The Legacy of 87 Adams

The Legacy of 87 Adams seeks to illuminate the long-hidden stories of enslaved people who were bought and sold in the shadows of historic churches in Memphis, Tennessee. Our coalition of faith leaders, racial justice advocates, scholars of African American and Reconstruction history, and church members are creating a memorial and accompanying archive in the heart of Downtown Memphis. Together, by uncovering this site’s buried history and building an enduring space of solace, we seek to challenge the systemic injustices perpetrated here and lay a foundation for citywide healing.

With support from Monument Lab, this project seeks to counterbalance Tennessee's recent legislative restrictions on teaching comprehensive and diverse American history with a rigorously researched, community-envisioned public monument and archive. The memorial will be located on a church parking lot, once designated “87 Adams,” where enslaver Nathan Bedford Forrest traded thousands of lives. Planning research is documenting how this collaborative coalition confronted these legacies and began a design process.

Monument Lab’s Re:Generation initiative is an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation effort to create new or expand existing public art, public history, or public humanities projects.  Learn more about the Legacy of 87 Adams here.