ORANGE T

bringing the neighborhood's history to life virtually by reconstructing and projecting it onto a panorama 60 feet long. They started with a walk down Douglass Avenue, so viewers can see what the street was like in 1952 and what it looks like now. The team used historical maps, satellite imaging and current residences to build the experience.

“The project highlights the important history and infrastructure of the neighborhood,” Snider said. “It shows how it has evolved and how it’s different now versus then using maps and virtual reality to get to the importance of this place. It’s a hightech environment, but it gives the neighborhood the dignity it deserves.”

More than 100 years old, Orange Mound is America’s oldest Black neighborhood, built solely by and for Memphis’ Black residents. By 1970, “The Mound” was thriving in the Bluff City, with a Black population second only to Harlem in New York City.

The community traces its roots back to 1825 when John George Deaderick began buying the land to build a new plantation. Tradition says the name comes from the Osage Orange hedges that lined it.

After his death, Deaderick’s widow Mattie sold the property to Elzey Eugene Meacham, a white real estate developer. According to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, she asked Meacham not to sell the land to African Americans, but he denied her request and in 1890, began developing the subdivision exclusively for