racial diversity. The building was used as a regular venue for the Fisk Jubilee Singers (they performed there in 1913) from nearby Fisk University, a historically black college. The state's Jim Crow laws required Ryman audiences to be segregated, with some shows designated for "White Audiences Only" and others for "Colored Audiences Only". But period photographs show that, in practice, Ryman audiences were often integrated. Naff retired in 1955 and died in 1960. Grand Ole Opry After debuting in 1925, the local country music radio program known as the Grand Ole Opry (originally called the WSM Barn Dance) became a Nashville institution. Broadcast over clear-channel AM radio station WSM, it could be heard in 30 states across the eastern part of the nation. Although not originally a stage show, the Opry began to attract listeners from around the region who would go to the WSM studio to see it live. When crowds got too large for the studio, in 1934 WSM began broadcasting the show from the Hillsboro Theatre (now Belcourt Theatre). The Opry moved to East Nashville's Dixie Tabernacle in 1936 and then to War Memorial Auditorium in 1939. After four years – and several reports of upholstery damage caused by its rowdy crowds – the Opry was asked to leave War Memorial and sought a new home yet again. Thanks to the Ryman auditorium's wooden pews and central location, Naff and other institution leaders thought the auditorium would be a perfect venue for such an audience. They began renting the venue to WSM for its shows. The Grand Ole Opry was first broadcast from the Ryman on June 5, 1943, and it originated there every week for nearly 31 years thereafter. Every show sold out, and hundreds of fans were often turned away. During its tenure at Ryman Auditorium, the Opry hosted the major country music stars of the day and became a show known around the world. In addition to its home on WSM, portions of the show (at various times throughout its history) were also broadcast on network radio and television to a wider audience. Melding its then-current usage with the building's origins as a house of worship, the Ryman got the nickname "The Mother Church of Country Music", which it holds to this day. Because of the period during which it was constructed and because it was not designed to be a performance venue, the