On the fourth floor of the library next to the Special Collections' office sits a glass display. Inside the display is a sign that reads in large black letters, "Honor King: End Racism!"
Surrounding the sign are black and white pictures depicting Memphis before and during the 1968 sanitation strike.
"I wanted to tell the story of why King was in Memphis," said Edwin Frank associate professor of libraries. "There are a lot of people who have no idea."
The movements towards the strike occurred after several complaints concerning the $1.80 an hour payroll. The minimum wage at the time was $1.60.
Frank said the workers were full-time employees and mainly African Americans, but could not support their families with the salary that they earned.
The city also granted the supervisors a full day's pay, even if they had to go home due to rain.
The grievances continued when that benefit was not given to the sanitation workers.
"They weren't paid at all if they had to go home," Frank said.Frank said the strike itself began two days after a couple of workers were crushed in a hydraulic machine after they were trying to stay dry during a rainy night.
"I'm not sure if it's ever been determined though," Frank said."It was historic and something that wouldn't have happened anywhere(else) in the South," Frank said.
The strike began attracting media attention, despite the fact that it was deemed illegal in Memphis.
During the second march, King came to Memphis and walked with the sanitation workers.
"It was part of Dr. King's mission," Frank said.
Frank, also the curator of special collections, did not want to show the ordinary dramatic moments.
On the far right side of the display is a picture of three national guardsmen and local children relaxing in the park.
The posters and placards shown in the display were also the ones used in the actual event.
"It's just disgusting," said junior and psychology major Jessie Gaines in the regard to the entire civil rights situation.Sophomore Benjamin Afoakwa, a nursing major, said people have to know where their history.
"Without our past we don't have our present," he said.
