TOM LEE
Tom Lee Park honors a man who saw humanity and became a superhero.
On May 8, 1925, the M.E. Norman set sail from Memphis with 72 men, women and children onboard for a trip to inspect revetment work at Pinckney Landing, two miles downriver of Memphis. The trip passed without incident until the boat ran into trouble on its return journey.
The steamer capsized and its passengers were thrown into the fast and chilly current of the Mississippi River. Tom Lee, passing by in his small wooden skiff Zev, rescued 32 passengers from the numbing waters. His rescue was all the more remarkable as Lee himself could not swim.
Lee was quickly recognized as a hero. Tributes and gifts poured in from across the country. Lee was awarded with a job as a sanitation worker and the Engineers Club purchased his modest home in north Memphis. Lee was even celebrated at the White House by President Calvin Coolidge. Lee died from cancer in 1952. Astor Park was dedicated as Tom Lee Park in 1954 and, in 1991, expanded by the Corps of Engineers to the size it is today.
“I didn’t do any more than anyone else would have done in my place.”
-Tom lee
Tom Lee’s story
Read more about Tom Lee in these historic documents.
Documents generously shared by the descendants of James Wood, one of the passengers saved by Tom Lee.
Photos
Tom Lee
President Calvin Coolidge and Tom Lee in the White House Rose Garden.
Margaret Lee, widow of Tom Lee, inspects a Magnolia tree planted in Tom Lee Park.
Inspired by Tom Lee
Annual poetry contest
The annual Tom Lee Poetry and Spoken Word Contest invites high school students in Shelby County to submit work inspired by Lee’s courage, bravery and sense of community.
A VERY WORTHY HERO
A Very Worthy Hero was commissioned to celebrate Tom Lee Day on May 8, 2O19.
Written and performed by Sebastian Carson, accompanied by Damien Pierson.
TOM LEE PARK
A new, original poem by J Ivy inspired by Tom Lee and Tom Lee Park
MADE POSSIBLE BY THE MELLON FOUNDATION