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Introduction
"I do intend to touch upon views in this little community letter which I may not totally or in part support, as opposed to others, but which I deem valid in some respect and would not expect to otherwise be told or brought to the awareness of readers by the major media."
Jerry Murley (8/7/74)
"There is no disputing it, the world may be at peace or war, but ultimately it is ourselves as a community with whom we and our descendants must come to terms."
Jerry Murley (8/21/74)
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Memphis 1974-1977
CENTER CITY
Downtown mavericks speak their piece.
In 1974, a small band of out-of-work college kids, together with a handful of professionals trained as writers, were released into the wilds of West Tennessee on the Mississippi River. They joined with the good people of First Presbyterian Church of Memphis to create a truly vibrant communications vehicle that focused on the healthy redevelopment of Downtown Memphis. Center City [1] was the name given the effort by its initial publisher. Though the members of the church, who paid for the publication for two years, thought of it as a newsletter, the editors, the volunteer writers, and many of the Downtown readers began to treat it with the respect deserving of a small community newspaper with dedicated, connected, low-paid or, more likely, unpaid contributors. The editors saw fit, especially as the publication aged, to add a spicy irreverence and experimentation due a long-neglected youthful voice in a community at the edge of decline staging a comeback.
Below are links to eighty-eight (88) complete issues of Center City. Enjoy this bounty of detail about the often unacknowledged groundwork and debates behind the redevelopment of Downtown Memphis. (Some issues of Center City are missing from this collection. Anyone in possession of a copy of the missing issues is urged to contact TennesseeSoul so that those lost orphans might be scanned, converted to PDF documents, and returned to the fold for re-examination.)
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Center City, Volume I, Number 19 (5/15/1974) [Day v. City Hall (ML)]
Center City, Volume I, Number 21 (6/5/1974) [Taskforces (ML); Two Women (ML)]
Center City, Volume I, Number 30 (7/31/1974) [Security (SH); PUDs (DD); Ct. Sq. Market (CC)]
Center City, Volume I, Number 31 (8/7/1974) [DT Plan (CC); New Editor (JM); Cockroaches (ML)]
Center City, Volume I, Number 33 (8/21/1974) [Elder Law; Purpose; Landmarks; Defense; WT Words]
Center City, Volume I, Number 34 (8/28/1974) [Recycling; Historic Preservation; JM Words]
Center City, Volume I, Number 35 (9/4/1974) [Transportation History & Comment (JM)]
Center City, Volume I, Number 36 (9/11/1974) [Criminal Reform; Crump Interview (DD & JM)]
Center City, Volume I, Number 37 (9/18/1974) [Housing Survey; Crime (JM); JM Words]
Center City, Volume I, Number 38 (9/25/1974) [Carter Seed Co. Interview (DD & JM); At-Large]
Center City, Volume I, Number 39 (10/2/1974) [Carter Seed Co. II; Porter Bldg. (JM); PW Words]
Center City, Volume I, Number 40 (10/9/1974) [Oktoberfest; Peterson Trial; Lipchitz; JM Words]
Center City, Volume I, Number 41 (10/16/1974) [Wm. Thornton's "Sarah"; I-40 (JM)]
Center City, Volume I, Number 42 (10/23/1974) [Happy Birthday Mr. Crump (DD)]
Center City, Volume I, Number 44 (11/7/1974) [WKNO-Radio-WLYX (JM)]
Center City, Volume I, Number 45 (11/13/1974) [Counseling Center; Footprints (JM); JM Words]
Center City, Volume I, Number 46 (11/20/1974) [Bus Me to Nashoba & Back (PW)]
Center City, Volume I, Number 47 (11/27/1974) [Reproductive Health; JM Words]
Center City, Volume I, Number 48 (12/4/1974) [The James Lee Memorial]
Center City, Volume I, Number 49 (12/11/1974) [Discourse on Ethics: Introduction (JM)]
Center City, Volume I, Number 50 (12/18/1974) [Ethics (James Shaw); Exchange; Homecoming (JM)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 2 (1/15/1975) [Circuit Playhouse (JM)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 3 (1/22/1975) [Citizen Comments (E. Bridges); Exploring DT (JM/BC)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 4 (1/30/1975) [Portable Ethics (D. Freeman)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 5 (2/5/1975) [Community Development (JM)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 6 (2/13/1975) [Old Bldgs. (JH Roper); Letters About EB Comments]
Center City, Volume II, Number 7 (2/20/1975) [BLOOM; Exploring DT (JM/BC); JM Words]
Center City, Volume II, Number 8 (2/27/1975) [Mei Lin Restaurant (JR); Comments]
Center City, Volume II, Number 9 (3/6/1975) [The Mall; Darwinism; Tax Cuts (JM)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 10 (3/13/1975) [MLG&W Building; Kimball Pipe Organ (Vincent Astor)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 11 (3/20/1975) [DT Council Interview (JM); H. Day Update (JM)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 12 (3/27/1975) [Elections (JM); Recruiting (JM); Odes to Spring]
Center City, Volume II, Number 13 (4/3/1975) [Being Myth; Old Man (J. Morrison); Bench Mark (JM)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 14 (4/10/1975) [MHA Rebuttal; MTA Citizen Participation (DB)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 15 (4/17/1975) [Media War 1887; Revival (JM); Shopping (JR)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 16 (4/24/1975) [Housing: Lowenstein Tower; Letter Florida State U.]
Center City, Volume II, Number 18 (5/8/1975) [Provincialism (DB); Biking (CC)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 19 (5/15/1975) [Old Memphis Clippings (1842-75); Biking; Space]
Center City, Volume II, Number 20 (5/22/1975) [Letter (EB); SS Words]
Center City, Volume II, Number 21 (5/29/1975) [Bill Moyer's "Earthwatch"]
Center City, Volume II, Number 22 (6/5/1975) [City-Building: A New Role for Churches (JR)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 23 (6/12/1975) [People Projects; Exploring; William Ferris; PW Words]
Center City, Volume II, Number 24 (6/19/1975) [Confederate Reunion of 1901; ML Words]
Center City, Volume II, Number 25 (6/26/1975) [Carnival; Dark Room (ML); EB Words]
Center City, Volume II, Number 26 (7/3/1975) [Fort Pickering (Jim E. Roper); MATA Discount]
Center City, Volume II, Number 27 (7/10/1975) [Beale St. Back (JR); Candidates & Issues]
Center City, Volume II, Number 28 (7/17/1975) [Revue (JW); Vance (CB); Idea Bank (JM); NG Words]
Center City, Volume II, Number 29 (7/24/1975) [City Landmarks Ordinance (JM); NG Words]
Center City, Volume II, Number 30 (7/30/1975) [Fishing (JW); Mud Island (DB); Brewery; JM Words]
Center City, Volume II, Number 31 (8/7/1975) [Hot'l King Cotton; MV Words]
Center City, Volume II, Number 32 (8/18/1975) [Shrine (DB); Biking (JM); Mud Island Rebuttal (SS)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 37 (9/18/1975) [Building Painting (PW); Garbage Downtown (DB)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 38 (9/25/1975) [DT Exile (IS); Urban Renewal (RJ); Cody on Politics]
Center City, Volume II, Number 39 (10/2/1975) [St. Mary's (MHN); MLG&W Recovery; Gibson Politics]
Center City, Volume II, Number 40 (10/9/1975) [Ellis & Son Iron Works (DB); Women in the Arts]
Center City, Volume II, Number 41 (10/16/1975) [Oktoberfest; Gourmet's Guide (JR); Iron Works (EB)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 42 (10/23/1975) [Services for the Elderly; Memphis to Greenville (JM)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 43 (10/30/1975) [WKNO; Free Street Theater (JW)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 44 (11/6/1975) [Memphis Heritage; DT After Dark; Book-Ins (CC)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 45 (11/13/1975) [Playhouse on Sq.; Localism (JM); Day Care (CC)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 46 (11/20/1975) [Atlanta (DB); Seattle (CC)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 47 (11/27/1975) [Walking (EB); Letters (MR to DB & Two by JM)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 48 (12/4/1975) [Urban Federalism (DB); Store-Front Housing (CC)]
Center City, Volume II, Number 49 (12/11/1975) [2]
Center City, Volume II, Number 50 (12/18/1975)
Center City, Volume III, Number 1 (1/8/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 2 (2/1/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 3 (2/6/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 4 (2/19/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 5 (3/4/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 6 (3/18/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 7 (4/1/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 8 (4/15/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 9 (4/29/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 10 (5/13/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 11 (5/27/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 12 (6/10/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 13 (6/24/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 14 (7/8/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 15 (7/22/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 16 (8/5/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 17 (8/19/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 18 (9/2/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 19 (9/16/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 20 (9/30/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 21 (10/14/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 22 (10/28/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 23 (11/11/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 24 (11/25/1976)
Center City, Volume III, Number 25 (12/9/1976)
Center City, Volume IV, Number 1 (1/20/1977)
Center City, Volume IV, Number 2 (2/3/1977)
Center City, Volume IV, Number 3 (2/17/1977)
Center City, Volumes III & IV [3]
FOOTNOTES:
1. The editors represented in these archives remained friends for almost forty years. Michael Lance was editor through July 31, 1974. Gerald (Jerry) Murley, Jr., was editor from August 7, 1974, through September 16, 1976. He remained manager until February 3, 1977. Patricia Waters was editor from September 30, 1976, until February 3, 1977. Sometime thereafter, the publication was transferred to the care of what was thought to be a substantial group in Midtown. Thinking at the time was that the group, consisting of numerous civicly involved professionals, would thrive and cement the alliance between Downtown and Midtown, helping both. The three editors, under the first two publishers, First Presbyterian Church and then Front Street Arts, a non-profit arts group, were frankly exhausted or, by that time, exiting the city. Front Street Arts was running low on funds that were needed to maintain another project, Lyceum Film Theater, in operation for several more years.
2. Believe it or not, I actually have a life and a job. This is a far as I have indexed to date. I will continue to work on this project. Therefore, please revisit this page for further updates.
3. In order to make searching easier, I have compiled all of the Center City's published by Front Street Arts into a single PDF file. (Beware, it is about 12 MB in size.)
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