Walker Homes in Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)

Ernest C. Withers House

Photographed by Steve Masler, February 27, 2018

1. Ernest C. Withers House Marker

Inscription. Ernest C. Withers (1922-2007) began his career as a photographer in the U. S. Army during World War II. Upon leaving the military, he opened a commercial photography studio and worked as a freelance photojournalist for Black newspapers and magazines such as Ebony and Jet, as well as Newsweek and Time. He photographed Negro Baseball League members including Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Larry Doby, and Jackie Robinson. In 1955, Withers documented the trial of the two white men, J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant, accused in the murder of Emmett Till. In 1957 he photographed the nine Black students who desegregated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Occasionally Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. attended some of the events he covered. He took pictures of Memphis' famed Beale Street musicians, Rufus Thomas, B.B. King, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley. His work also captured the more ordinary life of Black Memphians.

Erected 2018 by Tennessee Historical Commission. (Marker Number 4E 180.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Arts, Letters, Music

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• Civil Rights • Communications. In addition, it is included in the Tennessee Historical Commission series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1922.

Location. 35° 3.83′ N, 90° 4.797′ W. Marker is in Memphis, Tennessee, in Shelby County. It is in Walker Homes. It is on West Brooks Road 0 miles Ford Road, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 480 West Brooks Road, Memphis TN 38109, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in West Tennessee.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

in the Upper South,

in the Mississippi Delta,

and in the Great River Road Region.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Chucalissa Site (approx. 2.8 miles away); Mississippian House Life (approx.

Photographed by Steve Masler, February 27, 2018

2. Ernest C. Withers House Marker

2.8 miles away); Welcome to Chucalissa (approx. 2.8 miles away); Gardening (approx. 2.8 miles away); Plant Use in the Southeast (approx. 2.8 miles away); Building Mounds (approx. 2.9 miles away); Platform Mound (approx. 2.9 miles away); The Central Plaza (approx. 2.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Memphis.

Photographed by Steve Masler, February 27, 2018

3. Ernest C. Withers House Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on March 2, 2018, by Steve Masler of Memphis, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 1,047 times since then and 17 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on March 2, 2018, by Steve Masler of Memphis, Tennessee. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.