Saving 75,000 Photographs: Memphis’s Visual History Comes to Life

In the musical heartland of Memphis, careful efforts are underway to rescue around 75,000 photographs from possible loss. The pictures spanning several years encapsulate the life of middle and working-class folk that has chiefly faded into the background. An incredible array of photographs, some even stamped on fragile glass plates over a century old, was discovered stored back-to-back in a packed room. Some items on the highly degradable nitrate film were so badly damaged they were on the verge of incineration.

Memphis, a city steeped in blues and gospel traditions, had identifiable countenances featuring legends like B.B. King, W.C. Handy, and Mahalia Jackson among the collection. However, the majority featured the everyday, yet powerful lives of African-American middle and working-class citizens. The photographs of these Memphians in all their glory had a way of turning ordinary people into celebrities.

The collection brings to life numerous joyous and powerful moments including weddings, graduations, fraternity gatherings, and various sports events. Strikingly, there is a photo of a group of homeowners gleefully setting their mortgage papers ablaze, marking the significant achievement of moving up a notch on the ladder to financial freedom and security.

This remarkable treasure chest of memories, captured by the once-acclaimed Hooks Brothers Studio, had been tucked away from public view for over four decades. More than just photographers, the Hooks Brothers Studio were the preferred chroniclers of black life in a city famous for its vibrant culture.

Today, painstaking preservation efforts have been initiated to save the studio’s valuable archives, an enormous repository possibly housing more than 75,000 images. The entire process could potentially span several years, possibly even decades to complete.

Despite the enormity of the task, stakeholders deeply invested in preserving the city’s visual history believe in the value of this endeavor. They see it as an opportunity to enrich Memphis’s understanding of its own multicultural and multifaceted past. The essence of the effort is to leverage the past’s echoes to better understand the present.

Andrea Herenton, along with her husband Rodney, bought the collection before donating it to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and the National Civil Rights Museum for suitable preservation. Andrea called it an ‘invaluable inheritance’ and hoped that providing the collection a new home outside storage would breathe new life into it.

By unveiling the collection to the public, she believes, it can serve to inform, inspire, and create vital connections between the past and the present. Such an undertaking can help narrate the city’s unique story while unearthing forgotten facets of its culture and heritage.

The impressive collection of images is a product of the vision and skill of two brothers, Henry A. Hooks Sr. and Robert B. Hooks. They established a studio on the iconic Beale Street in 1907, embarking on a journey to capture the heartbeat of Memphis.

The Hooks Brothers memorialized in film the essence of a city and its people, leaving an indelible mark on the history of black life in Memphis. The preservation of their remarkable work allows the emotionally resonant narrative of Memphis to continue for future generations.

This mammoth task of safeguarding these precious memories underlines the cultural relevance and the historic importance of such imagery. The effort ensures that the intricate tapestry of Memphis’s past is not lost but rather served as a beacon of inspiration and learning.

This endeavor not only seeks to keep the city’s history alive but also embodies the spirit of respect for those individuals who built the city, and by extension, the society we live in today. Such an understanding of the past paves the way for a stronger sense of identity for Memphis.

Preserving these photographs is much more than just a restorative mission. The collection will serve as a visual testament of life and its many colors over time, immortalizing the shared and diverse experiences of Memphians, their struggles and celebrations, their contributions to Memphis’s rich cultural tapestry, and above all, their indomitable spirit.