MID-SOUTH MEMORIES

25 years ago — 1994 ATLANTA — Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday will be celebrated for the ninth time Monday, but the holiday is still struggling for broad acceptance. Widely observed by governments, it is ignored by many businesses and in danger of being viewed as a black holiday rather than a national one. Admirers of King are rethinking the observance and trying to change the public perception of it from civil rights to broader themes of nonviolence and public service. 50 years ago — 1969 A cigarette-scarred baby grand piano which has throbbed to the skilled fingers of many a guest artist, including Liberace … A dusty violin once used to serenade Andrew Jackson and Davy Crockett when they were guests at the original Bell Tavern on Front Street more than 125 years ago … These are among the thousands of items which are being stripped from the defunct Claridge Hotel and will be offered to nostalgic and antique-conscious Mid-southerners over the auction block Jan. 30 and 31. The hotel was closed earlier this month because of poor business. The building is scheduled for demolition to make way for a multi-million-dollar, high-rise moteloffice-bank building. 75 years ago — 1944 A suggestion by Juvenile Court Judge Camille Kelley that policewomen be used in Memphis holds little interest for Commissioner Joe Boyle. “I think we are doing pretty well with men,” was his only comment on the subject yesterday. 100 years ago — 1919 At an enthusiastic rally Saturday night 110 of the city’s 160 policemen joined the new Policemen’s Union. Labor leaders cautioned them against striking to secure higher wages. 125 years ago — 1894 A new Shelby County School Board was installed last night. F.B. Hunter is president; A.W. Higgins, vice president; A.B. Hill, secretary, and Dr. D.T. Porter, treasurer. In a farewell speech, the retiring president, Maj. G.V. Rambaut, said that 20 years ago the county owned no school buildings and had to rent them. Now there are 13 buildings with a combined capacity of 7,000 students and a net worth of $326,000, all of it paid off except $85,000.

COMMERCIAL APPEAL Among the 300 members of The King’s Daughters who attended a tea given by the Memphis Union of The King’s Daughters in January 1952 were, from left, Mrs. Francis M. Brewer, leader of the Beata Circle; Mrs. Garner Strickland, state president; and Mrs. Kenneth Rhineberger, first vice president of the City Union. The party took place at the Nineteenth Century Club with members of the Beata Circle serving as hostesses. CHARLES NICHOLAS / THE