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...
arts; Beethoven Club; entertainment; music; performing arts; theater;
Miss Martha Trudeau, a piano teacher, couldn't have dreamed of the possibilities when she invited three women to tea on October 27, 1888. They discussed the lack of classical music opportunities in Memphis and they decided to start a club, the...
"Saxophonist-flutist Frank Strozier, whose credits include playing with Miles Davis, Woody Shaw and Shelley Manne, returns to Memphis tonight for a rare appearance in his hometown. He will play Schreier Auditorium of the University of...
business; charity; department stores; family; Goldsmith family; public service; retail merchandising; suburbs;
The Goldsmith Department Store Collection was given to the Memphis and Shelby County Room by descendants of company founder Jacob Goldsmith. Materials in the collection include family papers, letters, photographs and legal documents, as well as...
business; Civil War; economy; family; law; military; politics; prisoners of war; public service;
Robert Fain Looney was a descendant of a Virginia family who pioneered in Tennessee. His great grandfather distinguished himself in the Revolutionary War, and both of his grandfathers were members of the convention that drew up Tennessee’s first...
The William Fowler collection was given to the Memphis and Shelby County Room by Fowler’s grandson, John W. Fowler, in 1985. William Bingham Fowler, born in 1886, served the city of Memphis as an engineer over a span of 69 years. During this...
architecture; Belmont Park; Boyle Investment Co.; Brennan, Harry W.; business; Chickasaw Gardens; clubs; Galloway Golf Course; homeowners; Hyde Park; neighborhoods; parks; public service; real estate; Red Acres; Richland Place; Thomas, James...
Harry W. Brennan was born in Nashville in 1869. As a young man, his interest and ability in math led him to study engineering, and his first business venture was in the field of engineering and contracting. He moved to Memphis in 1904 with his...
correspondence; Wallis, C. Lamar; Randolph, Wassell; libraries; desegregation; Russell, Edward P.;
Letter from Lamar Wallis to Mr. Edward P. Russell, Sr. of Canada, Russell and Turner: "Dear Ed: I congratulate you on your astute handling of our case in federal court. With proof that was admittedly weak you maneuvered with admirable skill...
"Artists From Other Night Spots Use Free Time To Listen And Applaud New Organization - And There Is No Greater Praise -- Hottest jazz combination to come out of Memphis since Jimmie Lunceford's day is that six-piece outfit the gifted Jamae has...
art education; arts; clubs; historic preservation; museums; neighborhoods; public service; women;
Florence Makin McIntyre is remembered as the First Lady of Memphis Art. She was born in Memphis in 1878 and grew up in her family home, the Pillow-McIntyre House, at 707 Adams Avenue in the historic Victorian Village neighborhood. As a child she...
bridges; casualties of war; family; fashion; government; law; mayors; military; parks; public service; railroads; recreation; social life; women; World War I;
Harry H. Litty was born in 1862 in Toledo, Ohio. After attending North Kentucky College, he began his business career with the Toledo, Cincinnati, and St. Louis Railroad. His work with the railroad brought him to Memphis, where he was an engineer...
David Skypeck and Richard Cushing were playing with The Midnight Syncopators every Wednesday night at Lafayette’s Corner in August of 1986, but by November the horn players had left the band. They played on even though members continued to leave...
In 1994, Martha Hamilton “Ham” Embree, noted Memphis artist, donated a large collection of watercolor courtroom drawings she was commissioned to do by local television stations to the Memphis and Shelby County Room. A pioneer in television...
discrimination; gender equality; National Organization for Women; nonprofit organizations; politics; women;
The National Organization for Women (NOW), a dedicated women's rights advocacy coalition, was founded in 1966, amid much controversy over the proposed direction of the women's rights movement. In its nascent stages, the national chapter of NOW...
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...
Operettas and musicals provided a welcome escape from the hard realities of everyday life in the 1930s and ‘40s. They had unforgettable melodies such as Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life and Indian Love Call, as well as rousing choruses, comic relief,...
Maxine Atkins was born in 1929, the youngest of the three children of Joseph and Georgia Rounds Atkins. Maxine graduated from Booker T. Washington High School at age 15 in 1945. She went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree in biology from Spelman...
"Jazz is not a music readily identifiable with Memphis, as are blues, rock and roll and soul. Finding jazz in a local club requires patience and often the luck to be there on the right night. -- That's remarkable, considering the number of...
"When George Coleman, Harold Mabern and Frank Strozier bring home their internationally known jazz music this weekend, they also will bring memories of why they had to leave Memphis to seek fame and fortune. -- The Manassas High School...
