T. H. Hayes & Sons Funeral Home Ledger Books Collection home page

Founded in 1902 by Thomas H. Hayes, Sr., T.H. Hayes and Sons Funeral Home is Memphis' oldest Black-owned business. Originally on Poplar, the business moved to Lauderdale in 1918. Hayes was active in the National Negro Business League founded by Booker T. Washington. In 1933, he was co-founder of Union Protective Life Insurance Co. A son, Thomas, Jr., owned the Birmingham Black Barons, of which Willie Mays was a member. Taylor, another son, was president of the National Funeral Directors & Morticians Association.

The photo on the collection page shows, from right to left: Thomas H. Hayes, Jr, Mrs. Thomas H. Hayes, Sr., Thomas H. Hayes, Sr., and Taylor Hayes standing in front of the funeral home on Lauderdale Street. This image is from the Memphis and Shelby County Room, Memphis Public Library & Information Center and is also available in their digital archive, Dig Memphis.

This project was supported, in part, by the Lynne & Henry Turley Memphis Center. The Turley Memphis Center supported this project by providing opportunities to empower students to engage in regional scholarship and raise public awareness about the ledger data and the intersections of race, Memphis history, and health outcomes. This project has encouraged deliberate and reflective dialogue on these social issues.

Moreover, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation innovation and health equity grants increased support for work on this ongoing project. Students were able to make creative use of digital technologies and evaluate the connections between social and cultural determinants of health through this research.