Vollintine/Evergreen: A Diverse Community

Originally, back in the 1890’s, the VECA region of Memphis was mostly dairy farms that were divided into two communities: Terrytown, established by the Terry family, and Springdale, a stop on the L&N Railroad between Memphis and Nashville.

At the beginning of the 1900’s, there were some families located on what is now North Parkway, then called Summer or the Speedway. Expansion in that area was due to both the interests of the Snowden and Overton families, who sold land to developers and to City administrations that planned and built Snowden School, Overton Park, and the Parkways.

The 1960’s saw important progress in Civil Fights for African Americans, and eventually public school integration and busing brought about white out-migration in many parts of Memphis. Although there was no large scale ‘white flight’ in the VECA community, there were areas of racial change. Despite this fluctuation in racial percentages, many families stayed loyal to the VECA community and there are some second and third generation families that remain in the neighborhood.

Information such as this can be found throughout Vollintine/Evergreen: A Diverse Community. It is a history book written by Peggy Boyce Jemison with the help of Virginia Dunaway and Ray Ann Kremer. Published in 1980, this book includes a description of the neighborhood beginnings, growth of the neighborhood, churches, neighborhood organizations, schools, and commercial areas, and the effects of public policy. As best described in the introduction to the book, “the purpose of this history is to examine the elements which compromised the growth of Vollintine/Evergreen Community and those which affect its future.”