The outside of the studio looks no different than it did in Elvis Presley's time. The oversized Gibson guitar hangs over the door of the little drugstore next to the studio that has been turned into a visitor's center and Sun Records gift shop.
Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee 6/23/07
The outside of the studio looks no different than it did in Elvis Presley's time. The oversized Gibson guitar hangs over the door of the little drugstore next to the studio that has been turned into a visitor's center and Sun Records gift shop.
Recording Studio Inside of Sun Records 6/22/07
We took a tour of Sun Records where we saw cases of old recording equipment. The tour finishes up in the studio where Elvis Presley first recorded. The studio still has instruments in it, just as it would have Presley's time. There are historic photographs on the walls, and visitors can even pause to have their pictures taken holding Elvis Presley's microphone.
Sun Records in Memphis 6/23/07
This historic marker outside of Sun Records tells about the legendary recording studio where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis recorded their hits. Since we decided not to visit Graceland, this was the end of the line for our visit to Memphis.
Rock and Soul Museum Sign
No photographs could be taken inside the museum. This sign out front show that the Rock and Soul Museum was created by the Smithsonian Institution. The museum is located at 191 Beale Street, right across the street from the Gibson guitar factory, which is also open for tours.
Rock and Soul Museum 6/23/07
The Rock and Soul Museum in Memphis opened its doors in 2000. The museum's exhibits tell the story of musical pioneers of Rock and Soul music. Our visit the the museum united many areas of my studies on this trip, since the exhibits began with the rural field hollers and sharecroppers of the 1930s, and ended with the explosion of recording studios during Memphis’ musical heyday in the 70s. Visitors use audio headsets to listen to narrations of the exhibits and thoughout the museum are several juke boxes with selections of songs from the various decades to listen to.
W.C. Handy and the Blues 6/23/07
The W. C. Handy Park, located on Beale Street and dedicated to W.C. Handy in 1931, has a long tradition of hosting blues acts. Since its creation, Handy Park has been a meeting ground for musicians. Blues artists still play the park for tips.
W. C. Handy's House 6/23/07
This photo shows a small shotgun house at 352 Beale Street which was W.C. Handy's house. Originally located at 659 Jennette Place, this house was Handy's home when he wrote such classics as "Yellow Dog Blues" and "Beale Street Blues." The house is now headquarters of the Blues Foundation. We were not there during the hours of operation, so we were not able to go inside.
W. C. Handy Statue in Downtown Memphis 6/23/07
W. C. Handy is known as the father of the blues. This statue in downtown Memphis is located next to his house. Handy was a business many who operated Pace and Handy Music Company on Beale Street in Memphis. He published "Beale Street Blues" and "St. Louis Blues", which made him the first to publish music with the word "blues" in the title.
Exploring the Legacy from Across the Street 6/22/07
A visit to the museum concludes in the Exploring the Legacy building across the street from the Lorraine Motel. Exploring the Legacy adds 12,800 square feet of exhibition space and connects the main campus of the Museum to the Young and Morrow building and the Main Street Rooming House where James Earl Ray allegedly fired the fatal shot resulting in the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Visitors stand and look out the still open window of the Rooming House to the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. This portion of the museum also has information on the various conspiracy theories about King's assassination.
Martin Luther King's Room at the Lorraine Motel 6/22/07
The balcony where King was assassinated is marked with a wreath.
Lorraine Motel at the Civil Rights Museum 6/22/07
The National Civil Right Museum was built to incorporate the
Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4, 1968. The motel, which had been a foreclosed property for many years, was purchased by the Martin Luther King Foundation in 1982. A visit to the museum finishes outside of Rooms 306 and 307 of the motel, which are left as they would have been on that fateful April day.
Civil Rights Museum - Memphis, Tennessee 6/22/07
The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee opened to the public in 1991. The museum exhibits tell the story of many key episodes of the American civil rights movement and the legacy of this movement to inspire participation in civil and human rights efforts. Using photographs, videos and interactive displays, visitors to the museum climb on the bus with Rosa Parks and feel the tensions surrounding life-sized figures of student sit-ins at lunch counters.
Live on the Air with Sonny Payne's King Biscuit Time 6/22/07
D J Sonny Payne has been broadcasting the King Biscuit Time Blues Radio Show on KFFA daily at 12:15 for over sixty years. The radio program is done live from the Blues History Museum in Helena, Arkansas. We just so happened to pull into the museum at 12:10, in time to be Sonny's guests, live and on the air.
Blues Museum Musical Formula 6/22/07
These displays at the museum show the formula for writing blues lyrics. When we teach Langston Hughes poetry in American Literature we do a unit on writing blues lyrics. This is the poetic formula I have been using in the classroom for this activity. Then we have students bring in musical instruments and we spend a day "singing the blues" in class.
Helena, Arkansas Delta Cultural Center 6/22/07
After leaving Stovall Plantation, we crossed the mighty Mississippi into the town of Helena, Arkansas to visit the Delta Cultural Center. The museum interprets the history of the Arkansas Delta through exhibits, educational programs, annual events, and guided tours. Helena also hosts the annual Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival each October.
Stovall Farms and Muddy's Mound 6/22/07
Outside of Clarksdale, down through the cotton fields of Stovall Farms is the former site of Muddy Waters' famous cabin. We had seen the reconstructed cabin inside of the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale. On the cabin site is a historic marker telling the story of Muddy Waters' life and influence on music. Muddy Waters' song "Rollin' Stone" gave The Rolling Stones and the magazine their names. On the marker is Eric Clapton's quote, "Muddy Waters' music changed my life, and whether you know it or not, it probably changed yours too."
Tennessee Williams Boyhood Home in Clarksdale 6/22/07
This house is where Tennessee Williams lived as a boy with his mother and grandfather. His grandfather served as the director of St. George's church, so they lived in the parsonage shown here. This historic neighborhood influenced the characters and events in Williams' plays such as The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire.
Clark Mansion in Clarksdale, Mississippi 6/22/07
The Tennessee Williams District includes a drive past the Belle-Clark Mansion at 211 Clark Street built by the town's founder John Clark in 1859. Clark's daughter Blanche inspired Tennessee Williams' character Blance DuBois from A Streetcar Named Desire.
Tennessee Williams Park in Clarksdale, Mississippi 6/22/07
Playwright Tennessee Williams began his life in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Downtown, in the Tennessee Williams District, we visited the public library to learn a little bit more. Clarksdale hosts the annual Mississippi Delta Tennessee Williams Festival each year. The festival includes "porch plays" and a Stella calling contest. The librarian took us into the locked special collections room to show us a photograph of Williams grandfather hanging on the wall.
Po' Monkey's Juke Joint and the Snake-Holding Sheriff 6/21/07
Down a long gravel road in Merigold, Mississippi, off of Highway 61, is Po' Monkey's Juke Joint. Here 65 year old Po' Monkey, aka Willie Seaberry, lives and works in the fields by day. But each Monday and Thursday evening his home becomes the last authentic juke joint in the Delta. We thought we were lost, but as luck would have it, we found the sheriff parked on the road where he had just found a long king snake. He not only told us we were headed the right direction, but he escorted us to Monkey's and we went inside long enough to buy a tee-shirt and see for ourselves what photographer Annie Leibovitz had captured and made famous.
Hopson Plantation and the Shack Up Inn 6/21/07
Hopson Plantation is the site where the Hopson Planting Company and Internation Harvester revolutionized modern cotton farming by introducing the first commercially produced mechanical cotton picker in 1944. The plantation has been converted into The Shack Up Inn. Guests can stay in a shack or a "bin" in the converted old cotton gin. This photo shows me sitting on the porch of the Fullilove Shack where we stayed.
Robert L. Johnson's Gravesite outside of Greenwood, Mississippi 6/21/07
Robert Johnson, legendary bluesman, is buried next to a church outside of Greenwood, Mississippi. The marker along the road tells the story of Johnson's life and the front and back of the headstone are inscribed with lyrics from the famous musician who began it all.
Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi 6/21/07
The Delta Blues Museum is located in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The museum which is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts houses exhibits dedicated to telling the history of the Delta Blues. Inside the museum, Muddy Waters' Cabin has been reassembled. Other displays include costumes and instruments belonging to famous blues musicians.
The Crossroads in Clarksdale, Mississippi 6/21/07
The legendary Crossroads of highway 61 and 49 is outside of Clarksdale, Mississippi. Here, according to musical folklore, Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for the ability to play the blues.
Writing on the Wall at Rowan Oak
Faulkner wrote a plot outline for his novel A Fable on the wall of the Office in graphite pencil and red grease pencil. The small neat handwriting has been preserved and visitors are allowed to photograph the wall as long as they do not take a flash picture.
Faulkner Office and Writing Room at Rowan Oak
Faulkner built this room after 1950. On the table sits one of Faulkner's typewriters. He sometimes took a typewriter such as this to the Adirondack chairs on the porch to enjoy the beauty of the outdoors while he wrote.
William Faulkner's Rowan Oak
In 1930, William Faulkner purchased this house and named it Rowan Oak for the rowan tree, a symbol of security and peace. He lived here with his wife and family until his death in 1962. In 1972, his daughter, Jill Faulkner Summers, sold the house to the University of Mississippi as a lasting memorial to her father's literary career. In this house he wrote many of his stories and novels. Faulkner won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949.
J. D. Williams Library on the Campus of the University of Mississippi
The J. D. Williams library on the campus of the University of Mississippi houses the special collections of William Faulkner's works. Here on the third floor, visitors can see Faulkner's Nobel Prize inside a glass case (no photos allowed). Outside of the library is a statue of Civil Rights movement participant James Meredith. In 1962, Meredith sparked riots by becoming the first black student at the Unversity of Mississippi.
Memory House
This house at 405 University Avenue dates back to 1855. It sits on land that was donated in 1841 to build the state univesity in Oxford. In 1865, after the Civil War ended, a community Christmas tree was erected in the home's parlor "in memory" of the fallen soldiers. For that reason it is called the Memory House to this day. William Faulkner's brother, John, lived in this house until it was purchased and donated the University in 1992.
Stowers-Longest House
This home was used in the film version of William Faulkner's Intruder in the Dust. It is located at 1003 South Lamar and dates back to 1895.
Trigg-Doyle-Falkner House
This house at 910 Buchanan Avenue is thought to have been built around 1855 by an Oxford clothing merchant named James G. Trigg. In the 1870s, the new owners, the Doyles, added the Victorian ornamentation. The next owner was William Faulkner's grandfather and then father. The home remains much as it was when the author lived there as a child.
Neilson-Culley House
This house at 712 South 11th Street, hosted uninvited Union troops several times. This home has been linked to William Faulkner's story "A Rose for Emily" which I teach to my junior American literature students.
J. W. T. Falkner, Jr. House
This house, built in 1902, was the home of Jodge John W.T. Falkner, uncle of William Faulkner. It is located at 706 Lamar in Oxford. In 1992, the home's interior was used for the filming of The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag .
William Faulkner Statue and Bench 6/21/07
A walking tour of courthouse square includes a visit to the Faulkner bench. This seated likeness of the author reminds a Northern visitor like myself to sit and relax and enjoy the slow pace of Faulkner's South.
Square Books on Oxford Square 6/21/07
Square Books 160 Courthouse Square, was a dry goods store when it opened in 1866. It became a bookstore in 1986. Upstairs is a comprehension collection of books by and about William Faulkner along with photographs of the author.
Lafayette County Courthouse 6/21/07
This photo shows the Lafayette County Courthouse (1873) on the town square in Oxford. The courthouse, with a southward facing statue of a Confederate soldier in front of it, stands true to Faulkner's description of the Jefferson courthouse in his fiction. It is a National Historic Landmark and was completely restored in 1981.
Downtown Oxford, Mississippi 6/21/07
Oxford, Mississippi calls itself the home of William Faulkner. The family moved to Oxford in 1902. Here William spent most of his childhood and youth. The town was the inspiration for Faulkner's fictional town of Jefferson. This sign explains that the town of Oxford was chartered in 1837 and was on the Chicasaw Trail of Tears.
William Faukner's Birthplace 6/20/07
On the site designated by this marker, William Faulkner was born in a clapboard house. The location is Cleveland Street in the town of New Albany, Mississippi. William was the first son of Murry and Maud Faulkner who had purchased the home in 1897. Faulkner's father worked for the railroad in nearby Ripley, Mississippi.
New Harmonies Exhibit at the Union County Heritage Museum 6/20/07
Coincidentally, also at the Union County Heritage Museum was a travelling exhibit from the Smithsonian Institute devoted the American Roots Music. This display shows the portion about the Delta Blues musical roots. Our trip itinerary already included a visit to some of the places mentioned in the exhibit.
William Faulkner Exhibit 6/20/07
The Union County Heritage Museum, which charges no admission fee, has a section entirely devoted to William Faulkner's life and writing career. This photo shows some of the items on display.
Union County Heritage Museum - New Albany, Mississippi 6/20/07
The Union County Heritage Museum in New Albany, Mississippi was our first stop on the William Faulkner literary history trail. This museum has a collection of items owned by William Faulkner, who was born in the town of New Albany.
My Old Kentucky Home State Park 6/20/07
My Old Kentucky Home State Park is just a mile down the road from downtown Bardstown. The park commemorates Stephen Foster's musical contributions to American history. The home and grounds are open to the public and include a pavilion and amphitheatre as well as John Rowan's log cabin law offices.
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