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 House. . 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.
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.)
35° 3.83′ N, 90° 4.797′ W. Marker is in Memphis, Tennessee, in Shelby County. It is in Walker Homes. Marker 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.
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 788 times since then and 22 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.
