This building was the Memphis home of William Christopher Handy, who is often referred to as the "Father of the Blues." He wrote the song "Memphis Blues" in 1912 at the request of E.H. Crump, then running for mayor, and it became something of an anthem for the city. A major award for blues musicians, the W.C. Handy Award, is given every year at the Orpheum Theater in Memphis. The W.C. Handy Home features exhibits on Handy's career that trace the history of the blues in Memphis.
Soulsville
Stax Museum of American Soul Music is located on the site of Stax Records which is known to have much significance in the music industry. The company is known to have launched the careers of many successful musicians. There are around 2000 exhibits that include videos, artifacts, films, photographs, and more. Apart from the exhibits, the museum regularly plays host to events like live concerts, educational programs, and fundraisers.
Builders of churches in the U.S. in the 19th and early 20th centuries tended to borrow their designs from much older European constructions. Thus, this white stone cathedral, built in the late 1800s and early 1900s has the look of a 13th-century Gothic church from a town in Bavaria. W. Halsey Wood, the architect of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, designed it. Look for the altar dedicated to the nurses who died after contracting yellow fever from their patients during the epidemic of 1878. Many were treated here, in the previous St. Mary's building.
