Black Tupelo History: The Hill
Elvis Presley lived IN black neighborhoods, particularly the black Park Hill neighborhood in Tupelo. The litlle family lived on the commercial fringes of the "'cross the tracks" famous black ghetto called Shake Rag but not in the residential part of it. They lived behind a Shake Rag business, basically in a shed - just one payment from homelessness.
Juneteenth, 1956, at the Memphis Fairgrounds
And then - and no one knows how, they somehow found their way to "The Hill." There were about 3 or 4 "dogrun" style two-family houses designated "white" and they rented half of one of them. It had hot and cold running water! A first for Elvis and his parents. Only one unusual white boy visited him there, ever. Elvis' little running buddies "on The Hill" were all black. 11, 12 and 13 year-old little boys. They went to the movies together (and SAT together! Elvis literally "jumped Jim Crow" by jumping over the railing that separated black and white: he'd sit on the floor with the sticky soda and candy all over it.) They played baseball together, played marbles, wrestled, gently teased each other, had nicknames - totally different from his less than happy school experience with the white kids - but he had to go there. He couldn't go to the school his friends went to. It was against the law then.
Elvis at 12, when he lived on The Hill
The first time Elvis Presley ever played piano was in a house in the Park Hill section. He knew a little girl named Janice Scales whose family invited him in. He was drawn to the piano like a magnet and tried to play it. Elvis went to black gospel tent revivals when he lived there and listened to live blues at the black Elks Club on The Hill. He learned a lot also on the porch of Mayhorn's Grocery which now has an official city plaque noting that Elvis and his little guitar were there. It's still standing but is no longer a grocery. And he snuck peeks through the windows at Saturday night fish frys and juke joints in Shake Rag according to local musician, the late Charles "Bo" Clanton. None of the other boys were with him; it was forbidden.
Several kids who lived there went on to be community leaders. Willie Pooch was a very talented bluesman who remembered playing baseball with Elvis, Robert Jameison - who had happy memories of playing marbles with Elvis, became a prominent minister and was involved in the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. Walter A. Zuber was a well-known black medical doctor in that area of the state. His daughter, Dr. Etta Zuber Falconer¹ went on to much greater fame. She made history as one of the first black women to get a Ph.D. in Mathematics, among her many other accolades.² She was just a couple of years older than Elvis and had to have known him at least for a brief time because her dad treated the family as a physician. She sadly was stricken with pancreatic cancer and passed away at only 68.
Another friend, probably Elvis' bestie there, was Sam Bell, who is kind of the unofficial historian of the historic Park Hill neighborhood. It's gone now, torn down and grown over for an Interstate highway. There's a log that marks the spot where Elvis and his parents lived. Nothing is written on the log. It might have been a happy accident of nature. Or someone may have placed it there.
The Presleys had to move because Elvis' daddy was running white lightning to make the rent money. He had to get the heck out of Mississippi. They then moved to Memphis. Quickly.
There's an old blues phrase that went "the only thing I did wrong/Was stay in Mississippi a day too long." Another story for another day. His daddy always did what he had to do to feed his little boy and his wife. From the beginning it wasn't easy.
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¹Dr. Etta Zuber Falconer went to college at age 15. So she would have known him only briefly. She was obviously very studious - and a girl. She wasn't playing baseball and marbles at 14. She was studying trigonometry.
²https://www.maa.org/programs-and-communities/member-communities/maa-awards/lecture-awards/awm-maa-falconer-lectures/etta-zuber-falconer
Much credit to Giacomo (Jay) Viviano for many details. ©Giacomo Viviano, 2020-2021, All Rights Reserved.
Current piece written by
©Robin Markowitz, 2021, All Rights Reserved.
Additional credit to Roy Turner and Sam Bell, local Tupelo historians