BY CLYDE R. VENSON

MEMPHIS COTTON MAKERS’ JUBILEE

When was the Memphis Cotton Makers’ Jubilee organized?

The Memphis Cotton Makers’ Jubilee was conceived by the late Dr. R.Q. Venson in 1934. Dr. Venson was a licensed dentist. His office was located in Memphis, TN, on the famous Beale Street at Third. Dr. R.Q. Venson, an honorably discharged Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, was a leading member of the American Legion Post No. 27 (the largest colored post in the country in the 1930’s). Dr. Venson was the post commander and he was able to persuade his fellow veterans to help sponsor the first jubilee celebration.

When was the Memphis Cotton Makers’ Jubilee organized?

The Memphis Cotton Makers’ Jubilee was organized in 1935 after Dr. Venson took his wife’s nephew, Quincy Johnson, to view a parade sponsored by the Memphis Cotton Carnival Association, an all-white organization located in Memphis, TN. Their parade took place on a Saturday morning near Dr. Venson’s office in 1934. At the time, Quincy was six years old. When the parade festivities had concluded, Dr. Venson and Quincy began to walk back to his dental office. During the stroll, Dr. Venson asked young Quincy if he enjoyed the parade. Much to Dr. Venson’s surprise, Quincy responded, “NO, I did not enjoy the parade.” Dr. Venson inquired why and Quincy responded by saying, “All of the colored people in the parade were horses.” At that time, floats were pulled by horses and people with only Black men wearing long, white trench-type coats. There were no other colored people in the parade and Dr. Venson had no answers to why this was the case. Dr. Venson knew that may of the other colored youth who watched that same parade may have had the same negative views as young Quincy did and he felt something needed to be done to address the issue.

Since Dr. Venson was acquainted with many of the white men on the Memphis Cotton Carnival Association board, he visited their nearby offices the following Monday at noon. Unknowingly to Dr. Venson, when he arrived, the Board of Directorss were seated for an obvious previously planned meeting, so Dr. Venson began to relay the story about the negative views young Quincy had with regards to Saturday’s parade. He requested that the Board allow colored people to participate in a more dignified fashion from this point forward. Once again, Dr. Venson was surprised at the response the president supplied when he told him their parade was for the white community. he continued saying that if the colored community didn’t like the way the parade for the white community was operated, the colored people should promote their own parade and celebration. The attitude of the Board and their unkind remarks angered Dr. Venson into doing just what they suggested, organizing a parade and celebration for the colored people of Memphis, TN. This was in May of 1934.

Early the following year, Dr. Venson assembled a Board of 42 colored men and women who had agreed to serve as Directors for this project. They were some the most influential colored leaders – doctors, lawyers, teachers, ministers and business people in the city of Memphis at the time. Dr. Venson scheduled a meeting for the purpose of organizing a colored parade and celebration to unfold the folowing year in the month of May.

The first Memphis Cotton Makers’ Jubilee parade and celebration took place May 14-18, 1936. Called the Memphis Cotton Makers’ Fiesta, the event featured W.C. Handy, the father of the Blues, who was living in New York at the time. Handy gladly returned and served as the Grand Marshall. Three of Handy’s greatest tunes – “Memphis Blues,” “Beale Street Blues,” and “St. Louis Blues,” were played by parade bands in honor of his success. The event took Memphis by storm as it attracted Memphians as well as garnered the attention of nation news outlets including “TIME” and “LOOK” magazines.

The event consisted of a Coronation Parade and Ball, The Grand Fiesta Parade, and a tour of all the local colored schools. In 1937, Fiesta was changed to Jubilee to better resonate with the colored community and Junior Kings and Queens were added to the royalty. By 1941, the Spirit of Cotton Ambassador traveled the country and invited people to Memphis during the celebration boasting 140,000 spectators.

The name was changed to Kemet Jubilee in 1999. Kemet was the name of Egypt for 2,000 years before the name of the country was changed to Egypt. The last celebration was held in 2007. 2018 was the year of re-birthing the celebration. The name has recently returned to being known once again as the Memphis Cotton Makers’ Jubilee, the name that brought the parade and celebration so much notoriety in its past.

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