Memphis

Jerry and I went to Memphis for the weekend. We like to see cities and walk inside them; try for a moment to see what they are about. Memphis of course is full of a lot of contradictions and worries, glory, and shame. The weather was sunny and warm, the drive was easy. We did more walking and looking at the downtown area, than anything else. We had no desire to see Graceland or be down on Beale Street at night for any music. I was interested in seeing the markers about Ida B. Wells as she interests me, quite a lot. And the other assorted markers are curious, in fascinating and sad ways. We did not need to go to the Lorraine Motel, we know what happened there; no need to stand on the street and cry.

While walking past the federal building downtown, I made the offhand comment about the name, Odell Horton, “do you think that’s the name of a confederate soldier or the third imperial wizard of the klan?” After we got back to the room that evening, I looked it up and the good news is that Odell Horton’s name was added to the building in 2007, prior to that it was the Clifford Davis Federal Building. Davis was “…a vocal proponent of segregation with ties to the Ku Klux Klan. *”. And in December 2021 (DECEMBER 2021!) the name of Davis was taken off the building. (It had been the Clifford Davis/Odell Horton Federal Building) 🙄

Odell Horton “had a decades-long legal career before presiding over federal court in West Tennessee. He was the first Black assistant U.S. attorney and federal judge in West Tennessee post-Reconstruction. *” (*Micaela Watts, Memphis Commercial Appeal)

The Mississippi was very muddy, carrying a lot of debris. At the Metal Museum there were daffodils in the garden. We sat watching a barge turn, a few blue jays picking through the dead leaves, and listening to the traffic cross the bridge to Arkansas or return to Tennessee. The museum is small and lovely. The current exhibition is delicate and surprising. Work by Kim Cridler, I will share a few pictures, the one with the eggshells is actual eggshells. The patience and care to weld each section with such fragile accents! And I adore exhibits that include the artist’s notebooks.

Well, a good weekend, a birthday weekend for me and to top it all off, Jerry got me new cat pajamas and a tiara. What a guy.