Ernest Withers exhibit at Memphis Pink Palace

Just came across an interesting event listing in my newspaper, The Daily News. I've slacked off a bit on Black History Month Travel Tips lately. And since a lot of my followers are in Memphis, here's a local exhibition you could consider.

The Pink Palace Family of Museums will present “I Am A Man” through Oct. 24 at the Pink Palace, 3050 Central Ave. The exhibit will show the Ernest Withers portfolio, which documents prominent civil rights leaders in the 1950s and 1960s. For more information, call 320-6362 or visit www.memphismuseums.org.

Black History Month Travel Tip of the Day: Finding Soul in Memphis

Editor's Note: I had something else in mind for today's Black History Month Travel Tip of the Day, but thanks to the power of Twitter, I've adjusted. This message from @StaxMemphis sealed the deal: "This week in 1966, Otis Redding releases his reworking of the Stones classic "Satisfaction."

Did you know the great Otis Redding recorded in Memphis?

I often wonder how much music listeners really appreciate the city of Memphis for its place in music history. Sure, the city has Elvis and Beale Street. Hundreds upon hundreds of musical legends have made stops along the way to stardom in Memphis. I could write a number of entries on the Bluff City's role in shaping music, but I think today's focus will center on the soul of Memphis, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.

Considering the role Stax Records played in combining black and white talents on its recordings, it seems like a perfect entry for today's Black History Month Travel Tip of the Day.

The museum is located at the site of the original Stax Records, the recording home to many American legends during the 1960s and '70s: Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, The Staple Singers, Booker T & the MG's, Wilson Pickett. The museum honors all of the Stax artists, as well as the influence of many other soul musicians on other labels from Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder to Aretha Franklin (Memphis born) and Al Green (recorded at Memphis' Hi Records and still resides in the city).

The museum has some 2,000 interactive exhibits, films, artifacts, items of memorabilia and galleries. In addition to hearing all the truly great music that was made at Stax, the highlight of the museum to me is Isaac Hayes' gold-plated Cadillac. 

Images courtesy of www.soulsvilleusa.com

To me, the Stax Museum is one of the gems in Memphis. If you live in the area but have never visited, I highly suggest it. If you are out of town and planning a visit to Memphis, by all means put this museum on your to-do list.

Through April 30, the museum's featured exhibit is "STILL LIFE IN SOUL: Contemporary Music Photography by Jacob Blickenstaff." It explores the resurgence in popularity of soul music through photography made since 2005 by Blickenstaff.

For more information about the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, go to http://www.soulsvilleusa.com/. Stax is at 926 E. McLemore Ave. just a few minutes southeast of the Downtown core.

Black History Month Travel Tip of the Day No. 7: Memphis Cotton Museum

The Cotton Museum at the Memphis Cotton Exchange tells the story of King Cotton in an appropriate setting: Memphis' historic Cotton Row along Front Street, what was once the center of the worldwide cotton trade. The museum opened in 2005.

The main exhibit hall at the museum is a 3,000-square-foot space where the story of cotton is told through documentary films, oral histories and interpretative exhibits. The museum will expand Feb. 26 when it opens the east wing called Exploration Hall. It will debut with "The Changing World of Cotton," an exhibit that allows visitors to explore the history of cotton farming over the past 70 years.

This museum is not focused on the black experience in America, per se, but without the backbreaking work performed by slaves, cotton might not have ever become the king it once was in the South. There are thousands of sites, museums and attractions in the United States that tell the story of Black America. But a museum focused on cotton seems like a pretty important place to get another perspective on African-American history.

For more information, go to http://www.memphiscottonmuseum.org/index.asp.

Black History Month Travel Tip of the Day No. 5, 6

I guess I'm being a bit lazy today, but I just devoted a lot of effort to the Lincoln in Springfield President's Day post, so I'm going to cheat a bit. Because Lincoln played such an important role in the eventual freedom for the slaves in the U.S., I figure a couple of sites in his hometown of Springfield, Ill., will serve as Black History Month Travel Tips of the Day.

I say two because these are the ones out of the several Lincoln-related sites in Springfield that played a role in Black History. 

The Lincoln presidential museum has several exhibits related to the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation. And at the nearby site of the former state capitol building, Lincoln gave his "House Divided" speech, one of several turning points that would play a role in the eventual freedom for America's slaves.

Experience Lincoln in Springfield

For those people who have never visited Downtown Springfield, Ill., you might be surprised to learn of its historic significance and beauty. Everything is pretty much centered on things related to Abraham Lincoln, from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, to the site of one of his law offices and a restored neighborhood that features the president’s home.

There are other fun things to see: art galleries and quaint shops, the Illinois state capitol building and even a home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

But with today being President’s Day, we’ll take a closer look at Springfield’s Lincoln sites. The presidential library and museum is located at 212 N. Sixth St. All the other sites are within a few blocks of the museum, excluding Lincoln’s tomb, which is a mile and a half north.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum: The museum takes an inside look at Lincoln the man, the Springfield resident, lawyer, legislator, masterful speech giver and U.S. president. There are a number of exhibits highlighted by movies, re-enactments and artifacts that tell the life and struggles of Lincoln. http://www.alplm.org/home.html

The Lincoln Home National Historic Site: This four-block neighborhood features a number of homes restored to their 1860 appearance, including the structure the Lincolns called home for 17 years. It was the only home Lincoln ever owned. The neighborhood contains 12 structures. Go to http://www.nps.gov/liho/lincoln-neighborhood.htm to learn more about the history of these buildings.

Old State Capitol State Historic Site: This is an exact reproduction of the original that was built in the 1960s after what was remaining of the old site was razed. The original building was where Lincoln practiced law before the state’s Supreme Court, served as a state legislator, gave his 1858 speech titled “House Divided” and where his body lay in state before his burial nearby.

Lincoln Herndon Law Office State Historic Site: Abraham Lincoln practiced law in Springfield from a number of offices. This building is the only office space that is still standing. Lincoln practiced law from this office from 1843 until 1852. It's within sight of the Old State Capitol building and is adjacent to a number of quaint shops and eateries.

Lincoln Depot (Great Western Depot): This is the train depot where Lincoln departed Springfield to head to Washington to take the oath of office as president. Lincoln gave an impromptu farewell speech regarding his affection for his hometown when he saw the turnout of people there to see him off.

Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site: Oak Ridge Cemetery is the final burial place for Lincoln, his wife, Mary, and the entire family except son Robert, who is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. http://www.state.il.us/hpa/hs/lincoln_tomb.htm

For more Springfield Lincoln information, go to http://www.lincoln200.net/, which was designed for last year’s 200th birthday celebration of Lincoln, or http://www.lookingforlincoln.com/.

Image courtesy of Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum

Black History Month Travel Tip of the Day No. 4

This is certainly a subjective statement, but I would say one of the biggest contributions made by African-Americans is in music. And blues music has certainly made one of the biggest impacts on all other forms of music.

Today’s latest Black History Month Tip of the Day is the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Miss., about 90 miles south of Memphis.

The Delta Blues Museum was established in 1979 by the Carnegie Public Library Board of Trustees and reorganized as a standalone museum in 1999. The museum has been housed in the historic Clarksdale freight depot since 1999. The former freight area – about 5,000 square feet of ground-floor space – is devoted to permanent and traveling exhibits.

The museum’s collection includes musical instruments, recordings, sheet music, posters, photographs, costumes, folk art, paintings and other memorabilia. Some of the exhibits focus on Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Big Joe Williams, big Mama Thornton, Charlie Musselwhite and Jimmy Burns.

The Delta Blues Museum Stage hosts a year-round music education program and also serves as the main venue for local festivals including the Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival in August and the Juke Joint Festival in April.

For more information, go to http://www.deltabluesmuseum.org/.

Black History Month Travel Tip of the Day No. 3

If you find yourself in Louisville, Ky., the first place that comes to mind might be Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. And there are plenty of other sites worth seeing in Louisville, but since this is a Black History Month travel tip, today’s focus is on the Muhammad Ali Center.

The Muhammad Ali Center was incorporated as a nonprofit corporation in 1997 and opened in Downtown Louisville, the boxing icon’s hometown, in November 2005.

The Ali Center has two-and-a-half levels of exhibits and galleries that explore the boxer’s life. A series of interactive pavilions tell his story through six core values of his life: respect, confidence, conviction, dedication, spirituality and giving. There is also a chronological timeline of Ali’s boxing career, highlighted by several items of boxing memorabilia.

The current special exhibit at the center is “Muhammad Ali by Simon Bull,” which showcases 16 paintings of Ali in oil on canvas and five color photographs done by the British-born artist. There are a couple of Black History Month programs: An inspirational music program titled “Rejoice” on Feb. 21 and a poetry slam on Feb. 25.

For more information on the center, visit http://www.alicenter.org/Pages/default.aspx.

Black History Month Travel Tip of the Day No. 2

The International Civil Rights Center & Museum is possibly the newest exhibit that has opened to the public to tell the story of the civil rights movement in the U.S. Located in the former Woolworth’s that was the site of the 1960 lunch counter sit-in, the museum opened Feb. 1 in Greensboro, N.C.

The 50th Anniversary Gala & Banquet “Standing For a World of Change” will really kick things off tonight. The program – originally scheduled for Jan. 30 but postponed to Feb. 13 because of inclement weather in the Greensboro area – is a benefit for the museum recognizing international civil and human rights achievements worldwide.

But considering the event is sold out, you probably won’t be attending. But in honor of the recently opened museum, it’s today’s location to recognize Black History Month.

The purpose of the International Civil Rights Center & Museum is to memorialize the stand of the Greensboro Four as they launched the sit-in movement on Feb. 1, 1960. The focus is on the sit-in activities at the F.W. Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro.

The sit-in was led by four North Carolina A&T State College students on Feb. 1, 1960. In the days and weeks that followed, hundreds, if not thousands, of youths around the country joined in the sit-in movement that led to the desegregation of the Woolworth lunch counter.

The museum itself features a number of exhibits centered on the F.W. Woolworth lunch counter. Other exhibits, including a re-enactment of the discussion that led to the sit-in and a broad look at the six-month sit-in struggle, take a look at the civil rights movement as a whole.

The museum is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, go to http://www.sitinmovement.org/

Black History Month Travel Tip of the Day No. 1

Editor's Note: I realize Black History Month is reaching its midway point but that doesn't mean it's too late to start a Black History Month Travel Tip of the Day. I will even try to double up some days to catch up.

1. Memphis’ Hattiloo Theatre

Hattiloo Theatre started in March 2006 at 656 Marshall Ave. in the Edge neighborhood of Downtown Memphis near the famous Sun Studio. The black repertory on an annual basis presents seven major productions and six special performances that highlight the diversity of black artistic expression, all in a cozy 66-seat theater.

Currently, the theater is showing “The Piano Lesson,” written by August Wilson, through Feb. 28. For more information, call 901-525-0009 or go to http://hattilootheatre.org.

Image courtesy of http://hattilootheatre.org