I interviewed my grandfather, Tom C., who was a part of the Shelby County Sheriffs department. He lived in Bartlett at the time and he said that at the time, the city very clean and nothing like it is now. He also said there was not near as many crimes. In 1968 Tom was working in the Shelby County jail. He said it was much different from today in Memphis because there is much more crime and race problems.
Read MoreClaude Isaiah J. by Lily N., Harding Academy
Mr. Claude Isaiah J. was thirty years old in 1968. He started working for the Tennessee Bureau Investigation (TBI) as a field agent in 1965. Before working for the TBI, Mr. J. worked for the Highway Patrol for eight years. He had his first job working at a local drugstore when he was nine years old, because he had to support his family. He said his hard childhood made him the man he is today. Being the first black officer at the time, he had to fight through segregation and discrimination.
Read MoreByron G. by Jordan G., Harding Academy
Byron G. was 35 years old in 1968. He lived in the rural town of Bartlett, TN. At that time, Bartlett was a small town with only one police officer that rode a motorcycle. Living in Bartlett, high schoolers took the part of volunteer firemen. In 1968, he went to work at six a.m. every day and worked eight hours. After getting home from work, he would do any yard work that needed to be done followed by any house work that needed to be finished. He would spend some time with his sons since he was gone a lot while at work. They would eat dinner every night and then go to bed.
Read MoreDickey W. by Emma F., Harding Academy
Back in 1968, 18-year-old Dickey W. thought nothing of the segregated school system. His everyday routine included going to school at Bolton High School, which at the time only had about 140 kids,29 in his class, only three of which were black, then going and hauling two loads of soybeans to the mill. In his time there was no hiding anything you did. According to him if you did something you weren't supposed to your parents knew about it by the time you got home.
Read MoreDexter L. by Michael L., Harding Academy
Though I was rather young at the time of Dr. King’s assassination, the events as viewed from an adolescent mind remain vivid. At the time, my father was out of town on a business trip, in Louisiana, and my mother had the task of running the family business during my father’s absence. Thus my grandmother had picked up my older sister and I until my mother could stop by and take us home. Shortly after dinner the announcement came across the television relaying the tragic news. Granted at the time I did not fully understand the circumstances, what I did comprehend as that two of the strongest women in my life were fearful.
Read MoreGeorge A. by Noah S., Harding Academy
The person I chose to interview was Mr. George A. He went to Carl High school which is in Vicksburg, Mississippi. In 1968, George was 40 years old and lived in Bartlett, TN. In fact, he has lived in the same house since 1949. He said it was a very peaceful and nice community. He also added that Bartlett was the boondocks (located in the country) at that time. Germantown road was a two lane gravel road. The main thing that stood out to him about Memphis is that it was so peaceful, clean and friendly. In fact, he said if you blew your horn in Memphis you would get a ticket.
Read MoreHugh P. by Katie L., Harding Academy
In 1968 Hugh P. was a 21 year old attending Memphis State University. In the 1960s he lived in Bartlett, a sleepy little suburban town right outside of Memphis that was just starting to grow. Bartlett was a great place to live. A typical day in 1968 was sleeping in as late as he could before classes at Memphis State University and working part time at his family business. The Vietnam war was going on at the time and was all people could talk about until the day Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.
Read MoreHugh P. by Wade L., Harding Academy
Hugh P. lived in the developing little town of Bartlett when Martin Luther King Jr. decided to come to Memphis, Tennessee for his second time, since the first time he had been scared away by one of his friends being killed inside the city. Hugh didn't really care much for what King was doing, in both being peaceful and his fight for equality, he was more focused on his wife-to-be, his studies, and working for his father's business. He would later go on one day to own that business with his son and son-in-law. The United States at the time was already quite volatile, with the Vietnam War being protested on, Robert Kennedy having been killed,
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