Edward Shaw

Edward Shaw is a Tennessee historical marker in Shelby County.

Shelby Co, Memphis, Walker Ave.,front of LeMoyne-Owens College between McDowell & Neptune Sts.,south side of street

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In 1870, Edward Shaw became the first Memphis black to run for U.S. Congress. Though he did not win, he was active in politics, serving on the County Commission, the City Council, and as Wharfmaster in the 1870s. In 1875, Shaw was editor of a black newspaper, The Memphis Planet, and, in 1880, he escorted General U.S. Grant, who was in Memphis to visit Beale Street Baptist Church and LeMoyne-Normal Institute.

TodayHistorical map

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Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1859 · Arkansas (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1862 · Johnson's Kentucky & Tennessee (1862) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1879 · Mississippi. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1886 · Arkansas. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1916 · Memphis, Tennessee (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

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Marker text and location from the Tennessee Historical Commission, as the Commission publishes them on its marker map.

More markers nearby

Hollis Freeman Price, Sr. 1904-1982same spot
Benjamin Albert Imessame spot
The 1960 Memphis Sit-In Movementunder 1 mi
LeMoyne-Owen Collegeunder 1 mi

On the National Register nearby

Steele Hall30 ft
Second Congregational Church170 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.