“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.”
The Eldorado Motel of Nashville - Where those of color could spend the night
The vintage sign read, “Eldorado Motel, Room Phones, Pool and TV.” The sign still stands today in between 28th Avenue and Clarksville Pike in Nashville. However, the only sign of the motel is the sign itself.
I spoke to the owner of the property who said that her father was one of the first black men in Tennessee to receive a bank loan to build a motel.
What makes the motel history stand out even more, is that it was one of the few places in Nashville that allowed for men and women of color to spend the night.
During the changing times of the 1960’s, musicians like BB King, The Temptations, and even James Brown stayed at the motel while visiting Music City.
In the 1960’s, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) booked two rooms at the property for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and musician Harry Belafonte. King was good friends with Belafonte who supported the SCLC financially. Belafonte was in town to play at the Ryman Auditorium, but became too ill to play. So, he recouped at the motel until he was well enough to travel home.
Learn more by listening to the short interview below with the daughter of the man who built the Eldorado Motel so many years ago.
Removing the past
ABOVE: Click to enlarge photos
Lee, who is homeless, once had a large tattoo on his forearm that read, “Member – KKK.” However, that is now covered by a cross representing Jesus and a rose representing Lee’s mother who passed away about 8 years ago.
What is even more intriguing about the KKK tattoo being covered up by a cross is that the tattoo artist is black. Dewayne, who owns Beast Mode Ink in Murfreesboro, TN said he would be proud to cover up such a tattoo for Lee. In fact, the two hit it off great. It was likely a site that would not have been seen just a few years back.
“I can’t live like this anymore,” he said while looking at the rose. He then talked about how the rose would remind him that his mother wanted him to lead a better life and the cross would re-enforce that in a major way. He went on to say, “I made my mind up being homeless, that I’ve got to change, my mother don’t want me living like this and I decided to get this hatred off of me and live for God.”
Lee said that prior to the cross being tattooed onto his arm today, “My body had hate on it.”
Lee elaborated, “The old tattoo that I had on there was hatred and this tattoo that I’ve got on here is love for my mother and the man upstairs – that’s what I wanted right there.”
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
It's a family business
He is holding up a silver chain explaining the difference of his jewelry verses the jewelry many tourist buy on the streets. “This is real, see the weight difference,” he said as he weighed the chain offered in his store and then weighed a chain that is sold on the street.
Visiting the small shops is always a pleasure in cities throughout Mexico as you can see the definition of family. In this case, he works with both his mother and father at the family run business. His daughter watched TV as he waited on customers in the store. This is true for many of the businesses there.
Jesus Freaks
“I was ordained a minister the year after I graduated from high school by the Church of God Jesus Freaks,” he told me. “That was in 1971,” he said with a smile.
From Michigan and never going back
I often meet people who have a face that is covered in tattoos and I think to myself that they are likely hiding from who they want to be or from who they are. I see sadness in the eyes of so many who live on the streets of America.
“I’m from Detroit, Michigan,” he told me while standing outside of a truck stop. While looking away he said, “I will never go back.”
As for the tattoos, “I was going to get my eyebrows tattooed like a clown, because life’s a joke and you have to laugh – if you don’t laugh then somethings wrong with you.”
“The reality of the other person is not in what he reveals to you, but in what he cannot reveal to you. Therefore, if you would understand him, listen not to what he says but rather what he does not say.” - Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)
A real key to get inside the room
Walking into old and decaying motels is like stepping back into history. The doors that connect the adjoining rooms are narrow, which today would not be allowed. The walls were paper thin and you could likely hear even the faintest whisper from the neighboring television set, that had rabbit ears on the top.
Yet, there is something romantic about the simplicity of old structures. The bright colors that once adorned the walls. The idea of random people stopping along the highway for a good nights rest for $19 or less. The doors used a real key as opposed to a plastic card.
A roadside motel in ruins
What's left of an old roadside motel in North Carolina...
"There is something uniquely American about the motel: It speaks to the transient nature of America itself, one enabled and encouraged by our roads and highways."
- Hanya Yanagihara, American novelist and travel writer
Sober and Alive
Sobriety is a big thing in the lives of many. Others simply don’t understand the struggle.
Thomas Jefferson, yes… that is his real name, understands the reality of the struggle, but noted that it gets easier and easier over time. Thomas has been sober for eleven years. He once lived under a bridge during his drinking days, but those days are long behind him. Today he has his own place.
A tattoo of rosary beads and a cross wrapped around his right hand reminds him of his mother who was a devout Catholic. A bear claw necklace is around his neck along with a cougar tooth weaved into his hair. Both are from Indian mythology with the cougar being legendary to the Seminoles and the Shawnee tribes. The Pueblo tribes saw the cougar as a directional guardian. As for the bear claw, it represented a protector and symbolized courage, physical strength and leadership among Indians.
“I personally believe this: We have only today; yesterday's gone and tomorrow is uncertain. That's why they call it the present. And sobriety really is a gift... for those who are willing to receive it.” ― Ace Frehley, former lead guitarist and founding member of the rock band Kiss
She grows plants
She lives in a small North Carolina town with a population of 910 residents. She makes her living selling plants in front of her home that she once shared with her husband who passed away 14 years ago. “He put in that window,” she told me pointing at a window on the front of her home next to her small greenhouse made of plywood. Looking a bit annoyed she said, “Our town is mostly quiet if it weren’t for the fire station.”
She grows flowers, cabbage and tomatoes.
“The earth laughs in flowers.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
What is an open door?
An open door is not always an invitation to where you want to be.
“There are so many doors to open. I am impatient to begin." --Charlie Gordan” ― Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon (1959)
I shot this photo in a quiet area of North Carolina on the outskirts of the Pisgah National Forest. This photo is inside an old and deserted motel that sits on the edge of a creek. The motel is slowing caving in and mother nature is winning the battle.
Traveling to the tune of music
“Where are you guys headed,” I curiously asked because I am always way curious about everybody. She continued to pick the guitar and he enthusiastically responded, “New Orleans… We just got back from Nashville.”
“Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.” - Ludwig van Beethoven