Orange Mound, Memphis
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Orange Mound is an impoverished neighborhood in Memphis, Tennessee and was the first African-American neighborhood in the United States to be built by African-Americans. It is bounded by Lamar/Kimball on the south, Southern on the north, Airways on the west and Semmes on the east. The neighborhood has a population of approximately 14,800, of which 11,700 are of African-American heritage.
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[edit] History
Orange Mound stands on the site of the former John Deaderick plantation. Between 1825 and 1830, Deaderick (whose family donated the land in Nashville on which the Tennessee State Capitol was built) purchased 5,000 acres (20 km²) of land and built a stately house there (at what is now the east side of Airways, between Carnes and Spottswood). In 1890, a developer named Elzey Eugene Meachem purchased land from the Deaderick family and began developing a subdivision for African-Americans, selling lots for less than $100. A typical Orange Mound house is a small, narrow "shotgun"-style house.
In its early days, Orange Mound was billed as "the largest concentration of blacks in the United States except for Harlem in New York City." The neighborhood provided a refuge for blacks moving to the city for the first time from rural areas. Although the streets of the early Orange Mound were unpaved, it was a vibrant community in which a mix of residences, businesses, churches, and cultural centers flourished. During the era of desegregation, Orange Mound entered a period of decline when younger residents began to move away. Orange Mound was once a notoriously dangerous neighborhood but has cleaned up considerably as crime has moved south & east of it.
[edit] Revitalization
In recent decades, Orange Mound has been the focus of a variety of revitalization efforts. One such effort, the Orange Mound Collaborative, was funded by a Ford Foundation grant and stresses "education through empowerment." The Orange Mound Collaborative's projects include an Early Childhood Institute, and an oral history project in which researchers conduct videotaped interviews with Orange Mound's older residents.
In 2003, Orange Mound was named one of 21 areas in Memphis that are the focus of the S.M.A.R.T. Revitalization Plan ("Servicing the Metropolitan Area through the Redevelopment of Targeted neighborhoods"), a public-private partnership to create vibrant neighborhoods in declining areas.
In a 2004 editorial in the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Robert Lipscomb, director of Memphis's Housing and Community Development division, wrote that much progress has been made in revitalizing Orange Mound, through a combination of code enforcement, tenant education programs, and neighborhood cleanup efforts.
A group called the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center helped neighborhood residents to create the Orange Mound Community Garden. Organizers of the garden project hoped the project would help beautiful the community, provide a source of nutritious food, teach leadership skills, and encourage self-reliance.
[edit] Cultural life
Churches have always played a prominent role in the life of Orange Mound, helping to develop community leaders and fostering community stability. Particularly important has been Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church, a 125-year old church that has been located at the corner of David and Carnes Streets since 1926. This church played a role in the American Civil Rights Movement by assisting activists jailed for their activities in support of racial equality.
Orange Mound is also a center of rap music activity, fostering underground rap as well as launching stars into the national hip-hop music scene. Rappers 8 Ball & MJG (Premo Smith and Marlon Jermain Goodwin) grew up in Orange Mound and met in junior high school.
Melrose High School is located in Orange Mound and serves as a source of pride and focal point for the community.
Tyler Glover, who operates Tyler's Place restaurant at 2481 Park Avenue, has been dubbed the "Mayor of Orange Mound," and his restaurant the unofficial Orange Mound "city hall." During the first term of Memphis Mayor W. W. Herenton, Glover presented Herenton with an orange "key to Orange Mound." Glover's words convey the love that Orange Mound's long- term residents feel for Orange Mound: "This is the greatest community in the world.... It is the greatest community because I know everybody here and I love working on committees and making this a better place in which to live. I don't want to live any other place than Orange Mound. I have had numerous opportunities to move some place else, but there is no other place in the world I want to live, but Orange Mound, Tenn."
[edit] Sources
- Jones, Yolanda (Dec. 24, 2004). "Ludacris hustles back to town -- Memphis's working artists stay busy on the road, too." The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), p. G18-G19.
- Kelley, Michael (Feb. 1, 1996). "Reality with a Beat: Memphis Rappers Speak to Urban Life." The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), p. C1.
- Lipscomb, Robert (Apr. 18, 2004). "Paving the Way to Livable Neighborhoods." The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), p. B5.
- Magness, Perre (Apr. 23, 1992). "Orange Mound Holds Unique Niche." The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), p. E2.
- Perkins, Pamela (Aug. 12, 1999). "Oral History Project is Open Mike For Voices of Experience." The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), p. CC7.
- Perkins, Pamela (Nov. 14, 2003). "City Picks Needy Areas for Revitalization Plan." The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), p. C1.
- Perkins, Pamela (Oct. 31, 1998). "Orange Mound is Rekindling Its Glow." The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), p. A9.
- Unsigned Article (Oct. 8, 2003). "Pride Still Blooms Amid Faded Glory of Orange Mound." The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), p. B2.
- Risher, Wayne (Oct. 20, 1994). "Orange Mound Church Now 115." The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), p. EC1.
- Scott, Jonathan (May 29, 1998). "'Mayor' of Orange Mound Reviving Business with a Little Help from City-County Program." Memphis Business Journal.
