01/05/2026
A portion of Morena Street near Meharry Medical College in North Nashville will receive the honorary street designation of Dr. Harold W. Jordan Way after well-known psychiatrist and Tennessee’s first Black commissioner of mental health.
Dr. Harold W. Jordan, a Meharry Medical College graduate as was his grandfather Newnan resident Dr. John Henry Jordan, was a longtime chair of its department of psychiatry and interim dean at Meharry’s School of Medicine.
The Nashville Metro Council approved the ordinance at a December meeting. The sponsors of the change were Councilmembers Brandon Taylor, Sandy Ewing, Jacob Kupin, Zulfat Suara, Joy Styles, Tasha Ellis, Terry Vo, Kyonzte Toombs, Delisha Porterfield and Jennifer Gamble.
Born in Newnan, Jordan graduated from Morehouse College before matriculating at Meharry, from which he graduated in 1962. He also completed one year of a residency in internal medicine at Meharry. In 1964, a day before the Civil Rights Act was signed, Jordan became the first Black resident at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Read more: https://www.times-herald.com/arts_and_community/dr-harold-w-jordan-to-receive-honorary-street-designation/article_28893249-57d2-4df9-9308-52c55c7f84fe.html
