HISTORIC PHOTOS OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE captures the remarkable journey of this city and her people with still photography from the finest archives of city, state and private collecions. From the Civil War through Reconstruction, the rise of industry, World Wars and into the modern era, Memphis has remained a city of change and innovation. With hundreds of archival photos reproduced in stunning duotone on heavy art paper, this book is the perfect addition to any historican's collection.

An invaluable pictorial overview of African American vitality in a southern metropolis

Memphis has been an important city for African Americans in the South since the Civil War. They migrated from within Tennessee and from surrounding states to the urban crossroads in large numbers after emancipation, seeking freedom from the oppressive race relations of the rural South. Images of America: African Americans in Memphis chronicles this regional experience from the 19th century to the 1950s. Historic black Memphians were railroad men, bricklayers, chauffeurs, dressmakers, headwaiters, and beauticians, as well as businessmen, teachers, principals, barbers, preachers, musicians, nurses, doctors, Republican leaders, and Pullman car porters. During the Jim Crow era, they established social, political, economic, and educational institutions that sustained their communities in one of the most rigidly segregated cities in America. The dynamic growth and change of the post-World War II South set the stage for a new, authentic, black urban culture defined by Memphis gospel, blues, and rhythm and blues music; black radio; black newspapers; and religious pageants.

HISTORIC PHOTOS OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE captures the remarkable journey of this city and her people with still photography from the finest archives of city, state and private collecions. From the Civil War through Reconstruction, the rise of industry, World Wars and into the modern era, Memphis has remained a city of change and innovation. With hundreds of archival photos reproduced in stunning duotone on heavy art paper, this book is the perfect addition to any historican's collection.

Gordon's critically acclaimed and richly entertaining exploration of the birthplace of rock and roll is peopled with Delta bluesmen, manic deejays, matinee cowboys and Elvis.

Race, Representation & Photography in 19th-Century Memphis: from Slavery to Jim Crow presents a rich interpretation of African American visual culture. Using Victorian era photographs, engravings, and pictorial illustrations from local and national archives, this unique study examines intersections of race and image within the context of early African American communities. It emphasizes black agency, looking at how African Americans in Memphis manipulated the power of photography in the creation of free identities. Blacks are at the center of a study that brings to light how wide-ranging practices of photography were linked to racialized experiences in the American south following the Civil War. Jenkins' book connects the social history of photography with the fields of visual culture, art history, southern studies, gender, and critical race studies.

For locals and visitors alike, read about the events that uncover the history behind the legendary Memphis culture, and examine the stories of music, murder, natural disaster and other River City blasts from the past. Far more than blues and barbecue, Memphis deep and fascinating culture has evolved one day at a time. Author G. Wayne Dowdy pins an exact date to a host of important, quirky and forgotten events in the history of Tennessee's largest city--an entertaining footnote for each day of the year. Earth, Wind and Fire founder Maurice White entered the world in a Memphis hospital on December 19, 1941. On January 15, 1877, a severe thunderstorm mysteriously left the city covered in snakes. On December 31, 1902, a resident was murdered on Main Street after taunting a Native American named Creeping Bear. A day or a month at a time, enjoy a year of entertaining River City blasts from the past.

Older areas of Memphis are peppered with retro neon signs, murals with business names and logos, and other architectural remnants of the city's past. . . . Each chapter features a painting of an iconic sign by Rebecca Phillips, as well as historical images and additional current-day photographs by Jeremy Greene. The history of the sign and they places they represent are told through personal stories. Featured signs include the Universal Life Insurance Company sign on M.L.K. Jr. Avenue, the old Chicago Pizza Factory sign that was replaced with Chiwawa's "Midtown Is Memphis" sign, the sputnik sign at Joe's Wines and Liquors, the Drink-n-Drag sign on Club Spectrum, and the Skateland roller skate. -- Memphis Flyer.

"Just as the city of Memphis helped shape Elvis Presley to become the King of Rock 'n' Roll, so too did Elvis leave his indelible stamp on the city he loved. Two Memphis institutions - The Commercial Appeal and Elvis Presley Enterprises - have jointly opened up their archives to offer a unique portrait of the city and the man. You will find hundreds of photos, articles, artifacts, front pages, quotes, and a comprehensive timeline that tells this remarkable story. Many of the images inside are extremely rare - culled through extensive research by staff librarians and archivists."--Dust cover.

A tour of the Tennessee city filled with famous faces, fascinating trivia, and forgotten lore—plus a former mayor’s previously unpublished private papers. Step inside the fascinating annals of the Bluff City's history and discover the Memphis that only few know. G. Wayne Dowdy, longtime archivist for the Memphis Public Library, examines the history and culture of the Mid-South during its most important decades. Well-known faces like Clarence Saunders, Elvis Presley, and W.C. Handy are joined by some of the more obscure characters from the past, like the Memphis gangster who inspired one of William Faulkner's most famous novels; the local Boy Scout who captured German spies during World War I; the Memphis radio station that pioneered wireless broadcasting; and so many more. Also included are the previously unpublished private papers and correspondence of former mayor E.H. Crump, giving us new insight and a front-row seat to the machine that shaped Tennessee politics in the twentieth century. Includes photos