The exhibition, on view in the rotunda of the Ned R. McWherter Library until May 9, features more than 30 documents and artifacts from three generations of the Robert R. Church family and reflects the cultural, political and racial climate of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Click here for information about each family member.

Prominent Memphians and active members of the Republican Party, the Church family was influential in business, politics and public service both locally and nationally. They were heavily involved in the early Civil Rights Movement and gained the respect and admiration of presidents, activists and key historical figures. In 1976, Sara Roberta Church donated nearly 100 boxes of material from her family’s personal archives to the University Libraries. Click here to view additional photos of the Church family. 

The exhibition includes souvenir programs from local events honoring President Theodore Roosevelt and Booker T. Washington, along with personal correspondence from both men. The first display case features an assortment of letters, pamphlets, and historical publications, such as an original 1906 issue of W.E.B. DuBois’ The Moon, the first weekly African-American magazine and the precursor to The Crisis. 

Another display highlights the achievements of women during the Civil Rights Movement and includes letters from Ida B. Wells-Barnett, as well as Church’s copy of her 1920 publication The Arkansas Race Riot. For more information on notable Memphis women, click here to read about the AMUM’s exhibition for Women’s History Month, “Muted Belles: A Monument to Women of Memphis.”Then,test your knowledge of women’s history by taking the online quiz based on the Art Museum and McWherter Library displays by March 31.