activism; Burson, Josephine Wainman; Democratic Party; employment; family; government; Hadassah; Jews; labor; minorities; public relations; public service; social justice; social life; state government; volunteerism; women
Josephine Wainman Burson, community leader and social activist, was dedicated to significantly improving the quality of life for women, underserved individuals and minority populations. Her career focused on community service and political...
Jack Ramsay was born in 1901 in Vicksburg, Mississippi, but moved to the Memphis area as a small child. He attended Messick School, Memphis University School, West Tennessee State Normal School (now the University of Memphis), and the University...
E. William Hale was born in 1875 in Oxford Mississippi, and moved with his family to Whitehaven in 1894. In addition to running a farm, the Hale family owned a general store at the corner of Highway 51 and Whitehaven-Capleville Road in rural Shelby...
Edward Hull Crump was born near Holly Springs, Mississippi, in 1874. He was raised by his mother, Mollie Nelms Crump, after his father, a cotton planter and former Confederate officer, died during the yellow fever epidemic of 1878. When he was 19...
Freedom Train; government; mayors; municipal government; Pleasants, James J., Jr.;
The James J. Pleasants, Jr. Papers were donated to the Memphis Public Library and Information Center in the 1970s by the City of Memphis. Comprising 8.75 linear feet, the Pleasants Papers cover the years 1947-1948 and include correspondence,...
community planning; corrections; government; land use; parks; prisons; public service; traffic; volunteerism; women;
Ruth Friedman Loewenberg grew up in Washington, D.C. and attended George Washington University. While in Memphis visiting her sister, she met William A. Loewenberg, and she described their meeting as “love at first sight.” They later married...
Future Memphis, Inc., was founded and incorporated in February 1961, when a group of business leaders meeting over lunch decided that the city needed an organization to determine what efforts could be made in business, education, the arts, or in...
African Americans; airports; budget; commission government; Crump, E. H.; economy; education; floods; government; housing; law; mayors; New Deal; paving; politics; public service; race relations; roads; schools; streets; traffic; utilities;
Samuel Watkins Overton was born in Memphis in 1894 to a distinguished local family. He was the great-grandson of John Overton, a founder of Memphis, the grandson of Napoleon Hill, a wealthy businessman, and the son of S. Watkins Overton, who built...
African Americans; annexation; censorship; city budget; civic clubs; consolidation; engineers; fire department; government; hospitals; housing; mayors; parades; police department; politics; power plants; public service; race; segregation; slums;...
Frank T. Tobey was born in 1890 in Memphis and attended the Memphis Military Institute, Christian Brothers College and Captain Collier’s School. He pursued studies in engineering at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, South Dakota State...
government; journalists; mayors; nuclear fuels; power plants; TVA; utilities; writers;
Paul Coppock joined the Commercial Appeal as a cub reporter in 1929, and during the thirties he reported on Memphis and Shelby County government. In the early 1940s he became city night editor, and it was during this time he began to write “The...
The Edmund Orgill Papers were donated to the Memphis Public Library and Information Center in the 1970s by the City of Memphis. The Orgill Papers cover the year 1959. The papers include correspondence and government reports related to Orgill’s...
airports; annexation; baseball; consolidation; government; health; hospitals; politics; public health; public service; recreation; sanitation; sewers; sports; women; women's rights;
The story of James W. “Jimmy” Moore’s life sounds like the American dream. Moore grew up in a small town and became a major league baseball player, playing in two world series. He then became a business executive before beginning a...
Government workers along river at Hopefield. Text on front: Gov. work at Hopefield above Memphis, 2, 17, 89. -- Text on back: Government work along Miss. R. at Hopefield, above Memphis -- 2-17-1889 -- W.E. Angier -- Wheaton, Ill 1962 -- The Memphis...
Lymus Wallace, who was a city alderman, was one of the first black men to serve on the legislative council in Memphis city government. His term of office was in the 1880s.
appropriations; Crump, E. H.; government; immigration; law; legislation; military; pardons; parole; passports; politics; post office; public service; rural routes;
Kenneth McKellar was born in 1869 near Richmond, Alabama. In 1892, after receiving a Bachelor’s, Master’s and law degree from the University of Alabama, he moved to Memphis. He began his extensive political career when he was selected as a...
Henry Loeb, III was born into a wealthy and prominent family in Memphis in 1920. After graduating from Brown University and serving as a Naval lieutenant World War II, he returned to civilian life in Memphis. As Secretary of Loeb’s...
city planning; government; Lane, Hunter, Jr.; public service; transportation;
The Hunter Lane, Jr. Papers were donated to the Memphis Public Library and Information Center in the 1970s by the City of Memphis. Comprising 1 linear foot, the Lane papers cover the years 1964-1967. The papers include correspondence and reports...
The Civil War Letters and Documents Collection is a compilation of several small groups of papers acquired by the Memphis and Shelby County Room at different times and from various sources. The collection includes correspondence, business...
African Americans; Beale Street; cemeteries; Church family; Church Park; civil rights; Elmwood Cemetery; government; NAACP; parks; politics; public service; Republican Party; women;
Sara Roberta Church, daughter of Sara Parody Johnson and Robert Reed Church, Jr., was born in Memphis into one of the nation’s most prominent African American families. Her grandfather, Robert Reed Church, Sr., was acknowledged as the South’s...
