J. C. Coovert - "In Search of J.C. Coovert" Page 15

On the levee (this is the 1912 flood in Memphis, which he documented extensively), despite the meanness of their accommodations, everything is neat, the people are well dressed, their demeanor dignified.

In this famous picture of cotton weighing the white man who controls the weight is being boldly watched by the pickers, one of whom has on eyeglasses.

In 1929, the Hollywood director, King Vidor, came to Memphis to film Hallelujah. This film was the first all-black musicalW and one of the first all-black films, It showed a world in which African Americans lived complicated lives (albeit melodramatic, in the style of those early films) in a world of their own making. It was politically radical for the time -- so much so that the studios would not sponsor it and Vidor had to finance it himself.

Where we have found comparable photos by Coovert of blacks and of whites, we cannot discern any significant difference in their treatment.

Coovert's life spanned the period during which Memphis became one of the most important centers of cotton commerce in the world, based on the rich and expanding Delta cotton frontier. Memphis is home of the National Cotton Council and the Cotton Carnival. Cotton was King -- its white gold provided the wealth to build a prosperous, modern city.

As Charles Connors, wrote in the Commercial Appeal July 4, 1999,, "The storefronts of cotton factors created the panorama on Front Street that came to be known as 'Cotton Row' around the world. The cotton merchants of Memphis bought the natural fiber from farmers and sold it to distant textile mills in Europe and Asia." Ocean-going freighters came to Memphis, shipping directly to Europe. Bremen, to be precise. The ships carried immigrants from Europe to the U.S., carrying cotton -- and the blues -- on the return voyage. (Note that in 1964 blues masters Howling, Sonny Land Slim, Willie Dixon, and Clifton James gave a concert in Bremen called "Live in Bremen")

Coovert captured -- and created -- a vision of the cotton South that resonated throughout the world.

King Vidor with actors from the film
Hallelujah on location in Memphis, 1929,

This library holds some important records by the woman who starred in the film, Memphian Nina Mae McKinney

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