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Memphis: 200 Years Together: An Anthology
Memphis is a city of innovation and has reinvented itself time and time again. It has faced tremendous existential threats -- yellow fever, the Memphis Massacre, lynching, the Martin Luther King Jr assassination -- that would have devastated any other place. Yet, each time the city finds a way to turn the corner and order up a makeover. The inventions born from the struggles faced by everyday Memphians have changed the world. Memphis birthed the first grocery store (Piggly Wiggly), hotel chain (Holiday Inn), overnight shipping (FedEx), Rock N' Roll recording, the 'I Am A Man' march, and more. Memphis deserves a birthday. Birthdays are celebrations of history, progress, challenge, growth. As the chapters in this volume suggest, our community has had all that and more.
Memphis: 200 Years Together does what no other single book has ever accomplished: bringing together the best local writers and scholars to cover the breadth and depth of Memphis history, politics, culture, business, music, food, religion, sports, and art. From the Chickasaw Indians, the Civil War, and the yellow fever epidemic to the civil rights movement, blues to hip hop, and even a foray into barbeque and basketball, Memphis: 200 Years Together chronicles the triumphs and tragedies from the founding of Memphis to the present.
Rather than one unbroken narrative, this is a collection of key stopping points on the journey to Memphis' bicentennial celebration. Like Maysey Craddock's beautiful artwork on the cover, a thousand rivers 1, a visual celebration inspired by the Mississippi River, the stories in this volume flow across the Memphis landscape, taking readers on a deep-dive to explore where we have been over the past 200 years, what it has meant, and how it has shaped this community.
Memphis: 200 Years Together does what no other single book has ever accomplished: bringing together the best local writers and scholars to cover the breadth and depth of Memphis history, politics, culture, business, music, food, religion, sports, and art. From the Chickasaw Indians, the Civil War, and the yellow fever epidemic to the civil rights movement, blues to hip hop, and even a foray into barbeque and basketball, Memphis: 200 Years Together chronicles the triumphs and tragedies from the founding of Memphis to the present.
Rather than one unbroken narrative, this is a collection of key stopping points on the journey to Memphis' bicentennial celebration. Like Maysey Craddock's beautiful artwork on the cover, a thousand rivers 1, a visual celebration inspired by the Mississippi River, the stories in this volume flow across the Memphis landscape, taking readers on a deep-dive to explore where we have been over the past 200 years, what it has meant, and how it has shaped this community.
184 pages, Paperback
Published June 17, 2019
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February 5, 2025
This book was written for the bicentennial of Memphis, with a foreword from mayor suggesting that there are topics to hold up in front of politicians. The introduction states, "This book, then, is better understood as a counter-monument." Later, when Timothy S. Huebner writes of Civil War monuments put up and taken down, he states:
"After more than a century, the pro-w s Lost Cause version of the conflict that had dominated the cultural landscape seems to be losing its grip. Perhaps the next step in our city's long relationship with the Civil War will be to erect monuments to the real heros - the thousands of African American men, women, and children who risked their lives to leave plantations to come to Memphis in search of freedom." [p. 33, I have censored w s in order to preserve the monument of this review for whatever may exist now or to come.]
The book speaks to Memphis' relationship with nation around it, such as the direct impact of the Memphis Massacre on the passage of the 14th Amendment, as well as hyper-local topics such as the history of local restaurant families. It closes with a brutal and frank essay by Zandria F. Robinson on the 50th anniversary of the Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination. (This was my first exposure to Robinson and I will be seeking out more writing by her.)
One note on the format of the book - It is only available on paper and it is economized with very small type.
"After more than a century, the pro-w s Lost Cause version of the conflict that had dominated the cultural landscape seems to be losing its grip. Perhaps the next step in our city's long relationship with the Civil War will be to erect monuments to the real heros - the thousands of African American men, women, and children who risked their lives to leave plantations to come to Memphis in search of freedom." [p. 33, I have censored w s in order to preserve the monument of this review for whatever may exist now or to come.]
The book speaks to Memphis' relationship with nation around it, such as the direct impact of the Memphis Massacre on the passage of the 14th Amendment, as well as hyper-local topics such as the history of local restaurant families. It closes with a brutal and frank essay by Zandria F. Robinson on the 50th anniversary of the Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination. (This was my first exposure to Robinson and I will be seeking out more writing by her.)
One note on the format of the book - It is only available on paper and it is economized with very small type.
Displaying 1 of 1 review