WELCOME TO MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
A city of profound impact on world music, Memphis delivers as a destination for groups, couples and singles. And with more than 100 rib joints, Memphis might be barbecue heaven ... More
BLACK GENESIS - MEMPHIS
European immigrants arrived in larger numbers in the early 1800s, when Tennessee was admitted to the Union. Slavery came with it to drive the local cotton plantations. Memphis’ early economic infrastructure ... More
CULTURAL SITES
A Black cultural heritage destination par excellence, Memphis boasts of having the National Civil Rights Museum, Stax Museum of American Soul Music, W.C. Handy Monument, LeMoyne-Owen College, Memphis Black Repertory Theatre ... More
EMAIL ARTICLE
RESTAURANTS and NIGHTCLUBS
Great Soul Music, Blues, Barbecue, Soul Food and nightclubs compose to an exciting array of dining, listening and dancing options in the Mid-South ... More
SHOPS and GALLERIES
A small, but valuable collection of gift shops, bookstores, boutiques and record shops with vast collections of hard-to-find music will tickle the fancy of seasoned travelers and shoppers of a specific mission to find ... More
PLACES OF WORSHIP
One of our nation's standard-bearers for the Black Church, Memphis hosts the mother churches for Church of God in Christ (COGIC) and Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) denominations ... More
GENERAL ATTRACTIONS
Always lively Beale Street headlines a list of attractions that include Peabody Place, Orpheum Theatre, The Pyramid, Canon Center for the Performing Arts, Gibson Guitar factory tour, Southland Greyhound Park ... More
ART and HISTORY MUSEUMS
Rock n’ Soul Museum, Center for Southern Folklore, Graceland - Elvis Presley estate, Sun Studio, Brooks Art Museum, Memphis University Art Museum ... More
BEALE STREET
In 1869, during the Reconstruction Era, First Baptist Church, with a Black congregation opened on Beale Street. In the 1870s, Robert Church began acquiring properties in the area surrounding and including Beale Street. Church’s business acumen saved the City of Memphis ... More
FAMILY ATTRACTIONS
Mud Island River Park, Memphis Zoo, Children's Museum of Memphis, Autozone Baseball Park, Memphis Pink Palace Museum & Planetarium, FedEx Forum ... More
LAST DAYS OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
In death, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. achieved more human and labor rights breakthroughs than he could in life. His posthumous achievements were lightening rods that spread across the South ... More
MEMPHIS BARBECUE
Meat lovers, rejoice! On par with Kansas City’s Beef Barbeque Tradition, Memphis' Pork Barbeque Tradition is best expressed at the Memphis in May Barbeque Festival and its great barbeque restaurants ... More
STAX RECORDS IMPACT ON SOUL MUSIC
In the 1940s, Early R&B artists born in the Deep South migrated to Memphis, St. Louis, New Orleans, Detroit, Chicago, NYC, Philadelphia and LA to meet innovative record companies, radio station DJs and perform in nightclubs ... More
BLUES and EARLY R&B
The Blues originated in hundreds of juke joints in the Mississippi Delta region, triangle between Memphis, Jackson and Natchez, Mississippi. This authentic American musical form is a 12-bar verse with repetitive chorus, sung with sorrowful, Gospel-like passion by the descendants of African slaves ... More
SUN RECORDS TAKES ROCK N’ ROLL TO CROSSOVER MARKET
Sam Phillips, a former DJ and white record producer in Memphis, entered the Rock n' Roll picture in the early 1950s. Phillips was arguably the first White Southern record producer to hire African American Blues artists ... More
RESEARCH CREDITS:
Melanie Lacy
Thomas Dorsey
Sheila Umolu
Calvin Young
BLACK CULTURAL TRAVEL MADE EASY