My grandmother, Bonita D. was seventeen years old when Martin Luther King Junior was assassinated. She was living in Memphis Tennessee at the time and her family was financially stable and she had two brothers. She went to school every day and she loved to read. She and her family supported Dr. King and loved when he came to Memphis to speak. My grandmother did not work, but her mother did make her do chores around the house like cook, clean, and watch out for her brothers
Read MoreSherrie S. by Taylor F., Harding Academy
I interviewed my grandmother who was 13 when Martin Luther King was assassinated. During the time she was living in Memphis and was attending Harding Academy. In the 1960's she said that Memphis was a great place to grow up. It was very safe and she could go out with her friends and stay out until very late. She also told me that there was not many private schools. The only private school around her was Harding and it only came about so that it was a Christian place for students to go. Most children went to schools in their neighborhoods. However she lived in an all white neighborhood and barely ever saw a black person. The day that Martin Luther King was assassinated she was at a drive in movie with her parents and a friend.
Read MoreBeverly H. by Taijah L., Harding Academy
Life in the 1960's was a simple time, there was a feeling of security. I was living in Walker Homes at the time with my parents, brother, and sister. The Civil Rights Movement was occurring at the time and everyone was extremely excited when Dr. King came in town to give his speech. It felt like any other morning the day of the assassination.
At the time of the Martin Luther King accident I was in the eleventh grade. I remember being at home just getting home from school and hearing that he was dead. I felt stunned and devastated at the same time.
Read MoreSam P. by Carter H., Harding Academy
Sam P. was 17 when Martin Luther King was shot. He lived in Fraser, Memphis which was predominately a blue collar town with a lot of middle class. There wasn't much racial tension as long as you worked hard and were a good person. He was a normal teenager at the time who went to school and then immediately to work. He worked hard at his family owned business and was an integral part of the company. After work he would go and hang out with his friends until about 10 to 11 at night. One day on his way to work he heard that Martin Luther King had been shot.
Read MoreBetty Jean J. by Nia B., Harding Academy
Betty Jean J., was the name my mother named me. But, you can just call me, Betty. During the year, 1968, I was eighteen years of age. And, how I loved Memphis. It was the "place to be" as we called it. Back in these days, I lived in public housing in North Memphis, Oats Mentor Housing Development to move exact. Oh. How I loved the 60s. Even though Memphis was segregated, it was the only place I knew about. It was my home, my life, and my future.
Read MoreFrankie W. by Valecia H., Harding Academy
In 1968, the year Dr. Martin Luther King got shot, my grandmother, Frankie W. was only 13 years old. She was living in Stovall, Mississippi on a farm at the time. She says it was a small country and not a lot of prejudice people or much racism at the time. A typical day for her in 1968 was waking up to go to school, come home, do homework, and eat and go to bed. She says it's much different from today because we have slot of resources and technology today that she didn't have back then. She was used to planting and growing her own food to eat, washed clothes clothes with pump water, picked Cotten, and raised animals. On the day Dr. King was assassinated, my grandmother remember being at home shocked and upset about hearing that he had been shot. She was upset because she didn't want something like that to happen to such a great civil rights leader.
Read MoreSylvester S. by Kalan S., Harding Academy
My Grandad, Sylvester S., was born in 1955 in Memphis,Tn. In 1968 he was thirteen years old living on the outskirts or what they called the country part of Memphis which is known as Cordova today. Growing up he did not have a mom or a dad. His dad died when he was three years old of a heart attack and so did his mom when he was eight. He had nine sisters and four brothers. His three oldest sister took care of him and the rest of his siblings when their parents had passed away.
Read MoreAnonymous by Connor E., Harding Academy
When Martin Luther King Jr. was shot I was living in Raleigh, Tennessee while attending Memphis Harding Academy for my 9th grade year. Growing up in Raleigh consisted of a small community of just 12 kids while all but one mother stayed at home to attend to the housework. For fun my friends and I played baseball and spent time at our lake fishing and I also had the privilege to go to a country club to golf. Life in 1968 was typically me hanging out with my friends and being outside until dinner was ready.
Read MoreDickey W. by Bailey P., Harding Academy
Dickey W. was born in 1950 and has lived in Arlington, Tennessee his entire life. He was eighteen years old, a senior student in high school, in 1968. Life in 1968 was much different than life in 2014. Grocery stores were only located in the city, so Dickey had to drive into Memphis to buy his groceries. The cars during this time had no air conditioning or radio. Computers and cell phones had not been invented in this time period. Most babies, including Dickey, were born in a house rather than a hospital with a midwife as the doctor.
Read MoreJim S. by Alex K., Harding Academy
I interviewed Jim S., my grandfather. He lived in Jonesboro Arkansas about an hour outside Memphis when King was assassinated. He said nothing really changed for him when MLK was shot, but he did see a lot of racial tension grow more strongly through other people around him. When I asked him to describe his life in 1968 he said a typical day for him was go to school, eat out with friends, and go to work. Nothing changed majorly for him.
Read MoreBruce H. by Rachel M., Harding Academy
Mr. Bruce H., as a citizen of the Memphis community since a very young age, has lived through many occurrences in the history of Memphis, one of which is perhaps the most memorable: the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Having lived in midtown at the time, Mr. H. attended an integrated school for his junior and senior high years, a happening that he paid no mind to. With Conservative Republican parents Mr. H. lived through their slight fear of African Americans, but he himself did not judge others by their skin color.
During the 1960s,
Read MoreHarold B. by Rhys D., Harding Academy
Harold B. was sixteen in year of 1968. He lived in Memphis in a time where everything was more tense with the garbage worker strike and the civil rights movement. Memphis was safer place in 1968, it was more like a typical Southern Christian town. A typical day for Mr. B. was his family waking up and eating breakfast together. His mom would take him to school while his dad would go to work. He would usually have football, basketball, or baseball practice after school. He would then hang out with friends after school
Read MoreTeri C. by Kortney C., Harding Academy
"I was 13 years old in 1968. I lived in East Memphis and, I attended Holy Rosary Catholic School. I was in the eighth grade, and after school, I would go to dancing school or play outside with my friends. Memphis was a beautiful city, and there wasn't much crime. "You could sleep with your windows open." There was no technology such as Smart phones. Instead, we used dial-up phones, and we watched black-and-white television. The day that Martin Luther King was assassinated, I was visiting with some relatives with my mother. We heard the news, and we decided that we better go home. I was scared, and my mother
Read MoreLeslie F. by Hayley F., Harding Academy
My name is Leslie F. In 1968, I was fifteen and living in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Cape Girardeau is a nice, small college town. There were so many things for teenagers to do in such a small town. My dad taught the college Bible class at my church, so I had many opportunities to hang out with teenagers a couple years older than me. Because we lived in a small town, we made trips to Memphis when
Read MoreMarcia M. by Quinn M., Harding Academy
As a kid growing up in Memphis in the 1960's, things were changing rapidly every day. Integration was beginning to take place as black people were becoming much more welcomed into things. The racial tensions were still high however because many people didn't want to accept integration and still wanted to be separated. I was 17 years old at the time, a junior in high school.
Read MoreSandra C. by Nick W., Harding Academy
My name is Sandra C. I live in Memphis, Tennessee in a small house on the outskirts of the city. Today is April 4, 1968 and I had awoken exceptionally early this morning so I can get to school on time. My school starts at 7 a.m so I must leave at about 6:30 a.m to get there on time. I am in my senior year at Capelville Highschool. The school is predominantly black so we aren't very exposed to any racial discrimination.
Read MoreBarbara L. by Jailyn W., Harding Academy
This is the story of my aunt, Barbara L., who lived with her mother, Katie L. in South Memphis, a predominantly black neighborhood in the south. Life during this time was difficult but her mother made sure that her kids were very well taken care of, to the point where my aunt did not know she was poor compared to other families. Aunt Barbara recalled a day in 1953, the Laird family took the bus to a carnival on the corner of Main Street and Beale Street when the bus began to get full. The bus driver told Ms. Katie to give up her seat for white passengers. She refused and the driver threatened to call the cops, but she remained seated until their stop which was coming up. For Aunt Barbara, this was the first time she realized that segregation and discrimination was real.
Read MoreBarbara R. by Carley R., Harding Academy
On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated outside of his room at the Lorraine Motel of Memphis, Tennessee. The city of Memphis essentially was at a place of destruction. People rebelled; property was destroyed, tears were shed, and the United States' was at war with humanity. King had influenced both whites and blacks during his life. On the day of his death, Barbara R. was just 17 years old.
Read MoreNancy by Abigail C., Harding Academy
In 1968, when Nancy was 14 years old, she lived in a country community southeast of Memphis called Capleville. Every day Nancy rode the school bus to Capleville's white school, passing the black school that was located very near her house. Back in the 20th century, everyone was more attentive to the news. This was especially true when the news struck close to home, such as events in Downtown Memphis.
Read MoreBarney by Jonathan W., Harding Academy
It was a normal day in 1968 in the Cherokee Heights area of Memphis. Memphis was a whole lot different back then. Most dads went to work, moms did housework, everybody knew their neighbors, and nobody was afraid to go anywhere day or night. Barney, a normal 19 year- old, went to work at the printing press while still waiting to be called into active duty for the Vietnam War.
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