Lee’s legacy honored 96 years after life-saving river rescue
On May 8, 1925, the steamer M.E. Norman overturned in the Mississippi River near Memphis, dumping 72 passengers into the swift current. Tom Lee, a river worker, motored to the scene in his small wooden boat, the Zev.
He would pull 32 people from the water that day, saving their lives and risking his own. Lee, while working on the river, could not swim.
On Saturday, 96 years later, descendants of Lee and some of the people he saved joined together at Fourth Bluff Park for the third annual Tom Lee Day celebration to recognize his heroism.
Charmeal Neely-alexander, Tom Lee’s great-great niece, said Saturday and the coming redesign of Tom Lee Park together were “history in the making.”
“Heroes should be recognized,” she said. “And it came to fruition. I couldn’t believe it. And this is on a huge scale that outweighs anything that I would have imagined.”
Lee is the namesake of the riverfront park several blocks south, which is undergoing a massive, $60 million renovation that will include a memorial section to Lee, sponsored by Baptist Memorial Healthcare Corporation.
Carol Coletta, president and CEO of the Memphis River Parks Partnership, said the Heroes Plaza would recognize not only “the selflessness and bravery” of Lee, but all those who have been heroes for Memphis, including the healthcare workers who have saved lives during the pandemic.
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen said Tom Lee Day was an opportunity to reflect on where Memphis was and where it is now, in terms of race relations. When the initial monument to Lee was erected, it referred to him as “a worthy Negro” rather than simply a worthy man, Cohen said. Now, almost a century later, statues of Confederate generals in Memphis have been removed from public parks while the memorial to Lee is being enhanced.
“Nathan Bedford Forrest is gone, Jefferson Davis is gone and Tom Lee will be remembered as a hero,” he said. “And that’s the way it should be.”
The event also featured a spoken word performance, composed and performed by Sebastian Carson, who was accompanied by Chinese Connection Dub Embassy.
In his performance, Carson said Lee had “a heart big enough” to move past the differences between him and those he saved.
“On May 8, Memphis got a look at what it means to be common and yet heroic,” he said. “There’s a hero in all of us” And what does it take to be a hero? “All you have is enough,” Carson said. Corinne Kennedy covers economic development, soccer and COVID-19’S impact on hospitals for the Commercial Appeal. Reach her at Corinne.kennedy@Commercialappeal.com.