The spot that is now occupied by Earnestine and Hazels at 531 South Main St was once the exact opposite of what it was to become in the future. In the late 1800s, it was built as a church, complete w

“The day of our wedding was set, and then not all the powers in the world could have separated us. It was our intention to leave here and go to St. Louis, and I would have been Freda’s slave. I would have devoted my whole life to making her happy---But...

The Orpheum we see today is not actually the original building. The original theater was not even called “The Orpheum” - that name wouldn’t appear on the front of the building until 1907. The original theater,

It was August 18, 1920 and America had only secured 35 states that were FOR ratifying the 19th Amendment. Tennessee was the last state that was going to vote and it wasn’t looking good. They called it the “War of the Roses” with pro ratifiers,

Clara Conway was born in New Orleans, LA, August 14, 1844, to poor Irish immigrants, Margaret Riordan Conway and Thomas Conway, who came to America in the early 19th century. (I’ve read she came to Memphis in 1846,

Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society...I call this story The Tale of Pink Lizzy.  A two story mansion at 683 Fifth Street, on the corner of Fifth & Georgia, became home to one of Memphis’s most iconic, yet not widely known today,

The Victorian Village is a small neighborhood next to Memphis' Medical District, at the edge of downtown. The area’s most famous characteristic is its collection of 19th-century mansions, which are well-known for their beautiful architecture.

Ida Bell Wells was born July 16, 1862 in Holly Springs, MS. Her parents, James and Lizzie Wells, were enslaved in Holly Springs when she was born. Her father was the son of a white man and one of his slaves named Peggy. At age 18,

This episode is about Firsts in Memphis. It occurred to me, after several tours of our favorite place, Elmwood Cemetery, that our city has numerous things that happened for the first time, here in our city.

“These animals are like my children, every day that I come to the zoo I say, ‘Daddy’s home’.” - Nicholas J. Melroy, 1923 You can thank the payment of debt, which came in an unusual form, for the construction of Memphis’s wonderful zoo.