Nashville, Tenn. (TN Tribune) – The R.H. Boyd Company, a 501(c)3 organization based in Nashville, Tennessee, announced the launch of a $1.1 million nationwide campaign to restore and repair the Boyd House, a historical home in Nashville erected in the 1930s. Community partners are invited to participate in a historic opportunity to renovate the Boyd House, located on the campus of Fisk University. The home was originally owned by Dr. Henry Allen Boyd (1876-1959) and Georgia Bradford Boyd (1884–1952). Dr. Boyd was the second-generation leader of the National Baptist Publishing Board (NBPB), now known as the R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation, and Mrs. Boyd was a suffragist and a prominent community voice for the advancement of women’s and children’s issues.
Dr. LaDonna Boyd, president and CEO of R.H. Boyd Publishing Corp., shared that the Boyd House has suffered significant storm and water damage over the years and is facing the threat of demolition.
“Restoring this home is a true honor, and it is imperative that this piece of Nashville’s history and critical component of the African-American narrative be preserved as an example of Black excellence and success for future generations to enjoy,” she said.
Dr. Boyd was a Fisk University trustee, noted entrepreneur, and among the group of influential Black citizens who persuaded the Tennessee General Assembly to establish Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial College (now known as Tennessee State University) in Nashville. Dr. Boyd laid the foundation for many minority-owned businesses locally and nationally. He worked diligently with his father, Dr. Richard Henry Boyd, to establish businesses relevant to the needs of freedmen in the late 19th to mid-20th century. Some of their ventures included NBPB, One Cent Savings Bank (now Citizens Savings & Trust Bank), the Nashville Globe and the nationally published Union Review newspapers, the Negro Doll Company, the Union Transportation Company, and the National Baptist Congress.
This early twentieth-century Edwardian style home is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and was transferred to the University in 1938. The home is being restored for the purposes of creating academic spaces, such as classrooms and a lecture hall, and opportunities to further the educational pursuits of students in the areas of business and entrepreneurship.
Members of the fundraising committee include the Honorable Howard Gentry; Nashville Deputy Mayor of Community Engagement, Brenda Haywood; Tennessee State Representative Harold M. Love, Jr.; Nashville Councilman Freddie O’Connell; historian and Metro Historic Zoning Commission member Dr. Learotha Williams, Jr.; Boyd Family Endowment Coordinator Mrs. Yvette Boyd; and Dr. LaDonna Boyd, fifth-generation President/CEO of the R.H. Boyd family of companies.
Visit theboydhouse.org to make tax-deductible gifts and pledges toward this effort and to stay up to date on specific details about the restoration and preservation process.
