DIG MEMPHIS MYSTERIES

We need your help!

Below are images from our digital archive that are missing important details.

Can you help us fill in some of the gaps?

DIG MEMPHIS MYSTERIES is a multi-week series of mysteries, all centered around a common theme. If you suggest an answer, please share with us how you solved the mystery. Include your name, and we’ll give you credit on the record in the DIG archives. To keep up to date with all DIG MEMPHIS MYSTERIES, follow us on Instagram at @digmemphishistory!

Resources Past Mysteries DIG Memphis Instagram

10/30/2023:

This week is our final mystery in the Fall series focusing on newly digitized materials. The photos come from a collection that was used in the 1987 WHBQ-TV Black History Month public service announcements. The library made copies of these black and white photos of distinguished Black Memphians, filling 6 folders that had been waiting to be digitized.

Today’s #MysteryMonday post focuses on a gentleman who is featured in a number of these photos. The unidentified man seems to have taken an important trip, serving as an ambassador of some kind. In the photos he poses with his hosts, receives as lei, and accepts gifts, including a model boat with the label “Bon Voyage.”

Do you recognize this man? Can you help us fill in the context surrounding his trip?

Group of People on a Trip. The M Files. BCC1695

Man Receives Lei. The M Files. BCC1696

Man with Gifts. The M Files. BCC1699

If you can provide any details on information about these images, please let us know in the comments box!

After this week, we’ll be taking a pause to investigate the submissions we’ve received for our Fall mysteries. Stay tuned for an update on which mysteries have been solved and be sure to follow us on Instagram for updates!

10/23/2023:

This week’s newly digitized photos were gifted together by Gordon Fox and are all part of the M Files mini collection: Sports in Memphis. Can you help us identify these athletes, their teams, or their sport?

“People on Horseback” The M Files, Sports in Memphis, BCC1619

This image comes with fewer clues as there are no names or uniforms to help us identify these equestrians. Do you recognize any of their faces?

10/16/2023:

Today’s #MysteryMonday photos continue our Fall series highlighting newly digitized materials – this time with a focus on streetscapes! We have two photos that were donated separately and with little information attached to them. Take a close look at each of them and use the clues you see to help us uncover more information about these Memphis locations. We’ll be adding more “streetscapes” mysteries to our Memphis Streetscapes Collection. You can find a link to all “Unmapped Images” on the collection’s homepage!

“Memphians and an Early Automobile]” Memphis Streetscapes Collection. Digital ID BCC165 4.

This photo of an unidentified group people and a Model T on a Memphis street was included with a few other photos, including pictures of passengers aboard the old James Lee Riverboat. Those photos were from the late 1910s, and perhaps this image is from around the same time period. Do you recognize any of these faces? What about the street behind them? Where was this car parked? And can you help us determine when the photo was taken?