceased operations, with students and faculty transferred to Howe Institute in Memphis (now LeMoyne–Owen College).
Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, Roger Williams educated numerous African Americans who became teachers, ministers, doctors, and community leaders across the South. Notable alumni include William Madison McDonald, an influential Republican politician in Texas, and Betty Hill, a civil rights leader. The institution's legacy is commemorated by a Tennessee state historical marker at its original Hillsboro Pike site.