By David Peel
On a cold spring day in May 1925, a boat with civil engineers and their families, a total of 72 souls, was returning from an excursion south on the Mighty Mississippi just south of Memphis.
The M.E. Norman steamboat suddenly capsized in the turbulent waters near Cow Island Bend. Tom Lee, an African American roustabout, alone in an old 27’ skiff, the Zev, saw it occur.
The well-dressed 1925 families were swept into the unyielding bone-chilling current.
Some engineers saved themselves and several others but Tom Lee made four trips saving eight people each to a sandbar. He promptly built them a fire of driftwood to warm the 32 people he saved from swirling muddy deaths.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, survivors ferried to Memphis all told of a mysterious heroic black man who saved so many.
The grateful community heralded Tom Lee’s bravery. He received numerous accolades and commendations for his valor, and was soon shaking hands with President Calvin Coolidge in the Rose Garden at the White House.
The Engineers society bought him a house and paid taxes on it all his life. During his life, a segregated swimming pool was named for him. But soon after his death in 1952, the city of Memphis recognized his heroism by renaming Astor Park as Tom Lee Park, which still stands as a testament to his courage and selflessness.
His heroism is captured in a powerful bronze monument overlooking the Mighty Mississippi, and during flood stage it is actually subsumed by the deadly muddy waters.
As regular readers may know, at Peel Law Firm on Facebook, we are adding historic videos constantly, including one on Tom Lee.
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