Mapping Memphis: A Geospatial Analysis of the Records of the T. H. Hayes and Sons Funeral Home in Memphis, Tennessee

Abstract

“Mapping Memphis” is a spatial humanities project that analyses how historic geographic data can offer new insights into urban heritage and community. It does so using a primary source largely underrepresented in digital humanities research: funeral home ledgers. From 1904 to 1929, T. H. Hayes and Sons Funeral Home, the oldest African American owned business in Memphis, Tennessee recorded demographic and funereal information for over 4,000 African American individuals. This project focuses on the physical locations recorded in each entry that inadvertently offer a glimpse into the decedents’ homes, offices, and community spaces in early twentieth century Memphis. “Mapping Memphis” plots these individual locations onto a digital map, creating a visual representation of Memphis’ social and physical layout a century ago. This paper explores how demographics gathered after an individual’s death can help commemorate their life. It discusses the depths of information that can be pulled from this unique resource, and what applications and challenges of tracking historic data in modern systems exist. Finally, the paper argues that vital records contain unique, largely unexplored demographic data that can help fill gaps in archival silence and urban change.

Keywords:

• geospatial humanities
• funeral homes
• funeral ledgers
• urban heritage

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Addresses and buildings marked with an asterisk* have since been demolished.

2 Records are incomplete. The actual number is likely higher.

3 At the time the geospatial project was created, transcriptions for ledgers 15 and 16 were not available and are therefore excluded from the study.

4 See “Opportunities for Future Research” for more information.

5 It is intriguing to note – though outside of the scope of this paper – that, with the exception of downtown, demographic patterns in modern Memphis have remained largely the same.

6 Discussion on the roles of gender and race in Progressive Era medical practice are outside of this article’s scope, but are one of the many possibilities mentioned in “Opportunities for Future Research.”.

7 The 1909 Polk & Co. Memphis City Directory denotes Black individuals and businesses with a (c) after the entry. The doctors referenced here did not have that marking, leading to the presumption that they were white.

8 “Burial sites” refers here to cemeteries, not individual grave plots.