The Record Remains
November 4 – December 31
State of Tennessee Gallery
Included with Admission
EXHIBITION OVERVIEW
What remains after violence?
The answer is rarely found in a single source. The Record Remains explores histories of racial violence against Black communities in America through contemporary art, firsthand accounts, photographs, newspapers, government documents, oral histories, family memory, and place. Together, these sources reveal not only what was lost, but what survived.
At the center of the exhibition are seven acrylic and mixed-media works from Memphis artist Ephraim Urevbu’s Untold Stories series. Each work is placed in conversation with historical evidence that helps visitors consider what happened, how we know, and whose work preserved the record.
Inspired in part by Memphis journalist and anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells and her landmark publication A Red Record, the exhibition asks visitors to look closely at how evidence is created, distorted, buried, recovered, and used. It centers Black testimony, journalism, organizing, legal action, memory, and preservation as essential forms of record-making.
The Record Remains reflects the National Civil Rights Museum’s responsibility to preserve evidence, deepen public understanding, and connect the history of racial injustice to the continuing struggle for civil and human rights.
VISITOR EXPERIENCE
Seven place-based histories. The exhibition follows interconnected histories from Georgia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.
Primary sources and narrated stories. Interactive kiosks bring together testimony, journalism, photographs, maps, court records, government documents, and oral histories, allowing visitors to consider who created each record, under what conditions, and what it leaves out.
The Resistance Wall. A wall of voices, documents, photographs, and actions shifting attention from violence itself to what Black people did in response: define, testify, organize, interrogate, demand, expose, defend, and rebuild.
A place for reflection. At the close of the exhibition, visitors may respond to the question, “What will you carry forward”? Participation is optional, and visitors may leave a thought, question, or reflection in the exhibition notebook.
CONTENT ADVISORY
The Record Remains addresses racial violence against Black communities, including massacres, lynching, forced removal, sexual violence, and the destruction of homes and businesses. The exhibition includes historical descriptions and archival images that some visitors may find difficult. Graphic imagery is limited and used with care. Visitors are welcome to move through the exhibition at their own pace, step away, or choose not to view particular materials.
ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION
The State of Tennessee Gallery is wheelchair accessible. Narrated historical accounts are accompanied by written transcripts. Digital records include captions and source information. For questions about accessibility or to request an accommodation, please contact eharper@civilrightsmuseum.org.
PROGRAMMING
Public programs and conversations connected to The Record Remains will be announced as they are confirmed. Visit the Museum’s events page for updates.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Ephraim Urevbu is a Nigerian-born visual artist and founder of Urevbu Contemporary on South Main Street in Memphis. Raised in Warri, Nigeria, he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Memphis. His acrylic and mixed-media works use color and expressive brushwork to consider how the past remains present. The Untold Stories series grows from his broader project, The Naked Truth: An American Story in White, Red and Blue, which examines the history and continuing effects of racial injustice in the United States.
CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Record Remains is organized by the National Civil Rights Museum.
Curator: Erica Harper, Director of Collections & Exhibitions
Exhibition Development, Fabrication, and Installation: Andrew Hartsock, Preparator
Research and Collections Support: Jada Bishop, Collections Manager & Registrar
Research: Taliyah Bradberry & Rosalind King-Scoular, Collections Interns
The exhibition features seven works from the Untold Stories series by Ephraim Urevbu. Twenty-four total works entered the Museum’s permanent collection through a gift from a Memphis philanthropist.
Ephraim Urevbu
Freedom Summer 1964
Acrylic and mixed media on board
Ephraim Urevbu
Selma Bloody Sunday 1965
Acrylic and mixed media on board