History[edit]

In the era of de jure educational segregation in the United States the school separated black students from white ones. Initially the campus on Hermitage Avenue was reserved for white students, but when the Donelson campus opened, the black students moved to Hermitage,^[5] which began educating black students in 1944. A Victorian mansion in Hermitage was the classroom site for white students.^[4] The Hermitage campus has Colonial revival architecture.^[5]


The school racially integrated in 1965, with all students moved to Donelson. An alumnus, Ralph Brewer, stated that he did not recall problems that occurred as a result of desegregation.^[5]


The State of Tennessee continued to own the disused Hermitage campus. Alumni of TSB argued for preserving the property after the Nashville Metropolitan government made a proposal to demolish it so it could build the Nashville School of the Arts there.^[5] In 2017 the Tennessee Historical Commission ruled that it was eligible to be a historic property. Historic Nashville Inc. made efforts to help preserve the property.^[4]