During the late 1920’s Howlin Wolf lived and worked on the Dockery Farm, the the Dockery Plantation, in Sunflower County, Mississippi.
The Dockery Farms entrance sign, Highway 8, Sunflower County, Mississippi
Howlin’ Wolf made his first recordings for Sam Phillips at Memphis Recording Service (later Sun Recording Studio) in Memphis in 1951. Sam Phillips considered Howlin’ Wolf the most important artist he recorded.
The Memphis Recording Service, Sun Records and Sun Studio, 706 Union Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee
One of readers, Keith Petersen, used our website’s information on Emmett Till to plan a visit to sites connected to the Emmett Till murder in August 1955. Keith Petersen is associated with The Killer Blues Headstone Project.
Keith Petersen has kindly provided us with some photos he took of the site of J.W. Milam’s former house in Glendora, Mississippi and the adjacent M.B. Lowe’s Glendora [Cotton] Gin. Keith Petersen took these photos during his recent trip to Mississippi.
In August 1955, J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant, the owner of Bryant’s Grocery in Money, Mississippi, beat and then murdered Emmett Till in a barn behind J.W. Milam’s house. They then took a 70 lbs. metal fan from the adjacent M.B. Lowe’s Glendora Gin, attached the fan to Emmett Till’s body with barbed wire and threw the body and the fan into the Tallahatchie River, where Emmett Till’s body was found a few days later.
The former M.B. Lowe’s Glendora Gin building is now the site of the Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Centre.
Milam’s House sign, at the site of the former house of J.W. Milam, one of the two men who murdered Emmett Till in August 1955, Glendora, Mississippi. The Glendora Gin building, now the Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Center, is in the background. (courtesy of Keith Petersen)Milam’s House sign, at the site of the former house of J.W. Milam, one of the two men who murdered Emmett Till in August 1955, Glendora, Mississippi (courtesy of Keith Petersen)Glendora Gin sign, near the site of the former house of J.W. Milam, one of the two men who murdered Emmett Till in August 1955, Glendora, Mississippi (courtesy of Keith Petersen)Glendora Gin building, now the site of the Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Centre, near the site of the former house of J.W. Milam, one of the two men who murdered Emmett Till in August 1955, Glendora, Mississippi (courtesy of Keith Petersen)Glendora Gin building, now the site of the Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Centre, Glendora, Mississippi (courtesy of Keith Petersen)
Our thanks to Keith Petersen for providing the photos above. We have not yet visited this site but we plan to do so on our next trip to Mississippi.
Glendora, Mississippi is also the birthplace of Sonny Boy Williamson.
Sonny Boy Williamson Birthplace sign, Glendora, Mississippi (courtesy of Keith Petersen)
Readers interested in Sonny Boy Williamson may also want to visit his grave outside Tutwiler, Tallahatchie County, Mississippi
Sonny Boy Williamson grave near Tutwiler, Mississippi. The grave stone was placed by Lillian McMurray, whose Trumpet Records label made the first Sonny Boy Williamson recordings.
A new book about the Emmett Till Murder in 1955, called The Blood Of Emmett Till, to be released next week, reportedly states that Carolyn Bryant Donham, now 82, has recanted her 1955 statement that 14 year old Emmett Till made sexual advances to her at Bryant’s Grocery in Money, Leflore County, Mississippi.
In August 1955, the then 21 year old Carolyn Bryant claimed that 14 year old Emmett Till had made sexual advances and comments to her in Bryant’s Grocery, the store she ran with her then husband Roy Bryant.
Caroline Bryant’s allegations resulted in Emmett Till being kidnapped, tortured and murdered by Caroline Bryant’s husband, Roy Bryant and his half- brother J.W. Milam.
A few days later, Emmett Till’s mutilated body was discovered in the Tallhatchie River.
Some of our readers have recently reported having difficulty finding Mississippi John Hurt’s grave using the GPS locations we have shown on our webpage about Mississippi John Hurt’s grave. If other readers are experiencing similar difficulties, here are some Google Maps Street View images of the route to the grave. We hope these images help resolve some of these reported problems.
First, start off at the Mississippi Department of Archives & History marker at the intersection of Highway 7 and Carroll County Road 41. (note: when we were last there, the road sign on this road said “Carroll County Road 204” and we have used that road designation on our webpage. To avoid confusion here, we will use the Google Maps reference to County Road 41.)
Alan Lomax (1915 – 2002) played a major role in recording Delta blues artists from the 1930’s to 1978.
In the 1930’s he worked with his father, John Lomax. They made a trip through the southern United States in which they discovered and recorded Huddy Ledbetter in Angola State Penitentiary in Louisiana.
In 1941 and 1942, he made recording trips to Mississippi for the Library of Congress, which resulted in recordings of Muddy Waters, Son House, David “Honeyboy” Edwards and others.
He made the first recordings of Muddy Waters (1941-42) at Stovall Farm near Clarksdale. He also made historic recordings of Son House in Tunica County 1941 and 1942. He also recorded David “Honeyboy” Edwards (1942) and other Delta bluesmen.
This Tennessee Historical Commission marker is located outside the King’s Palace Cafe at 162 Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee.The Hooks Brothers Photography Studio was located at 164 Beale Street, which is now the second floor of the King’s Palace Cafe building, in the space currently occupied by the Absinthe Pool Room.
Hooks Brothers Photography was established in 1907 at 164 Beale Street, Memphis, Tennessee and, over the years, took photographic portraits of many well known people in Memphis history, particularly people from the African-American community.
“HOOKS BROTHERS PHOTOGRAPHY ESTABLISHED IN 1907 – Established by Henry Hooks, Sr. and his brother Robert B. Hooks, Hooks Brothers Photography Studio was the second oldest continuously operating black business in Memphis. Located during its early years at 164 Beale Street, it next moved to Linden Avenue and finally to McLemore Avenue where it ceased operation after a destructive fire in 1979.” Continue reading Hooks Brothers Photography – Where The Only Known Studio Portrait of Robert Johnson Was Taken
On 9 May 2016 we received an enquiry, through our Contact Us page, from Thelma Collins, the Mayor of Itta Bena, Leflore County, Mississippi, who told us she had seen our page on Ralph Lembo’s Store in Itta Bena and was considering applying for a Mississippi Blues Trail marker in Itta Bena.
Although there are several Mississippi Blues Trail markers near Itta Bena, there are not any actually in Itta Bena at this time.
Mayor Collins was thinking of a new Mississippi Blues Trail marker about B.B. King, who was born near Itta Bena and frequently travelled through the town.
We have just sent an email to Mayor Collins recommending that Itta Bena apply for a Mississippi Blues Trail marker outside Ralph Lembo’s former store, which is still standing in downtown Itta Bena, and which is not commemorated or formally recognized in any way for its place in Blues History. We have also suggested that Mayor Collins look into getting a Mississippi Department of Archives & History marker for Ralph Lembo’s store.
The former Ralph Lembo store, Humphreys Street, Itta Bena, Leflore County, Mississippi
For those unfamiliar with Ralph Lembo, he ran a furniture store in Itta Bena during the 1920’s and 1930’s and also acted as a talent scout for record labels like Paramount Records and Columbia Records.
Ralph Lembo is known to have set up a recording session for Rube Lacey and another for Booker “Bukka” White.
Ralph Lembo’s store in Itta Bena was central to that history.
