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From VOA Learning English, welcome to This Is America. I’m Steve Ember.

This week, we learn about a city in the South thathelped give the world many kinds of American music. Come along with us, as Avi Arditti and Kelly Jean Kelly take us to Memphis, Tennessee.

A future president of the United States helped buildMemphis. Andrew Jackson and two other men settled the city in 1819. They chose the place where the WolfRiver flowed into the Mississippi River. Jackson named the community after the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis on the Nile River.

The Memphis of modern America is the biggest city in the state of Tennessee. More than one million people live in the Memphis area. Six hundred fifty thousand of them live in the city. Memphis is a center ofbusiness, industry and transportation.

Memphis grew when a railroad bridge across the Mississippi River was completed in 1892. The bridge increased trade, and by 1900 it madeMemphis the world’s largest market for cotton and wood products.

Visitors can learn about the city through its literature. Almost 100 years ago, the African-American writer Richard Wright wrote his first stories while working as a dishwasher in Memphis. His book called “Native Son” waspublished in 1941. It was a huge success. It strongly influenced public opinionabout race issues and created acceptance for other African-American writers.

Peter Taylor’s book “Summons to Memphis” won the Pulitzer Prize for fictionin 1985. The Tennessee writer explores how white middle and upper classsoutherners responded to changes in southern culture in the last century. Theplaywright Tennessee Williams examined some of the same social issues inhis play “The Glass Menagerie.” In the play, a young woman named Laura has a collection of glass animals. She is a shy person and mostly stays home byherself. One day, her brother brings home a friend from work.

“Isn’t there something you’re more interested in than anything else?

“Well, I do have my glass collection.”

“Glass? What kind is it?”

“Just ornaments. Animals mostly.”

“Oh.”

“Here’s an example of one if you’d like to see it.”

“Sure. Well.”

“Be careful, if you breathe it breaks.”

“I better not touch it then. I’m awful clumsy with things.”

“Well, I trust you with it.”

Louis Armstrong

Close to the Mississippi River and just south of the center of town is BealeStreet, one of the most famous streets in America. W.C. Handy worked onBeale Street as a musician in the early 1900s. The African-Americancomposer is known as the “Father of the Blues.”

In 1916, W.C. Handy wrote a song about the famous street. Here is LouisArmstrong singing “Beale Street Blues.”

More than 60 percent of the people in the city of Memphis are black. Memphisis home to the National Civil Rights Museum. Visitors learn about the historyof the American civil rights movement. The museum buildings include theplace where Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered.

On April 4, 1968, a white man named James Earl Ray shot the civil rightsleader. Martin Luther King was in Memphis to support waste collectionworkers on strike against the city. Most of the striking workers were black.

In 1991, voters in Memphis elected the first black mayor of the city. TheNational Civil Rights Museum opened that same year.

Also in 1991, the famed blues singer and guitarist B.B. King opened his ownblues club on Beale Street. B.B. King is known for songs like this one, called"Caldonia."

People who come to Tennessee can also see a huge bronze statue of B.B.King at the Tennessee Welcome Center.

Something else to see is the Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum on BealeStreet.

The Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum explores the music and culture of the city. It showshow blues, country and soul music came together in Memphis and how theyspread around the world.

Elvis Presley Gets His Start in Memphis

Many experts say rock and roll began in Memphis. And a man named SamPhillips played a big part. Sam Phillips was a white record producer inMemphis in the 1950s. He produced records by local black musicians andearly recordings by rock and roll performers Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins,Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison. One day, an 18-year-old truck driver came to the studio. He wanted to record a song for his mother. That young man wasElvis Presley.

Sam Phillips produced Elvis Presley’s first real recordin 1954. Elvis sang a song written by blues musicianArthur Crudup called “That’s All Right.” It helped makerock and roll popular around the world.

Elvis Presley

Today, people visit Memphis from all over the UnitedStates and the world. The most popular place forvisitors is Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley. Helived there for 20 years until his death in 1977. Theman known as the King of Rock 'n' Roll is buried atGraceland, along with his parents.

Memphis also celebrates Elvis Week. Elvis Week is held in August. Eventsplanned at Graceland and other places in the city include parties, dancing andmusic.

Memphis Hotel Hosts Privileged Ducks

There is a large and beautiful hotel in Memphis called the Peabody Memphis. It was built in 1869. Many famous people have stayed at the Peabody. But it is also known for some birds that live in a special place on top of the hotel.

Every morning, the Peabody Marching Ducks ride an elevator down to the firstfloor. There is always a crowd to watch as the five mallards march acrossthe main room to a small pool of water where they spend the day. Everyafternoon, the ducks leave their pool and march into the elevator that takesthem home. The restaurant at the Peabody never serves duck.

Many people visit Memphis for the month-long Memphis in May InternationalFestival. Each year the festival honors another country. The goal is forstudents in Memphis to learn about one country each year until they graduate. The Commercial Appeal newspaper prints lesson plans for teachers aboutthe chosen country. These are sent to every home and to the city libraries.

At the end of the school year, the city celebrates local traditions at theMemphis in May International Festival. One of those traditions, of course, ismusic. Part of Memphis in May is the Beale Street Music Festival. It is one of the largest music festivals in the country.

Another Memphis tradition is food, including spicy pork slow-cooked over asmoky fire. Teams of cooks practice all year to compete in the Memphis inMay World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest. Other traditional foodsin Memphis are fried chicken, catfish, fried green tomatoes, hush puppies andsweet potato pie.

We leave you with "Memphis Blues," performed by Duke Ellington and hisOrchestra.

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and Onka Dekker and voiced byAvi Arditti and Kelly Jean Kelly. I’m Steve Ember inviting you to join us againnext week for This Is America from VOA Learning English.

Film excerpt from 1950 20th Century Fox version of “The Glass Menagerie,”starring Jane Wyman and Kirk Douglas.