History of Civil Rights Mural - Memphis, Tennessee, USA. - Murals on Waymarking.com

History of Civil Rights in Memphis. A 70 feet tall huge mural on the MLGW, car park. (at Main Street and MLK Jr. Drive).

This six-story-tall artwork is part of the Memphis Heritage Trail project, was commissioned by the Urban Art Commission,

"This six-story-tall artwork is part of the Memphis Heritage Trail project, was commissioned by the Urban Art Commission, and is a collaboration between two artists with Memphis ties: Derrick Dent and Michael Roy, aka Birdcap. I sat down with Michael last week to learn more about the project, which features people and scenes from black history in downtown Memphis.

Michael told me that Derrick developed the concept for the mural and conducted extensive research, focusing specifically on events that have ties to or took place in downtown Memphis.

From the Top of the mural:
1. President’s Island Contraband camps: President’s Island was once home to black refugees and recently freed slaves fleeing north Mississippi. At that time, it was actually an island rather than the peninsula it is now. The settlements were known as contraband camps. This imagery also echoes a traditional manger scene, a reference to the Christian faith that is important in many African American communities.

2. Beale Street Baptist Church: the first brick church built for use by African Americans in the U.S., and an important gathering place for newly freed slaves.

3. Soldiers in uniform: by the end of the Civil War, black soldiers made up about 10 percent of the Union Army.

4. Robert Church Auditorium exterior: see #6 Robert Church Auditorium

5. Ida B. Wells holding literature about lynchings in Memphis: Wells was an important suffragette, anti-lynching activist, and journalist who lived, taught, and worked in Memphis. Using the basement of Beale Street Baptist Church as her home base, she published a newspaper that revealed the reality of racial violence in Memphis and across the U.S.

6. Robert R. Church: Considered the first black millionaire in the U.S., he was a businessman and philanthropist that built a park and auditorium (see #4 and #8) for African Americans.

7. Cotton Makers Jubilee Parade on Beale Street: This event, which had its heyday in the 1940s-50s, was an important community gathering for black Memphians. Kings Palace Cafe was a downtown venue open during that time. See a whole collection of photos from Memphis photographer Ernest Withers here.

8. Interior of Church Auditorium: site of numerous performances by notable musicians like W.C. Handy.

9. Contemporary family/Mulberry Street houses: this is a composite image of modern-day Memphians (“loosely based on personal sketches and photos of downtown residents”). The houses in the background are buildings on Mulberry Street, which was a street home to numerous thriving black businesses until the end of the 60s."

Text Sources: (visit link) & (visit link)

City: Memphis Location Name: MLGW, Car Park. Artist: Micheal Roy, Eli Gold, Eric Clausen - Concept design my Derrick Dent. Date: July 2016 Media: panels of Polytab – a synthetic, lightweight, industrial-strength canvas. Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and description of your visit. One original photo of the mural must also be submitted. GPSr photo NOT required.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   05/01/2018 veritas vita visited it