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In 1977, downtown Beale Street in Memphis — once a thriving center of music and culture — had become a near-ghost town: the grand Peabody Hotel stood empty, the Orpheum Theatre was reduced to showing adult films, and Beale Street itself was fenced off and abandoned.
Into this decline stepped about 200 volunteers from all walks of Memphis life to form a racially mixed planning committee — the first of its kind in the city. Their effort culminated in the first Beale Street Music Festival in May of that year. What organizers expected to be a modest gathering turned into a surprise success: around 6,500 people — Black and white, young and old — showed up, danced, and celebrated together.
This article was recently posted on “When In Your State” by Leo Heit.
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