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Memphis
Sesquicentennial Celebration-1969 |
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"This
is the Year" |
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The city of Memphis was 150 years old in 1969 and planned a
grand celebration to commemorate its sesquicentennial anniversary -
a birthday party the like of which the South had never seen.
The sesquicentennial theme was "This is the Year"
and events were planned for the entire year. On May 3, the
historic Cotton Carnival began its 9 day run. And this
was followed by the Memphis Open Golf Tournament, The Memphis
Rose Show and the Tennessee Poetry Festival. June
started off with the W. C. Handy Memorial Concert, honoring
"The Memphis Sound - Yesterday and Today". This was
followed by the Mid-South Fair at the Fairgrounds, Sailing
Regattas on the Mississippi, the Performing and Graphic Arts
Festival, and the Autorama which featured rallies, races,
modern and antique auto shows. In December, the year of
celebrations culminated with the Liberty Bowl Football Classic
at the Fairgrounds. |
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Mayor
Henry Loeb
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The paragraph above is the "official" information.
However, photos and information of all Sesquicentennial celebrations
seem to be almost non-existent. Even the memorabilia is rather
dull. |
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Click on small photos to
enlarge them. |
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1969
Logo Photo |
1969
Cotton Carnival Royal Barge |
Cotton
Carnival Queen - 1969 |
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Country-Blues Festival |
Blues Festival Poster |
Liberty Bowl Program |
Liberty Bowl Game |
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Hendrix at Ellis |
Big year for Elvis |
1969 Movie Ad |
1969 in Review |
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City Hospital Marker |
Old City Flag |
New City Flag - 1969 |
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Bukka White - Misty Lavendar |
Johnny Winter |
Crazy Horse |
1969 Program |
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The 1969
Country Blues Festival Program is posted below. Click on each
for an enlargement. Thanks to Cassandra Wonderly |
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The Press
Scimitar and The Commercial Appeal newspapers each
published a magazine during the Sesquicentennial.
The magazines are roughly 136 pages and feature articles
and stories about Memphis during the first 150 years.
Unfortunately, the magazines don't contain many historic
photos from the early years or from today.
Frankly, it
didn't seem to be much of a celebration. |
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Press Scimitar
Magazine |
Commercial Appeal
Magazine |
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The index page and opening story of the Press
Scimitar Magazine are posted below. |
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Index
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Up From Mud - 1 |
Up From Mud - 2 |
Up From Mud - 3 |
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Up From Mud - 4
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Up From Mud - 5
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Up From Mud - 6
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Up From Mud - 7
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Sesquicentennial
Memorabilia ... is
very collectible |
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1969 Logo Photo |
Bumper
Sticker |
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Decal
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Boy Scout
Patch |
Ash Tray |
Official Envelope |
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Handy Day of Issue Card-Stamp |
W.C. Handy Stamp |
Ad - National GeoG |
Medal |
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Coin
-Silver
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Coin -
Back |
Coin -
Gold |
Coin -
Back |
Coin - Brass |
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Glass |
Decanter |
Scout
Medal |
Souvenir Plate |
Auto Antennae Flag
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Ashtray |
Plate |
1918 Promotion |
Patch |
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Credits |
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The
Historic-Memphis website does not intentionally post copyrighted
photos and material without permission or credit.
On
occasion a "non-credited" photo might possibly be posted because we
were unable to find a name to give credit. Because of the nature of
our non-commercial, non-profit, educational website, we strongly
believe that these photos would be considered "Fair Use. We have
certainly made no monetary gain, although those using this website
for historic or Genealogy research have certainly profited. If by
chance,
we have posted your copyrighted photo, please contact us, and we'll
remove it immediately, or we'll add your credit if that's your
choice. In the past, we have found that many photographers
volunteer to have their works included on these pages and we'll
also do that if you contact us with a photo that fits a particular
page. |
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The "Historic-Memphis" website would like to acknowledge and thank the
following for their contributions which helped make this website
possible:
Memphis
Public Library, Memphis University Library, Memphis Law Library,
Memphis Commercial Appeal, Memphis Press Scimitar, Shelby County
Register of Deeds, Memphis City Schools, Memphis Business Men's
Club, Memphis Chamber of Commerce, Memphis City Park Commission,
Memphis Film Commission, Carnival Memphis, Memphis Historical
Railroad Page, Memphis Heritage Inc, Beale Street Historic District,
Cobblestone Historic District, Memphis Historic Districts, Vance
Lauderdale Family Archives, Tennessee State Archives, Library of
Congress, Kemmons Wilson Family, Richard S. Brashier, Lee Askew,
George Whitworth, Woody Savage and many individuals whose assistance is
acknowledged on the pages of their contributions. Special
thanks to Memphis Realtor, Joe Spake, for giving us carte blanche
access to his outstanding collection of contemporary Memphis photos.
We do not have high definition copies of the photos on these
pages. If anyone wishes to secure high definition photos,
you'll have to contact the photographer or the collector.
(To avoid any possibility of contributing to SPAM, we do not
maintain a file of email addresses for anyone who contacts us). |
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historic-memphis.com |
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