This collection of over 300 interviews (gradually being digitized and added here) was created from 1968-1972 by the Memphis Search for Meaning Committee to document the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. It was the basis for the book At The River I Stand by Joan Beifuss and a number of other books and scholarly works. Digitized in partnership with the University of Memphis.

White moderates in Memphis began in the late 50's and early 60's to prepare for changes that they suspected were inevitable. In 1958, Mayor Edmond Orgill established the Memphis Committee on Human Relations and appointed leading citizens to it, both black and white. Someone suggested that anyone working with the NAACP should not be a part of the committee. Admitting blacks to the major professional theatre in the city proved to be more difficult than allowing blacks to sit with whites at wrestling matches.

Interviews with people who taught in the Memphis City School System during the Civil Rights Movement.

Religion played a crucial role during the civil rights movement. This collection provides insight into the religious influence in various people's lives during this time, including the perspective of reverends from different denominations. Their reflections reveal similar struggles, but similar means of activism as well.

This is a collection of interviews with judges, lawyers, and Memphis city officials, both past and present, practicing and retired. Many issues are discussed, from the cases for integration to the Sanitation Workers Strikes.

This collection contains documents related to the history of Memphis' Manassas High School. Paying particular interest to the rich musical heritage of this school, this collection should provide an interesting look into one of the city's oldest schools.

memphis integration

Documents Related to Stax

My Collection of Historical Black Churches and their Roles in NAACP

School Desegregation in Memphis and the Surrounding Areas

School Desegregation in Memphis

Orange Mound News and events