Mr. Allan K. was living in Memphis, Tennessee during the 1960’s when the Martin Luther King assassination took place. He lived three blocks from the Margolin Hebrew Academy. What stood out to him about living in Memphis in the 1960’s is that everything was really segregated.
"In the 1960’s I had a lot of things going on," said Mr. K. "I was the national president of NCSY. I went to the Margolin Hebrew Academy and was in school until 6:15." He told about how back then the school was coed and he was in the second graduating class of the school. "When I was sixteen years old I learned how to type on a typewriter. I rode my bike to school."
Read MoreMr. Al Thomas lived on Shady Grove Road in Memphis,TN during the 1960’s, when Dr. Martin Luther King got assassinated. There was a lot of racism and discrimination during this time period. This period of time, The Civil Rights Movement, was a time where whites were treated much better than blacks. The black community had no respect and very little rights.
“It was a regular Memphis day and I was downtown carrying along with life.
Read MoreIn 1968, David Winestone lived in Memphis Tennessee. He said, “I lived in a racially mixed neighborhood, although I was confined to my street of mainly white people.”
He recalls the day when Martin Luther King was shot and killed. “I knew who Martin Luther King was because he came to Memphis to defend the sanitation workers and to give a speech. I had heard he got shot later in the evening, but did not understand the importance until the next morning.”
Read More Mayer Eisman was born and raised in Memphis Tennessee. He saw first hand the racial tensions and the direct aftermath of Martin Luther King J.R. assassination. King, was in Memphis to support the African American garbage men’s protest for equal pay and benefit, when he was gunned down by James Earl Ray.
Where did you live? What was it like? What stand out about living in Memphis in the 1960’s?
“I was born, raised, and still live in Memphis. During the 1960’s the economy was booming and most people had jobs at that time.
Read MoreWhere did you live? What was it like? What stands out about living in Memphis in the 1960s?
Mr.Bernard lived in Memphis TN in 1960. He came here before he was assassinated.
What do you remember about the day King was assassinated? What was different than normal? How did you feel? What did you think? Where were you when you heard? How did you react? How did people around you react? How did things change throughout the night?
“It was horrific no one expected it because he was very peaceful demonstrator his organization never did anything like... lighting fires, or tearing down stores or breaking windows. He came to Memphis. The garbage department was on a strike, striking for more money and he came here to make a speech and to march with them and he was staying in the Lorraine hotel and we all heard on the radio that he was assassinated. Cities throughout the country, The major cities like Detroit and New York, places like that people were rioting. In Memphis they were rioting but not as much in LA. The city put out an order for everyone to have a curfew. They were not to go out during curfew. They made sure not to let anyone out past curfew. Everyone stayed in their homes after dark. The whole world/country was shocked because he was a good person that he preached in his values and he got shot and everybody was scared because he got shot. Everyone thought there were going to be riots. It was stunning to us that something can happen like that in Memphis. This was our home town and you just don’t expect that to happen near your front door. We never experienced anything like that.”
Read MoreWhere did you live? What was it like? What stands out about living in Memphis in the 1960s?
“Memphis, Tennessee. Life was ok in the 60s. Nothing stood out about living in Memphis. Memphis despite the fact that 50% or more had African American population, it never really amounted to anything. Theres a more violent community now than there was back then. But life in memphis in that time was ok.”
Read MoreHow was life in 1968?
“It was wonderful, all of Memphis was wonderful at that time.Just the best place in the world to live and that was our city. But anyway, the thing about living in Memphis was everything was peaceful. Everyone had their place and they go along just fine. And the way they treated the black people goes back to the civil wars times. Where my Grandfather, he fought in the Civil war with a black boy his age.They were always together and really good friends.”
So you said Memphis was very peaceful in the 60s?
“Memphis was very peaceful; it was absolutely the model of a city.”
Where did the black people live?
“The black people lived in their own subdivisions. And some even worked for us. Some people even had servant houses. Most of them were old and broken down.”
Read MoreDuring the 1960s, Israel Katz lived in Collingwood just outside of Memphis. At the time he was about forty years old and was married with three children. He worked as an accountant for the company that he had. He now lives in Memphis and has three children, nine grandchildren, and over fifteen great grandchildren.
“I remember I was at my mothers house helping her when it happened. The next thing I really remember was the riots. They started almost immediately after. My mother and I watched them on the TV.
Read More“I lived in Memphis for half of the 1960s. I lived on 1002 Hawthorne Street. Memphis was very musical. There was Elvis and you could take a bus to go downtown and go shopping like at Goldsmith’s. At the time it was very peaceful, like everyone knew their place. Although I did see colored bathroom signs and colored water fountain signs. The public schools were segregated and most in most neighborhoods, the Catholics and the Jews all lived close together.
Read MoreMemphis in 1968 had the reputation of being one of the cleanest cities and the quietest, it was unique it was a big town that was called a city. Really just quiet. Yes I was working at the VA hospital but I had a second job at Saint Francis, which at the time was down on Alabama street. So that was where I was at that time.
Read MoreAaron Thomas was a student in east Memphis in 1968. In the 1960’s the AfricanAmerican community in the US was fighting for their equal rights. Their marches, boycotts, sit ins, and protests affected most of the country. Memphis was no exception.
What was life like in Memphis during the 1960’s?
“I was a student in the 1960’s. I remember hearing about different protests and other things going on. The biggest thing I remember was when we heard about Kennedy.
Read MoreHow old were you when Martin Luther King was assassinated? I would say I was in my 30s, late 30s probably
What do you remember about that day specifically? What were you doing? Where were you? Well my husband and I and another lady had a dress shop on Union Avenue and I think we had the radio and they interrupted in the radio, it was late afternoon if I remember correctly and they told us what happened, that Martin Luther KIng had been shot and they told everybody if they could to go home because they were afraid there was gonna be riots.
Read MoreWhat was your life like before Martin Luther King was killed?
He came here because of the sanitation strike and most of the workers were black and they wanted equal rights and better pay. He came to try to calm the city down and to help point them in a good direction to get things going properly and then he was shot and killed. And... Um. So when the whole thing happened I don’t remember how long the strike was going on for, I do not remember that, but we were having to like take our trash to places to drop it off because no one was picking up stuff.
Read MoreWhere did you live? What was it like? What stands out about living in Memphis in the 1960’s?
“I lived in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968. Memphis was a great place to live and life was good. I had a big family, with six siblings, so my life, like many other Memphians, was very family oriented. Unlike most white people at the time, my family had many African American friends and our parents always told us they were no different than us. That’s what stands out most for me, personally.
Read MoreWhere did you live? What was it like? What stands out about living in Memphis in the 1960s? On a street called Tall Trees Drive in Memphis. No, normal life
Describe your life in 1968. What was a typical day like for you? Work?
I went to work at 8:30- about 5 (weekday)
What do you remember about the day King was assassinated? What was different than normal? How did you feel? What did you think? Where were you when you heard?
I can’t say that I remember a lot about it.
Read MoreWhere did you live?What was it like? What stands out about living in memphis in the 1960’s?
Memphis, Tennessee, near midtown area. It was scary, emotional, and sad because the city was in such turmoil. You better not be driving on Poplar during the night.
Describe your life in 1968. What was a typical day like for you in 1968? work? school? How was a it different from today?
I was 8 and was in elementary school and it was scary although he was with his parents, unlike today he has a job and a family. Memphis is not the same.
Read MoreMark: Where did you live? What was it like? What stands out about living in Memphis in the 1960’s?
Barbara: I was 16 years old and I lived in Whitehaven, and it was a very scary time because there was a lot of racial unrest and obviously when Martin Luther King was shot it was an extremely bad time. There were protesters and riots in the streets and I just remember particularly myself at 16 years old I don’t think I really realized the severity of the situation and like most 16 year olds I was pretty self-absorbed and I had just gotten my drivers licence and my mother would not let me take the car out to go driving because of everything going on in the city when Martin Luther King was shot. And of course I was really upset, but looking back now I can definitely understand why my parents wouldn’t let me go out at night during that time.
Read MoreWhere did you live? What was it like to live in Memphis at the time?
I lived in Memphis Tennessee. As a young lawyer it was exciting times. Being part of the legal process and representing the blacks during that period, I fully understood that the constitution did work. The thing that stood out the most in mind about Memphis, was that I had the privilege of representing a black activist who was accused of a crime. The main witnesses against him were white police officers. As to the best of my recollection, there were ten white jurors and two black jurors. After the trial the jury found the defendant not guilty. This verdict speaks for itself as to the American jury system. This is just one of the incidents that have reinforced my faith in the American justice system. I remember representing blacks that were arrested without any justifiable legal reason.
Read MoreJJ: How old were you in 1968?
Evelyn: In 1968, I was thirty four years old.
J: Where did you live during that time?
E: At that time we lived on Tall Trees Drive in Memphis.
J: What was it like over there?
E: It was a nice neighborhood. It was not a mixed neighborhood at the time, only white people lived there.
J: What stood out about living in Memphis in the 1960s as opposed to living in other places in the country?
Read MoreWhere did you live? What was it like? What stands out about living in Memphis in the
1960s?
“I lived in the suburban Whitehaven. It was wonderful. I was sixteen years old. I was going to high school. I was involved in debate and the theater and we put on a playgroup. In fact we were rehearsing a play the night Martin Luther King got killed.”
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