In Memphis, a historic Black neighborhood’s centerpiece gets a new life

The former Melrose High School building in Memphis could have been like any other shuttered public school in the country. Built in the 1930s and closed in 1979, the three-story brick building had become obsolete and unnecessary. But unlike other old schools around the country, this one had a unique place in U.S. history. The school is located in a Memphis neighborhood called Orange Mound, which became the first subdivision in America built specifically for Black homebuyers when it was...