A Victorian Christmas

This season, an exhibit on the Victorian Yuletide will be on display on the 4th Floor of the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library.  The exhibit features period clothing, jewelry, and children’s items from the collection of the Woodruff-Fontaine House (built in 1871) on Adams Avenue, in the heart of Victorian Village.

The Woodruff-Fontaine House boasts one of the finest and most extensive collections of Victorian clothing and textiles in this part of the country.  A few choice pieces from this remarkable collection are featured in the exhibit, along with children’s clothing and toys from over a century ago.  Come take a look and get a glimpse at Christmas of yesteryear!

New Collections in the Memphis Room

We’ve had a number of great new collections processed in the past few months, so take a look:

C.E. Dean Riverboat Collection

E.H. Porter Railroad Collection

Frank M. Campbell Collection

Jacob C.H. Meanley Riverboat Photograph Collection

Mallory-Neely House and Tennessee Homecoming Collection

Marvin and Mary Bazemore Collection

Memphis Little Theatre Programs Collection

Memphis Opera Theatre / Opera Memphis Programs Collection

Pioneers Black Firefighters of Memphis Collection

Urban Renewal Photograph Collection

Wolf River Conservancy Collection

Many thanks to the volunteers, interns and staff members who have worked so hard to make these collections available to the public.  If you would like to view any of our manuscript collections, please visit us on the 4th floor of the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library.

The Memphis Legacy Project

The Memphis Legacy Project is the gift of local filmmaker and photographer Willy Bearden.  Mr. Bearden often uses the photographs in the Memphis Room for his projects, and he realized that researchers, filmmakers and artists of the future will need the same types of resources. 

“Our goal is to capture Memphis as we know it today. These images won’t have any real value or meaning for many years. I have this vision of some young documentary producer finding these images in 2090, and being able to explain to his contemporaries who and what we were way back when.”

As the first installment of this gift, Mr. Bearden has donated over 1500 images of the Victorian Village era.  We are in the process of adding these to the digital archive now.  (Take a look.)

On May 13th at 5:30 pm, we will have a short program in the Memphis Room to accept Mr. Bearden’s donation of the second installment of photographs for the Legacy Project, which will feature approximately 5000 photos of Madison Ave., Summer Ave., North Parkway, East Parkway, South Parkway, Elvis Presley Blvd. and the Riverfront.  He will also be giving us 300 images from the Memphis Portraits Project.

Please join us on the 13th to hear Mr. Bearden speak about the project or simply come to thank him for his many gifts.