Hoffman Hall, Fisk University

A seminary to train “colored men for the work of the ministry.” On July 15, 1889, Bishop Charles Todd Quintard of Tennessee laid the cornerstone for Hoffman Hall on land adjoining Fisk University. The building was named for the Rev. Dr. Charles Frederick Hoffman. He was a friend of Bishop Quintard. Hoffman gave $6,000 for a lot and a building. The school opened in June 1890 and trained some African American clergy. On Oct. 19, 1901, the School of St. Mary the Virgin for Colored Girls was founded in Nashville near Hoffman Hall. Hoffman-St. Mary operated for eight years. In 1911 the Hoffman property was sold and the money was used to buy one hundred acres of land in Mason, Tennessee. The new Hoffman-St. Mary School was very successful in educating African American boys and girls. After the death of Bishop Thomas Frank Gailor, the school was renamed the Gailor Industrial School. It was sold in 1965.