DIG MEMPHIS Digital Archives

This online exhibit explores financial related topics while showcasing the history of money matters in Memphis. Learn how consumer prices have changed over the years. Take a look at some of the oldest banking institutions in the city. See where Memphians of the past have gone to obtain loans. Drawing on images found in in our digital archives, the exhibition connects broader financial themes to local history and information. 

This collection is still in its infancy. Only a small fraction of the 130+ boxes found onsite at A. Schwab Dry Goods Store have been digitized so far, but the collection has a multitude of unique artifacts that establish the vast influences and connections A. Schwab has to Beale St., to Memphis, and to the broader history of the U.S.

We need your help! Explore images from our digital archive that are missing important details.

See if you can help us fill in some of the gaps.

The Oral History Program began in the early 60s when Governor W. Browning was interviewed by Memphis State Univ. professor and archivist, Joseph H. Riggs. Named after Everett R. Cook, who donated to MPL’s oral history program, the collection spans decades and includes interviews with a broad cross-section of Memphians from across the city.

Funeral programs are invaluable historical documents that offer rich insights into our ancestors’ lives. They often include biographical information, family connections, dates, and locations, and serve as a unique record of an individual’s life. The programs contained in the Funeral Programs Collection preserve crucial data cherished by genealogists and family researchers, enhancing their understanding of personal histories.

A lot has changed since the original Cossitt Library first opened its doors on April 12, 1893. The Library History Collection captures more than a century of development and progress, reflected in photographs, letters, and other documents.

In 2019, the Library celebrated the City and County’s Bicentennial with various programs and special online exhibits including a timeline of major events, a revamped Streetscapes collection, and the launch of “Memphis Then and Now”, a series of current-day replicated photos of some of the more iconic Streetscapes images.

It only takes one glance at a photo of Front Street in the 1890s to see how much Memphis has changed… and how so many things have remained the same! This collection includes images of Memphis streets from the late-19th century to the late-20th century. It’s also a great place to find pictures of homes, buildings, streetcars, automobiles and businesses. Enjoy a trip through historic Memphis!

Have you ever wondered just how much a familiar street has changed over time or looked at an old building and speculated about what changes it may have undergone? Inspired by images found in our digital archives, we have gone out and recreated photographs from Memphis’ past to illustrate how the city has transformed. Use the digital slider to examine old and new images, comparing Memphis of the past to Memphis today.

In April 2019, Memphis Public Libraries ventured into the abandoned Mid-South Coliseum to determine if there was anything worth preserving. At this time, physical material is not available to the public. However, due to community interest, we are streamlining the digitization process and releasing highlights as part of this online exhibit.

Spanning over 200 individual items, this collection tells a story that begins on dirt fields and in city ballparks in the late 1930s, and stretches through team photographs, newspaper publications, business correspondence, magazine articles, and reunion banquets decades later. The bulk of the material in the digital archive comes from the T. H. Hayes Collection. Hayes, a prominent Memphis businessman, owned the Birmingham Black Barons from 1939 to 1951, during the height of the team’s success.

Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage

In 2020, we celebrated the centennial anniversary of this major milestone, and reflected on the decades-long struggle by suffragists in Memphis, the state of Tennessee, and across the nation.