The Perre Magness Collection Processed by Lauren Peterson and Jordan Redmon Rhodes College 2011 Memphis & Shelby County Room Memphis Public Library and Information Center 3030 Poplar Avenue Memphis, TN 38111 Perre Magness Collection Biography Perre MacFarland Magness was born and raised in Columbia, Tennessee. She attended the Madeira School before graduating from Vassar College with honors and a degree in history. In 1962, after leaving Vassar, she did some graduate work at Vanderbilt University before meeting her husband, B. Percy Magness. The couple married and moved to Memphis in 1965. Their children Lon M. Magness and Perre Coleman Magness grew up in Memphis and still live there today. Perre Magness is an avid volunteer, historian, and writer. Magness has held many volunteer positions in Memphis, including the founding president of the Volunteer Center of Memphis, President of the Junior League of Memphis, and a board member of LeMoyne-Owen College. In the 1960s, she served on the historic Panel of American Women, helping women learn to overcome racial, religious, and socioeconomic differences. Other organizations she has dedicated countless hours to include Arts Memphis, the University of Memphis, and Idlewild Presbyterian Church. Her volunteerism led to her career as a historical writer after Memphis Heritage approached the Junior League for help in recording Memphis’ historical buildings. Eventually, the project grew into a book, Good Abode: 19th Century Architecture in Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee, which Magness was asked to author in 1983. Magness has since published nine more books, their subjects ranging from early Memphis history, Past Times: Stories of Early Memphis, to Memphis landmarks, such as In the Shadows of the Elms: Elmwood Cemetery, which won the Memphis Heritage Historical Writing Award in 2002. Before authoring books, Magness already had a history of writing, as she reviewed books for the Nashville Banner and the Commercial Appeal for several years. In 1987, she began writing a column in the Commercial Appeal, entitled “Past Times” that discussed the history of Memphis and the Mid-South. The column ran weekly for sixteen years. When Magness first moved to Memphis, she came to the Memphis Public Library to read about the area’s history. It is only appropriate that after a fruitful career, her books, articles, and now research material are available in the same place she originally sought information. Magness has been celebrated and honored with many awards throughout her lifetime. She has won Junior League Sustainer of the Year, the Women of Achievement Award, the Leadership Memphis Kate Gooch Award, and is the namesake of a lecture series organized by the Hutchinson School. Her steadfast love for Memphis and its community has not only been recognized by prestigious organizations, but also by avid readers who have followed Magness’ intriguing and fascinating writings for decades. 2 Scope and Content Notes The Perre Magness Collection was donated to the Memphis Public Library and Information Center in two parts. Series I was donated in 2010 by Perre Magness. Series II was donated in June of 2011 by her. Comprising nearly 13 linear feet, the Perre Magness Collection was gathered between the 1983 and the early 2000s. The original order of the files was maintained in the processing of this collection. The folder headings are original as well. Series I of the Perre Magness Collection contains an all-encompassing wealth of information on the city of Memphis, since its founding in 1819 to the early 21st Century. Major historical events occurring in Memphis, such as the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878, the annual Cotton Carnival, as well as the Earthquake of 1848, are thoroughly covered in this collection. Also including historical information about the state of Tennessee and the entire Mid-South region, this collection is by no means limited to the city of Memphis. This series includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, and handwritten notes pertaining to Magness’ research throughout her career as a historian, author, and writer for the Commercial Appeal. Series II primarily contains information on Magness’ philanthropic and civic work, but also some research material. Records of volunteer ventures, organizations, and non-profit management are plentiful throughout the collection. Through this series, a researcher can gain a better understanding for Perre Magness’ personal life, of which she dedicated so much to volunteerism. Included are photographs, records, brochures, and pieces of correspondence. Researchers interested in the history of Memphis and the Mid-South region will also want to consult the papers of Paul Coppock and Arthur Webb. Researchers interested in volunteer history in Memphis can find more information in the papers of Selma Lewis and Susanne Conlon Scruggs Single photocopies or scans of unpublished writings in these papers may be made for purposes of scholarly research. Memphis and Shelby County Room rights statement While the Memphis Public Library & Information Center may house an item, it does not necessarily hold the copyright on the item, nor may it be able to determine if the item is still protected under current copyright law. Users are solely responsible for determining the existence of such instances and for obtaining any other permissions and paying associated fees that may be necessary for the intended use. Any image from the library's collection published in any form must cite as the source: Memphis and Shelby County Room, Memphis Public Library & Information Center. For all requests, please contact the History Department at 901.415.2742 or [email protected]. 3 Container List Box Folder Folder Name Number Number 1 1 Airport 1 2 Grand Duke Alexis 1 3 Architecture 1 4 Arkansas (state) 1 5 Armstrong [family] 1 6 Artesian Water 1 7 Auditorium 1 8 Audubon Park 1 9 Bachelor’s Baby Hospital 1 10 Bakery 1 11 Banks 1 12 Baptists 1 13 Bartlett 1 14 Baseball 1 15 Negro League Baseball 1 16 Battle, [Walter Preston] 2 1 Beale Street 2 2 Beale Street Baptist 2 3 Beethoven Club 2 4 Black Churches 2 5 Black Women - B. Bond 2 6 Blacks (1/4) 2 7 Blacks (2/4) 2 8 Blacks (3/4) 2 9 Blacks (4/4) 3 1 Bluff 3 2 Brewery 3 3 Bolton [School] 3 4 Bridges (1/2) 3 5 Bridges (2/2) 3 6 Desoto Bridge 3 7 Harahan Bridge 3 8 Brunswick - Ellen Davies Rodgers 3 9 Brooks 3 10 Brownsville 3 11 Buffalo Soldiers 3 12 Buildings 3 13 Burke’s 3 14 Buntyn 3 15 Business 4 1 Calvin Coolidge 4 2 Carry Nation 4 4 3 Campbell Clinic 4 4 Catholics (1/3) 4 5 Catholics (2/3) 4 6 Catholics (3/3) 4 7 Carnival (1/3) 4 8 Carnival (2/3) 4 9 Carnival (3/3) 5 1 Cemeteries 5 2 Centenary Methodist Church 5 3 Center for Southern Folklore 5 4 Centennial - Memphis 1919 5 5 Chickasaw Guards 5 6 Civil War 5 7 Robert R. Churches 5 8 Churches - White 5 9 Civil Rights Museum 5 10 Civil War Preservation Trust 5 11 College of Art 5 12 CME, Collins Chapel, and Zion Cemetery 5 13 Confederate Reunions 5 14 Cordova 5 15 Collierville 6 1 Convention of 1845 6 2 Court Square 6 3 Crimes 6 4 Samuel Hester Crone 6 5 Crosscut Club 6 6 Crump 6 7 DAR 6 8 Daily News Centennial 1886-1986 6 9 Jefferson Davis 6 10 Davy Crockett 6 11 Desoto, [Hernando] 6 12 Desoto County 6 13 Dixon 6 14 Elaine Riot 6 15 Earthquakes 6 16 Edison, Thomas 7 1 Elmwood (1/2) 7 2 Elmwood (2/2) 7 3 Emma Cook School 7 4 Episcopalians 7 5 Erskine - Dr. John 7 6 Esperanza, Arkansas 7 7 Fairs & Expositions 7 8 Fayette & Hardeman Counties 5 7 9 Fire 7 10 First Baptist Lauderdale to Fuller 7 11 First TN Art 7 12 Forrest, [Nathan Bedford, III] 7 13 Forts 7 14 Frayser 7 15 French 8 1 Germans 8 2 Gayoso 8 3 Germantown 8 4 Goodwyn Institute 8 5 Girl Scouts 8 6 Jim Gilliland 8 7 Dr. Max Goltman 8 8 Greeks 8 9 Isham Green Harris 8 10 Hardwood Lumber 8 11 Hein Park 8 12 Haliburton 8 13 Horseshoe Lake 8 14 Historians 8 15 Napoleon Hill 8 16 Helena, [Arkansas] 8 17 Hotels 9 1 Hunt-Phelan (1/2) 9 2 Hunt-Phelan (2/2) 9 3 Hunting 9 4 Hunter Fan 9 5 Hutchison School 9 6 Indians (Hindu) 9 7 Irish 9 8 Italians 9 9 Jail 9 10 Andrew Jackson 9 11 Thomas Jefferson 9 12 Harwood Center 9 13 Home Builders Assn. 9 14 Indians 10 1 Jews (1/4) 10 2 Jews (2/4) 10 3 Jews (3/4) 10 4 Jews (4/4) 10 5 Jewish Tours 10 6 Junior League 10 7 KKK 10 8 Labor 6 10 9 Kennedy Book Club 10 10 Latham 11 1 Earnest Lacey - Freejoe Harris 11 2 W.M. Lawrence 11 3 Lawyers 11 4 LeBonheur 11 5 G.W. Lee 11 6 Tom Lee 11 7 LeMoyne-Owen 11 8 Lesueur Drawings 11 9 Cheerfield Farm 11 10 Library 11 11 Lodges, Masons, Clubs 11 12 Gigi McConnell Letters 11 13 Myles V. Lynk – University of West Tennessee 11 14 Markers 12 1 Maps 12 2 John Donelson Martin 12 3 John Martin & Dog 12 4 Melrose, Orange Mound 12 5 Medicine – Hospitals 12 6 Memphis 12 7 USS Memphis 12 8 Memphis Belle 12 9 Memphis College of Art 12 10 Memphis in May 12 11 Memphis in Movies & Literature 12 12 Memphis State 13 1 Miss Memphis 13 2 Elizabeth Avery Meriwether 13 3 Methodists 13 4 Metropolitan Baptist 13 5 Memoirs 13 6 Millennium Century 13 7 Millington 13 8 Mississippi: Le Flore, Holly Springs 13 9 Alice Mitchell / Freda Ward 13 10 MLGW 13 11 William R.