St. Augustine Catholic Church and Catholic School

St. Augustine Catholic Church and Catholic School is a Tennessee historical marker in Shelby County.

1169 Kerr Avenue, Memphis Tennessee 38106

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In 1937 the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary started a church and school at 903 Walker Avenue. Named in honor of St. Augustine, the church and school were among the first in Tennessee for "colored Catholics." Necessary funds were raised from a variety of sources, including a city-wide raffle for an "electric icebox." Nuns from Dubuque, Iowa, served as the only teachers at St. Augustine School for many years. Father James P. Lyke (1939-1992), parish priest at St. Augustine from 1968-1977, was the first African American priest regularly assigned in Tennessee, and later, the fifth U.S. black Catholic bishop. He was also a leader in the civil rights movement. The school moved to this site in 1970, and the church moved here in 1989.

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USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection

Historical maps covering this location

1909 · Arkansas. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1916 · Memphis, Tennessee (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)
1925 · Memphis, Tennessee (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)
1927 · Memphis, Tennessee (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)
1939 · 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.

St. Augustine Catholic Church and Catholic School

Historical maps covering this location

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