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Hugh
"Hu"
Brinkley
...
Memphis Philanthropist and The Lyceum Theatre |
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Hugh
Lawson White Brinkley preferred to be called "Hu". With
either name, it's doubtful that many Memphians today know who
he is or anything about him. Hu was born in 1842 in the
Nashville home of his grandfather, John Overton, one of the
original founders of Memphis. His parents named
him after Hugh Lawson White, a great-uncle who was a senator
and one-time presidential candidate. With this
background he had social connections throughout the South and
the wealth to support them.
He
achieved his first recognition by completing the job of
linking the railroad between Memphis and Little Rock.
After that success he completed the beltline to connect all of
the railroads coming into Memphis. |
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The
accomplishment of the railroad hub gave Hu the funds to build the
Lyceum Theatre, which was a great source of pride for Memphis in the
late 1800s. He then served in the state legislature, as well
as a Memphis fire and police commissioner and Vice Mayor.
Afterwards he led the Greater Memphis campaign that resulted in the
1899 annexation of most of Memphis's eastern suburbs, which made the
city 4 times larger. |
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Click on small
photos to see an enlargement |
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CREDITS:
The "Historic-Memphis" Team would
like to acknowledge and thank the following organizations for their
contributions which helped make this page possible:
Memphis
Public
Library, University of Memphis Libraries, Memphis Commercial Appeal,
Memphis Press Scimitar, Greater Memphis Chamber, Memphis Flyer, Vance
Lauderdale Family Archives, Memphis Heritage, Tom
Leatherwood Shelby County Register,
Joe Spake, Lee Askew, George Whitworth, and many other individuals whose assistance is
acknowledged on individual photos. |
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We do not
intentionally post copyrighted photos and material without
permission or credit.
We
often find some great, un-credited photos and material on the
Internet. In addition we receive many unsolicited photos via
email. If we like the photos and material and they add to a
particular page on this website, we do use them.
Should anyone write that we have a copyrighted photo or material
posted, we will apologize for our mistake, and because the photo or
material adds significantly to the page where it's located, we also
ask to keep it in place and add credit for it, or if it's the
owner's preference, we will remove it immediately. We have only
been asked to remove one, and that's because they wanted us to pay
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Most Images
displayed on this web site are the property of their respective
photographers. Please contact the photographer or owner, if you
wish to obtain a reproduction of an image or if you wish to obtain
permission to use an image elsewhere. |
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