Stephanie Brown J. by Pearl M., Margolin Hebrew Academy-Cooper Yeshiva School

Where did you live? What was it like? What stands out about living in Memphis in the 1960s?

At the time Brown lived in Memphis, but not in the city. She lived in the suburban part of town, where there wasn’t a lot going on. The only people who did manual labor were African American; it was rare to see a white man doing that kind of work. In was quite peaceful at the time because Brown didn’t really know what was going on at the time. She was so young that no one really told her anything was wrong. Brown said, “I didn’t know what was going on until around 1966, and even then it wasn’t all that clear.” 

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Debbi C. by Elan C., Margolin Hebrew Academy-Cooper Yeshiva School

Elan C.: Where did you live at the time of the shooting?
Debbi C.: I lived in East Memphis at the time.
EC: Describe your life in 1968. How was it different from today?
DC: Back then, I was in school, so it was really a different situation back then than it is for me today. I currently live in Jerusalem, Israel, and work as a photographer.

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Howard K. by Tani F., Margolin Hebrew Academy-Cooper Yeshiva School

Where did you live? What was it like? What stands out about living in Memphis in the 1960s?
I was living on Hawthorne, right off of Vollintine. Memphis seemed to be a lot safer of a town in those days than it is now. People weren’t scared of walking around or driving around in certain areas. Two blocks from where I lived was actually a black neighborhood. Our side was an upgraded area and they were right nearby, and we we never really fearful of anything. Nowadays, I would not even want to go there in the daytime, but we used to drive around there. In fact, I remember one Saturday night, on Vollintine, I was going to a girlfriend and a car came from the side of the street and hit my car. But really, we weren’t fearful, like people would be now. Of course, we weren’t connected with downtown, where all the riots were, but it was a nice time to live in Memphis.

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JoEddye R. by Efraim W., Margolin Hebrew Academy-Cooper Yeshiva School

Efraim: Where did you live?
JoEddye: In Memphis
Efraim: What was it like?
JoEddye: Not too bad, I got married, graduated from high school, just kinda quiet. There was some racial unrest with the Garbage Men strike.
Efraim: What stands out about living in Memphis in the 1960s?
JoEddye: I guess Martin Luther King getting shot.
Efraim: Describe your life in 1968. What was a typical day like for you in 1968? Regarding School? Work? And How is it different from today?

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Carol S. by Aharon M., Margolin Hebrew Academy-Cooper Yeshiva School

Where did you live? What was it like? What stands out about living in Memphis in the 1960s?
Memphis TN. 

It was a great place to live but there was segregation, I remember there were white entrances and black entrances to movie theaters, and blacks had to sit on the back of the bus. But they were just starting to integrate because 8 years before they had police escorting kids around because schools were being integrated. By 68 there were black students in the white university. The changes that were coming but the average person wasn't really affected the way people think. But I did see in the 60s it was the end of the area where the KKK had been really prevalent. It had been prevalent before but it had gone underground.

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Gary R. by Zach R., Harding Academy

I had been living in Memphis for three years and was 27 years old. I was in the Navy and saw Memphis as a clean city where I could raise a family. The city had almost a small town feel.

Nearer to the day of the assassination, the city's population seemed divided though.A normal work day began at 7:30 a.m. and ended at 4:30 p.m., but I tended to stay late because of the five year plan I was on with the Navy and because of my connections to the data processing and accounting departments.

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Linda C. by Tyler R., Harding Academy

It was a typical day on my way home from work. I took the bus like how I usually did. When I got home I was cooking dinner and tending to the needs of my 3 year old child, when all of a sudden the news popped up and I just found out the Martin Luther King Jr. had been shot and killed. My husband came home and that was that.

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Will A. by Troy W., Harding Academy

Will A. was age 22 in 1968, he lived in East Memphis. He lived in poor neighborhood and there were a lot of blacks. He said that the sanitation was bad. He also felt there was a lot of tension in the area of memphis.

He was a barber in the nearby area, he had just finished barber school so he was anxious to get started. He said most of the customers were black and that there weren't many whites in the area. He feels that nothing has changed much today.

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Brunell G. by Marcia G., Harding Academy

Brunell G. was only 9 when the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King took place. He lived in Binghampton, Memphis. When he was younger he did not realize that he lived in the poorer part of town. Segregation was the norm for him. His normal day consisted of going to school and playing with his friends. He was just a happy little kid didn't really know about what was going on around him.

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Katherine by Kristen G., Harding Academy

When Katherine was growing up in the 60s, Elvis was very popular. Katherine and all of her friends were crazy about him around this time. Other than Elvis Presley there were two other major things that stood out in the 60s. Those two things were integration and Martin Luther Kings assassination. Integration came about in 1964 and it was huge. It was crazy to see all of the different reactions. Some people were absolutely on board while others were not happy about it at all. Katherine absolutely loved the idea of us all trying to treat others as equals. She says that she never quite understood why she couldn't be friends with someone just because they weren't the same skin color as her. She says that although her parents weren't exactly racist they weren't very open about how they felt towards African Americans either. 

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Marilyn H. by Kilandous H., Harding Academy

Marilyn H. was 10 years old when Martin Luther King Jr. Died. She was at school when the principle announced it over the intercom. School was dismissed early and on her way home she saw people rioting and marching the streets and sidewalks. Marilyn was not allowed to watch the television or listen to the radio because her mother did not want her seeing or hearing what was going on. 

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Gordon L. by Kelsi E., Harding Academy

Gordon L. was 15 years old when his family recently moved from Nashville to the rapidly growing east Memphis. Industrialization was rapidly approaching as new buildings were erected and new subdivisions were created. Gordon lived in an all white, middle class neighborhood. From his view things seemed to be segregated.

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Mr. M. by Jonathan M., Harding Academy

In 1968, my father was nine years old living in Whitehaven in Memphis, Tennessee. Life for my father was very nice and quiet living in Whitehaven. Most of the families living in his neighborhood were very close knit and mostly knew everyone in the neighborhood. Crime was low and as children, my father was able to play outside and ride their bikes anywhere without having to worry about crime. During his childhood, my father attended a private school and also played sports. My father remembers eating dinner with his family and hearing the TV in the background that MLK had been assassinated. So they stopped eating and went to listen to the TV. 

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Sheryl R. by Allison R., Harding Academy

Sheryl R. was 6 years old in 1986. She grew up in Memphis and lived in Colonial Acres and attended Colonial Elementary School's first grade in 1986. Everyday she walked to school and stayed out until dark playing with her friends. She recalls getting to vote for president that year and looking back recalls racial tension though she didn't understand it at the time. The day Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, she didn't know what to think. The atmosphere was similar to that of what 9/11 would be like in the elementary atmosphere.

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Robert H. by Alexa R., Harding Academy

Mr. Robert H. was seventeen years old the day that Martin Luther King Junior died. That day was like any other day. He woke up and went to school. Usually he would go to the diner or drive-in with his friends after school, but this day, he was going on a date. Robert was on a date with his girlfriend when he remembers seeing riots outside of the diner. Like most everyone else, he did not leave the diner until he saw police arrive. Robert took his girlfriend and they ran outside to his car. 

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Anonymous by Aaron Brown, Harding Academy

I interviewed my grandmother. Life was good for her. My grandmother was 46 years old and lived in Memphis when Dr. King was assassinated. She was married to my grandfather and had my mom, who was 2 at the time. She was also teaching at Lester Elementary a School. While she was driving home from her job, she heard on the radio that Dr. King had been shot. She was so emotionally sad that she had to pullover on the side of the road. 

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Dorothy R. by Will J., Harding Academy

On April 4th, 1968 Dorothy R. was a thirty year old stay at home mother of two who lived in Memphis Tennessee. To Dorothy, Memphis was a boring town. Every day Dorothy didn't do a whole lot. She took care of her two baby girls because school didn't start until 1st grade. But on April 4th things were different. Dorothy was driving and saw cars blocked off and people throwing bricks and breaking windows so she cut over to poplar and got home not knowing what was going on until later she found out MLK had been shot and killed.

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