Tag: Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture

  • William F. Yardley The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture (Version 2.0) 2009-12-25 Lewis L. Laska Tennessee State University William F. Yardley, an influential and powerful advocate for the legal rights of blacks, was the first African American to run for governor of Tennessee. Yardley was born in 1844, the child of a white mother…