New Book Remembers Hattie Cotton School Bombing Through Eyes of Former Teacher

The image of a white elementary school principal helping a young Black girl get home through an angry mob on the day she integrated her school – and just hours before it was blown to pieces – made Stephen MacKenzie want to write a book. It helped that his wife had been a teacher at the school during those extremely trying days.  MacKenzie’s new book, told through the eyes of his wife, MaryAnne (Bruce) MacKenzie, got a one-of-a-kind launch party Tuesday morning at Hattie Cotton STEM Magnet Elementary School, the East Nashville school that was firebombed in September 1957, MaryAnne’s first year as a teacher there. She is the last surviving member of the faculty from that time. Stephen MacKenzie and MaryAnne (Bruce) MacKenzie, He wrote the book, “Hattie Cotton School: The last teacher’s first-hand experiences of the 1957 bombing and aftermath,” The book, “Hattie Cotton School: The last teacher’s first-hand experiences of the 1957 bombing and aftermath,” was published by Nashville-based Premium Press America. “It has been an experience I will never forget,” Stephen MacKenzie said, recalling many hours of research and photocopying at Nashville Public Library, which displayed historic photos and documents at Tuesday’s event. The event, which...