Welcome to MEMPHIS

Memphis is a city in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. Memphis rises above the Mississippi River on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff just south of the mouth of the Wolf River.

Memphis has an estimated population of 669,651, making it the largest city in the state of Tennessee, the third largest in the Southeastern United States, and the 19th largest in the United States.

The greater Memphis metropolitan area, including adjacent counties in Mississippi and Arkansas, has a population of 1,280,533. This makes Memphis the second largest metropolitan area in Tennessee, surpassed only by metropolitan Nashville, which overtook Memphis in recent years.

Memphis is the youngest of Tennessee's four major cities (traditionally including Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Nashville). A resident of Memphis is referred to as a Memphian and the Memphis region is known, particularly to media outlets, as the "Mid-South."

Tourism

Canival in Memphis

Carnival Memphis (formerly known as the Memphis Cotton Carnival), is a series of parties and festivities staged annually since 1931 in Memphis, Tennessee by the centralized Carnival Memphis Association and its member krewes (similar to that of Mardi Gras) during the month of June. Carnival salutes various aspects of Memphis and its industries, and is reigned over by the current year's secretly selected King, Queen, and Royal Court of Carnival.

In 1872, Memphis as much of the South, was suffering from the devastation of the Civil War and Reconstruction. The city fathers thought that Memphis needed some show of civic pride that would bring the residents together for a common good and demonstrate to the outside world that the city was alive and well. They decided on a Mardi Gras celebration to help re-invigorate the spirits of the population. The city of Memphis celebrated Mardi Gras, and a Carnival season based on the traditional Christian liturgical calendar just before the season of Lent, similar to what is still practiced in cities such as New Orleans, Louisiana, Mobile, Alabama, Galveston, Texas, Venice, Italy and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This was largely staged by secret societies, or a “krewe” system, but mostly through the efforts of the Mystic Society of the Memphi. The societies held massive parades, elaborate balls and parties, to celebrate during this festive season. However, Memphis experienced the devastation of a yellow fever epidemic which along with cholera wiped out much of the city's population. Mardi Gras celebrations in Memphis slowly ceased to exist, and by the late 1890's, the Mystic Memphi and other societies, as well as the Mardi Gras festivals as a whole were no longer an active institution in the city.

During the early twentieth century, great interest developed in creating a city-wide event like Carnival, and re-establishing the Mystic Memphi. As more and more influential Memphians became actively interested, Memphi and the Memphis Cotton Carnival Association were established in the early 1930’s. The efforts were conducted to bring a sense of excitement and life back to the city of Memphis and its people. However, rather than following the Lenten calendar and being held strictly to celebrate Mardi Gras, designers decided that this festival would promote something else, Memphis' primary asset at the time-cotton. During this time, Memphis and the Mid-South region, like the rest of the United States, were in the throes of the Great Depression. Many were out of work and the region's cotton, was selling for pennies a pound. The prosperity of the Mid-South was dependent on cotton and measures had to be taken to increase the use of this precious commodity. At the same time, the Memphis Chamber of Commerce was having trouble raising money to compete with other cities in the South, such as Atlanta and New Orleans. A. Arthur Halle and a group of businessmen called on Herbert Jennings, a downtown theatre manager for a donation. Jennings agreed to contribute and shared an idea that he believed would help promote business and draw attention to cotton. To help publicize an upcoming movie, Jennings offered local retailers the opportunity to display cotton goods in his theatre and planned to encourage them to use their own store windows to promote cotton clothing. Halle was intrigued by the idea and envisioned a larger city-wide promotion and called upon Everett R. Cook, who was President of the Memphis Cotton Exchange at this time. Cook was invited to come to the theatre to hear the ideas. Those ideas quickly grew into a plan for a grand celebration with a King, Queen and Royal Court that would involve people from all over the Mid-South. The idea was to promote the use and wearing of cotton products which would lead to increased demand and stimulate sales. It worked, as people began to demand more cotton products from socks to ball gowns and the rest as they say, is history.

Cook expressed his vision this way: "Carnival is to promote business for everybody and should not be used by any one group. It is for all of the stores and all of the people, for all kinds of professions and businesses, for the city as a whole regardless of the size of the business, the social standing, wealth, prestige, family background or anything else that would tend to make anyone feel that he or she would not be invited to participate in Carnival."

The fanfare and excitement that centered around the Cotton Carnival climaxed throughout the mid-to-late twentieth century. During this time, the event stretched several weeks during the months of May and June, and had incorporated much more than it had originally set out to do. The Memphis Cotton Carnival Association had become a very centralized governing body, which along with the participating krewes, was becoming a festival that could not be rivaled anywhere in the South except New Orleans' Mardi Gras (in which it brought in as many numbers). While the series of street parades in downtown Memphis continued to be held, in addition to the numerous parties at many of the city’s most elite social clubs continued, the event started to form a new face of entertainment that dubbed it the “South’s Greatest Party” for all to enjoy. The Carnival and its krewes held on to the traditional aspects of Carnival, but entertained onlookers with such musicians as Elvis Presley, Waylon Jennings, and Jerry Lee Lewis, welcoming guests from all over the United States, and from all over the world. By this time it had truly become the city's most important and celebrated event, participated by Memphians and Mid-Southerners from all socioeconomic backgrounds. In addition to the Music Festival, its most intriguing and popular event was the Arrival of the Royal Barge. This event was very much a “sight to see” in which the King, Queen, and Royal Court, along with the royal pages, guards, and other participants would all ride in on a beautifully decorated barge on the Mississippi River, docking in downtown Memphis for all onlookers to revel and awe over. With elaborately designed and well-lit backdrops, along with the night sky being lit up with an array of fireworks, this was truly a wonder for everyone present. The entire city, it seemed, gathered along the Mississippi riverbanks on a spring evening to attend the Royal Barge Landing, walk along the Carnival midway, and watch the Carnival parade. Many national publications and media covered the fanfare, and the Association even crowned a Maid of Cotton to tour the globe and promote cotton fashions.

Carnival Memphis Today

By the later twentieth century Carnival Memphis had the general reputation of having dwindled down to nothing but a series of formal debutante parties at the various private social and country clubs, consisting largely of the city’s elite gathering together to promote an event that “was once, but no longer”, and it was truly living out its twilight years. Gone were the parades, the grand parties, the fireworks, the midway, and the hustle and bustle of an entire metropolitan area to promote itself and to gather together to take part in such a great event.

However, as Carnival officials grew more and more aware about certain negative issues surrounding the event and its severely declining reputation, they began actually implementing steps over the years to bring outsiders into their realm. More and more Carnival events are now open to the public. African-American Memphians are beginning to take part, and Carnival had one black Krewe, Cotton Makers' (currently Kemet) Jubilee, from 1982-2007. Also, Carnival has begun selecting local charities and organizing special events just for Carnival krewes, with each charity receiving a monetary donation.

Seventy-four years later, the mission of Carnival remains much the same as it was in 1931-to recognize and promote an industry that has a major economic impact on the Mid-South community, and to promote the City of Memphis as a great place to live and work, and to cause an annual celebration in honor of that industry and the people of the Mid-South. The general motto of Carnival Memphis is “Convivium Cum Propositione,” Latin for “The Party with a Purpose!”. This mission is contradictory because African Americans were forced into slavery to work the cotton fields which was very properous for Memphis; yet they were not invited to the carnival because it was white only and remained that way. This would make Memphis a terrible place to live and refers to an impact in which the people who made it successful, received no credit what so ever nor recognition. Honor was not given to those of whom it was due. Many Citizens of Memphis to this day are not aware that this event even takes place.

Memphis in May

Memphis in May is a month long festival held in Memphis, Tennessee. The festival itself is split into four main events: The Beale Street Music Festival, the kick-off event which showcases a mix of local and national music acts, International Week, a group of events dedicated to the country that is sponsored that year, The World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, one of the most popular barbecue contests in the country, and the Sunset Symphony, a night of classical music. This event marked its 30th anniversary in May 2006.

Cooper-Young

Cooper-Young is an eclectic neighborhood and historic district in the Midtown section of Memphis, Tennessee, named for the intersection of Cooper Street and Young Avenue. The entrance to the neighborhood is marked by the Cooper-Young Trestle, a 150-foot (46 m) long steel sculpture which depicts homes and businesses found in the neighborhood. Created by metal artist, Jill Turman, the sculpture was dedicated in 2000, and has become a source of community pride and identity.

Cooper-Young Festival

Each fall, the neighborhood hosts the Cooper-Young Festival, marked by a 4-mile run, arts and crafts vendors, and live music performances. The neighborhood is increasingly considered one of the more artistic and "hip" areas of the city, and shows evidence of successful urban revitalization in Memphis' core.

Culture

One of the largest celebrations the city has is Memphis in May. The month-long series of events promotes Memphis' heritage and outreach of its people far beyond the city's borders. There are four main events, the Beale Street Music Festival, International Week, the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, and the Sunset Symphony. The World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest is the largest pork barbecue cooking contest in the world.

Carnival Memphis, formerly known as the Memphis Cotton Carnival, is an annual series of parties and festivities in the month of June that salutes various aspects of Memphis and its industries. An annual King and Queen of Carnival are secretly selected to reign over Carnival activities. The African-American community staged a parallel event known as the Cotton Makers Jubilee from 1935 to 1982, when it merged with Carnival Memphis.

An arts festival, the Cooper-Young Festival, is held annually in September in the Cooper-Young district of Midtown Memphis. The event draws artists from all over North America, and includes art sales, contests, and displays.

The arts

Memphis is the home of founders and establishers of various American music genres, including Blues, Gospel, Rock n' Roll, Buck, Crunk, and "sharecropper" country music (in contrast to the "rhinestone" country sound of Nashville). Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, and B. B. King were all getting their starts in Memphis in the 1950s. They are respectively dubbed the "King" of Country, Rock n' Roll, and Blues.

Well-known writers from Memphis include Civil War historian Shelby Foote and playwright Tennessee Williams. Novelist John Grisham grew up in nearby DeSoto County, Mississippi and many of his books are set in Memphis.

Many works of fiction and literature use Memphis as their setting, giving a diverse portrait of the city, its history, and its citizens. These include The Reivers by William Faulkner (1962), September, September by Shelby Foote (1977), The Old Forest and Other Stories by Peter Taylor (1985), the Pulitzer Prize-winning A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor (1986), The Firm by John Grisham (1991), Memphis Afternoons: a Memoir by James Conaway (1993), Cassina Gambrel Was Missing by William Watkins (1999), The Guardian by Beecher Smith (1999), and The Architect by James Williamson (2007).

Cultural references to Memphis

Memphis is the subject of many major pop and country songs, including "Memphis" by Chuck Berry, "Queen of Memphis" by Confederate Railroad, "Memphis Soul Stew" by King Curtis, "Maybe It Was Memphis" by Pam Tillis, "Graceland" by Paul Simon, "Memphis Train" by Rufus Thomas, and "Walking in Memphis" by Marc Cohn.

In addition, Memphis is mentioned in scores of other songs, including "Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Honky Tonk Women" by the Rolling Stones, "Life Is a Highway" by Tom Cochrane, "Black Velvet" by Alannah Myles, "Cities" by Talking Heads, "Crazed Country Rebel by Hank Williams III, and many others.