I didn’t do any more than anyone else would have done in my place.

Tom Lee, the man, is still relatively unknown in Memphis, but his story embodies the spirit of the under-resourced but courageous and humble city.

On May 8th, 1925, at the height of Jim Crow, Tom Lee, a Black river worker in Memphis, was hailed as a national hero for saving more than 30 White people from drowning. Racism diminished the recognition, when Memphis named Tom Lee Park in his honor, they erected a commemorative obelisk, its inscription calling Lee a “very worthy negro.”

Tom Lee’s gravestone does not mention his heroism and reads, “Lead me in the path of peace.” A sentiment that reflects Tom Lee’s own humble words on his heroic actions: “I didn’t do any more than anyone else would have done in my place.”

There is dignity and justice in Black rest.

Pictured: Martin Luther King Jr, James Baldwin, Barbara Jordan, Toni Morrison, Bob Marley, Maya Angelou, and Audre Lorde

Memphis River Parks Partnership’s work in the park is one way to honor Tom Lee and his last expressed wish; finding peace. Revitalizing a park, a place for peace, in a Black city is justice. Jim Crow laws barred Black people from outdoor recreational areas like public parks in the South, and Black relaxation is still not normalized in American culture. 

Images of Civil Rights heroes in repose can even be jarring, as culture casts them as eternally firm and stoic in our minds. But like Tom Lee, all heroes have humanity and need peace. Everyone does. Tom Lee’s superpower was his ability to see humanity. He saved people who may not have saved him. The park honors his superpower by providing all Memphians with a path to peace, a place all people need and deserve because: there is dignity and justice in Black rest.

Tom Lee Park has been one of those ever-changing gathering places.

Champions changed the Tom Lee Park icon to a heart to differentiate Tom Lee Park from the rest of the identity system, demonstrate the earnestness of mission, and signify the heroism of Tom Lee. The heart is a universal symbol of compassion and courage, and fittingly, the rearrangement of park districts to center Tom Lee Park in the new Riverfront District makes Tom Lee Park the “heart” of the riverfront. The redrawn map of parks merges the Fourth Bluff district with three parks from the Big River district to create the new district at the river’s most bustling point.

Park partner Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, recently acquired “Memphis on the Mississippi (Ode to Tom Lee)” by Black artist Carl E. Moore. Of the park, Moore said,  “During the 40 years I’ve lived in Memphis, I’ve had the chance to see how the city of Memphis and the African American community live and connect with the river. Tom Lee Park has been one of those ever-changing gathering places.”