Julia Hooks, one of Memphis' most prominent musicians of color and one of the city's pioneer social workers, was born in 1852 in Kentucky, where her talent in music was recognized at an early age. She was educated in Kentucky and attended Berea College, where she received further musical training.
Establishing herself in Memphis well before the turn of the century, she became active in musical groups such as Liszt Mullard Club, which performed classical music concerts in the city during the 1880s. Other members of the group included Mrs. R. R. Church, Sr., who frequently played piano duets with Mrs. Hooks, and Mrs. Josiah T. Settle, Sr., known for her beautiful soprano voice.
Mrs. Hooks also was involved with various churches because of her expertise in playing the organ and her talent for directing choirs and choral groups. In addition, she taught music, and every year her students appeared in recital at Zion Hall, Beale Street Baptist Church, and, after Church's Park and Auditorium was completed, they appeared in Roberta Church was one of Mrs. Hooks's piano pupils.
For a while, Julia Hooks served as a teacher and principal in the Memphis city schools; she later operated a private kindergarten and elementary school in her home on South Lauderdale Street. Among her pupils, in addition to her sons, Henry and Robert, were Robert Church, Jr., and his sister, Annette, Allison Vance, Nellie Bowles, Edgar Mitchum, and Fred L. Hutchins. Julia Hooks loved children and had an unusual capacity to relate to them; they returned her affection. Frequently, she would organize groups of youngsters for picnics, play activities, or musical programs, arriving at rehearsals for recitals with an ice cream cone for each child.
A dignified, compassionate woman, her sincerity and gentle manner inspired confidence and trust. These qualities served her well when she became an officer of the Juvenile Court, and often she was able to modify the attitude of wayward youngsters and help them cope with their problems. She also was known to provide religious inspiration and spiritual comfort to adult prisoners on occasion.
Around 1907, the city opened a small Juvenile Detention Home next to her residence, which she and her husband, Charles, a truant officer, supervised. Mr. Hooks was killed by one of the wards, but Mrs. Hooks continued her efforts to help young people. At times Judge Camille Kelly, a well-known judge of the Juvenile Court, would invite Julia Hooks to sit with her when certain cases concerning Negro youths were presented.
Although her primary interest and occupation was music, throughout her lifetime Julia Hooks maintained an interest in the underprivileged of all ages. She initiated the founding of the Old Folks and Orphans Home, located on the old Hernando Road. Using her talent as an accomplished pianist, she played in concerts to help pay for the home.
Two sons, Henry and Robert, were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hooks. Both sons became expert photographers and established a studio known as Hooks Brothers Photographers. The interest in photography was passed on to the next generation, and Charles Hooks, son of Robert Hooks, and Henry Hooks, Jr., operated the family business. Henry Hooks, Sr., was a member of the Iroquois Club, a well known social club organized by a group of young men in Memphis. Henry Hooks, Jr., and his father, Charles, were signers of a petition circulated by a group of prominent black and white Memphians endorsing Robert Church, Jr., as Surveyor of Customs for the Port of Memphis. The petition was sent to President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908.
Julia Hooks died at the age of ninety and, according to her obituary, was able to play the piano until a few weeks before she passed away. She is survived by several grandchildren, including Julia Hooks Gordon, a retired employee of the federal government; Robert, Jr. and Raymond Hooks, both employees of the U. S. Post Office; Mildred Hooks, an employee of the Shelby County Government; Benjamin Hooks, who in 1972 became the first black member of the Federal Communications Commission and served as executive secretary of the NAACP; and Bessie Hooks, an employee of the Internal Revenue Service.
__________________________________________
In 1895 Mrs. Hooks was included in James T. Haley's Afro-American Encyclopedia. The article is printed in full below. It is of particular interest as it was written by one of her contemporaries during the prime of her life.
JULIA ANN AMANDA MOOREHEAD BRITTON HOOKS. The writer of the article, "Duty of the Hour," was born May 4, 1852, at the Capital of the State known as the "Dark and Bloody Ground," by the side of one of its lofty land elevations, near the banks of the Kentucky river. Her parents, Laura Marshall and Henry Harrison Britton, were descendants of some of the old Southern aristocracy and Indian blood. Her mother, though born a slave, was liberated at the age of sixteen by her mistress, who was also a very near relative of her father, who was no less a personage than the Hon. Thomas F. Marshall, of Kentucky, the great and renowned statesman. She received at the hands of her owner a splendid education, and was, therefore, left a free girl, above the average colored girls of the South. Her intelligence gave her great advantage. The writer's father was free born, but a descendant also of great lineage.
She was raised in Lexington, the garden spot of Kentucky, and at a very early age was given every advantage of a high learning, having been sent to Louisville in company with her older sister, and placed in the late Mr. Wm. Gibson's school for colored youths, in 1859. Remaining there until the spring of 1860, just at the outbreak of the great civil strife, she was taken back to her home and then placed under the tuition of an English lady in music, having received some instruction from her mother, who was a gifted singer and accomplished musician. Having inherited from her mother great musical gifts, she very soon became famous as Kentucky's little musical prodigy, performing at the age of nine years many works of the Masters, Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, and others. Indeed, she performed at the age of eight and a half years Beethoven's Sonata Pathetique with all the beauty and smoothness of an artist. Her parents were free, and standing high in the social scale of their race, were greatly esteemed and respected by the aristocracy of Lexington, and she and her mother were often seen and heard in parlor concerts by the very highest society, among whom it is pleased to be noted Mrs. Gen. Wm. Preston, Mrs. Gen. Morgan, Mrs. Hunt Dudley, and other grand women who have long since gone to the beautiful beyond.
The writer likes to refer to those dear old happy days of her childhood, when but a child, she and her mother played and sang for their good old friends. She often loves to relate the sad experiences of the scenes and times of the war when they would go to comfort the hearts of their white friends by the singing of the dear old songs, "My Old Kentucky Home," "Old Dog Tray," etc. She, too, likes to tell the stories of the times she would, when but a child, write passes for the slaves who would come to the singing class of her mother and get so deeply engaged in the study that they would forget about the hour, and would be afraid to start home without the "pass to show Mr. Paterole Man." It is sad to listen to her story about helping her mother to teach the slave children in the old garret, who would come to learn with their old "blue back speller" hid in false pockets. This she did with a childish relish. She would often travel around on concert tours with her mother, and would be forced, because of accommodation, to call her own mother Miss Laura. How strange, to think of a little colored girl calling her own mother mistress because her color differed. We have learned that there was never a concert programme complete in Lexington without the Britton's name thereon among their people, and they were often largely attended by the best white people of Lexington. She was pronounced by the press of Kentucky the "Wonder of the Age," being able at the age of nine to read at sight intelligently the most difficult selection for the piano. We might go on telling farther of her early fame, but space forbids.
Having received fine intellectual and musical qualifications, she has successfully taught in the following States: Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee for nearly twenty-eight years, and though her life has been surrounded with many trying difficulties, she enjoys the distinction of being a true woman to her race, a great and successful teacher, an earnest Christian worker, neglecting, oftentimes, for the benefit of humanity, her own personal welfare. Yes, we are told that her life has been one of many privations, disappointments, aspirations, struggles, defeats, temptations, and victories, as she has endeavored to push forward in the race of life. She has often been made the victim of the most cruel injustices, because of racial prejudice, yet as a woman, having a common identity of interest in all that will help to build up the Southland and uplift her race, her sex, and the body politic of her country; with all other American citizens, she has done much for herself, her race, her sex, and her home, and is building up for her people a name that will benefit them more than words can tell. Indeed, she has borne with a fortitude unsurpassed for bravery, what no other woman has been known to bear. She oft hath turned the other cheek to her enemies and oppressors, and though crushed and tossed about, because of the whims of American prejudice, she has quietly submitted to injustices of the severest nature, and yet still blesses the hand of her oppressors for the sake of her race; and she has never lost her patriotism. She often is heard to say, "Take your wounds to the great Healer of wounds." She is a firm believer in prayer, and can relate many strange and miraculous answers to her prayers for the removal of obstacles. She truly believes in liberty and equality, but is not willing to think that liberty means freedom to do wrong, nor that equality means the invasion of social realms.
She lives in hope that soon, and very soon the "missing stone" will be placed in the "building," and that when placed in it will be so riveted that it can never be displaced by any concerted blow of "wrong hammers." We invite a careful reading of her article, "Duty of the Hour."
Establishing herself in Memphis well before the turn of the century, she became active in musical groups such as Liszt Mullard Club, which performed classical music concerts in the city during the 1880s. Other members of the group included Mrs. R. R. Church, Sr., who frequently played piano duets with Mrs. Hooks, and Mrs. Josiah T. Settle, Sr., known for her beautiful soprano voice.
Mrs. Hooks also was involved with various churches because of her expertise in playing the organ and her talent for directing choirs and choral groups. In addition, she taught music, and every year her students appeared in recital at Zion Hall, Beale Street Baptist Church, and, after Church's Park and Auditorium was completed, they appeared in Roberta Church was one of Mrs. Hooks's piano pupils.
For a while, Julia Hooks served as a teacher and principal in the Memphis city schools; she later operated a private kindergarten and elementary school in her home on South Lauderdale Street. Among her pupils, in addition to her sons, Henry and Robert, were Robert Church, Jr., and his sister, Annette, Allison Vance, Nellie Bowles, Edgar Mitchum, and Fred L. Hutchins. Julia Hooks loved children and had an unusual capacity to relate to them; they returned her affection. Frequently, she would organize groups of youngsters for picnics, play activities, or musical programs, arriving at rehearsals for recitals with an ice cream cone for each child.
A dignified, compassionate woman, her sincerity and gentle manner inspired confidence and trust. These qualities served her well when she became an officer of the Juvenile Court, and often she was able to modify the attitude of wayward youngsters and help them cope with their problems. She also was known to provide religious inspiration and spiritual comfort to adult prisoners on occasion.
Around 1907, the city opened a small Juvenile Detention Home next to her residence, which she and her husband, Charles, a truant officer, supervised. Mr. Hooks was killed by one of the wards, but Mrs. Hooks continued her efforts to help young people. At times Judge Camille Kelly, a well-known judge of the Juvenile Court, would invite Julia Hooks to sit with her when certain cases concerning Negro youths were presented.
Although her primary interest and occupation was music, throughout her lifetime Julia Hooks maintained an interest in the underprivileged of all ages. She initiated the founding of the Old Folks and Orphans Home, located on the old Hernando Road. Using her talent as an accomplished pianist, she played in concerts to help pay for the home.
Two sons, Henry and Robert, were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hooks. Both sons became expert photographers and established a studio known as Hooks Brothers Photographers. The interest in photography was passed on to the next generation, and Charles Hooks, son of Robert Hooks, and Henry Hooks, Jr., operated the family business. Henry Hooks, Sr., was a member of the Iroquois Club, a well known social club organized by a group of young men in Memphis. Henry Hooks, Jr., and his father, Charles, were signers of a petition circulated by a group of prominent black and white Memphians endorsing Robert Church, Jr., as Surveyor of Customs for the Port of Memphis. The petition was sent to President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908.
Julia Hooks died at the age of ninety and, according to her obituary, was able to play the piano until a few weeks before she passed away. She is survived by several grandchildren, including Julia Hooks Gordon, a retired employee of the federal government; Robert, Jr. and Raymond Hooks, both employees of the U. S. Post Office; Mildred Hooks, an employee of the Shelby County Government; Benjamin Hooks, who in 1972 became the first black member of the Federal Communications Commission and served as executive secretary of the NAACP; and Bessie Hooks, an employee of the Internal Revenue Service.
__________________________________________
In 1895 Mrs. Hooks was included in James T. Haley's Afro-American Encyclopedia. The article is printed in full below. It is of particular interest as it was written by one of her contemporaries during the prime of her life.
JULIA ANN AMANDA MOOREHEAD BRITTON HOOKS. The writer of the article, "Duty of the Hour," was born May 4, 1852, at the Capital of the State known as the "Dark and Bloody Ground," by the side of one of its lofty land elevations, near the banks of the Kentucky river. Her parents, Laura Marshall and Henry Harrison Britton, were descendants of some of the old Southern aristocracy and Indian blood. Her mother, though born a slave, was liberated at the age of sixteen by her mistress, who was also a very near relative of her father, who was no less a personage than the Hon. Thomas F. Marshall, of Kentucky, the great and renowned statesman. She received at the hands of her owner a splendid education, and was, therefore, left a free girl, above the average colored girls of the South. Her intelligence gave her great advantage. The writer's father was free born, but a descendant also of great lineage.
She was raised in Lexington, the garden spot of Kentucky, and at a very early age was given every advantage of a high learning, having been sent to Louisville in company with her older sister, and placed in the late Mr. Wm. Gibson's school for colored youths, in 1859. Remaining there until the spring of 1860, just at the outbreak of the great civil strife, she was taken back to her home and then placed under the tuition of an English lady in music, having received some instruction from her mother, who was a gifted singer and accomplished musician. Having inherited from her mother great musical gifts, she very soon became famous as Kentucky's little musical prodigy, performing at the age of nine years many works of the Masters, Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, and others. Indeed, she performed at the age of eight and a half years Beethoven's Sonata Pathetique with all the beauty and smoothness of an artist. Her parents were free, and standing high in the social scale of their race, were greatly esteemed and respected by the aristocracy of Lexington, and she and her mother were often seen and heard in parlor concerts by the very highest society, among whom it is pleased to be noted Mrs. Gen. Wm. Preston, Mrs. Gen. Morgan, Mrs. Hunt Dudley, and other grand women who have long since gone to the beautiful beyond.
The writer likes to refer to those dear old happy days of her childhood, when but a child, she and her mother played and sang for their good old friends. She often loves to relate the sad experiences of the scenes and times of the war when they would go to comfort the hearts of their white friends by the singing of the dear old songs, "My Old Kentucky Home," "Old Dog Tray," etc. She, too, likes to tell the stories of the times she would, when but a child, write passes for the slaves who would come to the singing class of her mother and get so deeply engaged in the study that they would forget about the hour, and would be afraid to start home without the "pass to show Mr. Paterole Man." It is sad to listen to her story about helping her mother to teach the slave children in the old garret, who would come to learn with their old "blue back speller" hid in false pockets. This she did with a childish relish. She would often travel around on concert tours with her mother, and would be forced, because of accommodation, to call her own mother Miss Laura. How strange, to think of a little colored girl calling her own mother mistress because her color differed. We have learned that there was never a concert programme complete in Lexington without the Britton's name thereon among their people, and they were often largely attended by the best white people of Lexington. She was pronounced by the press of Kentucky the "Wonder of the Age," being able at the age of nine to read at sight intelligently the most difficult selection for the piano. We might go on telling farther of her early fame, but space forbids.
Having received fine intellectual and musical qualifications, she has successfully taught in the following States: Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee for nearly twenty-eight years, and though her life has been surrounded with many trying difficulties, she enjoys the distinction of being a true woman to her race, a great and successful teacher, an earnest Christian worker, neglecting, oftentimes, for the benefit of humanity, her own personal welfare. Yes, we are told that her life has been one of many privations, disappointments, aspirations, struggles, defeats, temptations, and victories, as she has endeavored to push forward in the race of life. She has often been made the victim of the most cruel injustices, because of racial prejudice, yet as a woman, having a common identity of interest in all that will help to build up the Southland and uplift her race, her sex, and the body politic of her country; with all other American citizens, she has done much for herself, her race, her sex, and her home, and is building up for her people a name that will benefit them more than words can tell. Indeed, she has borne with a fortitude unsurpassed for bravery, what no other woman has been known to bear. She oft hath turned the other cheek to her enemies and oppressors, and though crushed and tossed about, because of the whims of American prejudice, she has quietly submitted to injustices of the severest nature, and yet still blesses the hand of her oppressors for the sake of her race; and she has never lost her patriotism. She often is heard to say, "Take your wounds to the great Healer of wounds." She is a firm believer in prayer, and can relate many strange and miraculous answers to her prayers for the removal of obstacles. She truly believes in liberty and equality, but is not willing to think that liberty means freedom to do wrong, nor that equality means the invasion of social realms.
She lives in hope that soon, and very soon the "missing stone" will be placed in the "building," and that when placed in it will be so riveted that it can never be displaced by any concerted blow of "wrong hammers." We invite a careful reading of her article, "Duty of the Hour."
Julia Hooks, one of Memphis' most prominent musicians of color and one of the city's pioneer social workers, was born in 1852 in Kentucky, where her talent in music was recognized at an early age. She was educated in Kentucky and attended Berea College, where she received further musical training.
Establishing herself in Memphis well before the turn of the century, she became active in musical groups such as Liszt Mullard Club, which performed classical music concerts in the city during the 1880s. Other members of the group included Mrs. R. R. Church, Sr., who frequently played piano duets with Mrs. Hooks, and Mrs. Josiah T. Settle, Sr., known for her beautiful soprano voice.
Mrs. Hooks also was involved with various churches because of her expertise in playing the organ and her talent for directing choirs and choral groups. In addition, she taught music, and every year her students appeared in recital at Zion Hall, Beale Street Baptist Church, and, after Church's Park and Auditorium was completed, they appeared in Roberta Church was one of Mrs. Hooks's piano pupils.
For a while, Julia Hooks served as a teacher and principal in the Memphis city schools; she later operated a private kindergarten and elementary school in her home on South Lauderdale Street. Among her pupils, in addition to her sons, Henry and Robert, were Robert Church, Jr., and his sister, Annette, Allison Vance, Nellie Bowles, Edgar Mitchum, and Fred L. Hutchins. Julia Hooks loved children and had an unusual capacity to relate to them; they returned her affection. Frequently, she would organize groups of youngsters for picnics, play activities, or musical programs, arriving at rehearsals for recitals with an ice cream cone for each child.
A dignified, compassionate woman, her sincerity and gentle manner inspired confidence and trust. These qualities served her well when she became an officer of the Juvenile Court, and often she was able to modify the attitude of wayward youngsters and help them cope with their problems. She also was known to provide religious inspiration and spiritual comfort to adult prisoners on occasion.
Around 1907, the city opened a small Juvenile Detention Home next to her residence, which she and her husband, Charles, a truant officer, supervised. Mr. Hooks was killed by one of the wards, but Mrs. Hooks continued her efforts to help young people. At times Judge Camille Kelly, a well-known judge of the Juvenile Court, would invite Julia Hooks to sit with her when certain cases concerning Negro youths were presented.
Although her primary interest and occupation was music, throughout her lifetime Julia Hooks maintained an interest in the underprivileged of all ages. She initiated the founding of the Old Folks and Orphans Home, located on the old Hernando Road. Using her talent as an accomplished pianist, she played in concerts to help pay for the home.
Two sons, Henry and Robert, were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hooks. Both sons became expert photographers and established a studio known as Hooks Brothers Photographers. The interest in photography was passed on to the next generation, and Charles Hooks, son of Robert Hooks, and Henry Hooks, Jr., operated the family business. Henry Hooks, Sr., was a member of the Iroquois Club, a well known social club organized by a group of young men in Memphis. Henry Hooks, Jr., and his father, Charles, were signers of a petition circulated by a group of prominent black and white Memphians endorsing Robert Church, Jr., as Surveyor of Customs for the Port of Memphis. The petition was sent to President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908.
Julia Hooks died at the age of ninety and, according to her obituary, was able to play the piano until a few weeks before she passed away. She is survived by several grandchildren, including Julia Hooks Gordon, a retired employee of the federal government; Robert, Jr. and Raymond Hooks, both employees of the U. S. Post Office; Mildred Hooks, an employee of the Shelby County Government; Benjamin Hooks, who in 1972 became the first black member of the Federal Communications Commission and served as executive secretary of the NAACP; and Bessie Hooks, an employee of the Internal Revenue Service.
__________________________________________
In 1895 Mrs. Hooks was included in James T. Haley's Afro-American Encyclopedia. The article is printed in full below. It is of particular interest as it was written by one of her contemporaries during the prime of her life.
JULIA ANN AMANDA MOOREHEAD BRITTON HOOKS. The writer of the article, "Duty of the Hour," was born May 4, 1852, at the Capital of the State known as the "Dark and Bloody Ground," by the side of one of its lofty land elevations, near the banks of the Kentucky river. Her parents, Laura Marshall and Henry Harrison Britton, were descendants of some of the old Southern aristocracy and Indian blood. Her mother, though born a slave, was liberated at the age of sixteen by her mistress, who was also a very near relative of her father, who was no less a personage than the Hon. Thomas F. Marshall, of Kentucky, the great and renowned statesman. She received at the hands of her owner a splendid education, and was, therefore, left a free girl, above the average colored girls of the South. Her intelligence gave her great advantage. The writer's father was free born, but a descendant also of great lineage.
She was raised in Lexington, the garden spot of Kentucky, and at a very early age was given every advantage of a high learning, having been sent to Louisville in company with her older sister, and placed in the late Mr. Wm. Gibson's school for colored youths, in 1859. Remaining there until the spring of 1860, just at the outbreak of the great civil strife, she was taken back to her home and then placed under the tuition of an English lady in music, having received some instruction from her mother, who was a gifted singer and accomplished musician. Having inherited from her mother great musical gifts, she very soon became famous as Kentucky's little musical prodigy, performing at the age of nine years many works of the Masters, Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, and others. Indeed, she performed at the age of eight and a half years Beethoven's Sonata Pathetique with all the beauty and smoothness of an artist. Her parents were free, and standing high in the social scale of their race, were greatly esteemed and respected by the aristocracy of Lexington, and she and her mother were often seen and heard in parlor concerts by the very highest society, among whom it is pleased to be noted Mrs. Gen. Wm. Preston, Mrs. Gen. Morgan, Mrs. Hunt Dudley, and other grand women who have long since gone to the beautiful beyond.
The writer likes to refer to those dear old happy days of her childhood, when but a child, she and her mother played and sang for their good old friends. She often loves to relate the sad experiences of the scenes and times of the war when they would go to comfort the hearts of their white friends by the singing of the dear old songs, "My Old Kentucky Home," "Old Dog Tray," etc. She, too, likes to tell the stories of the times she would, when but a child, write passes for the slaves who would come to the singing class of her mother and get so deeply engaged in the study that they would forget about the hour, and would be afraid to start home without the "pass to show Mr. Paterole Man." It is sad to listen to her story about helping her mother to teach the slave children in the old garret, who would come to learn with their old "blue back speller" hid in false pockets. This she did with a childish relish. She would often travel around on concert tours with her mother, and would be forced, because of accommodation, to call her own mother Miss Laura. How strange, to think of a little colored girl calling her own mother mistress because her color differed. We have learned that there was never a concert programme complete in Lexington without the Britton's name thereon among their people, and they were often largely attended by the best white people of Lexington. She was pronounced by the press of Kentucky the "Wonder of the Age," being able at the age of nine to read at sight intelligently the most difficult selection for the piano. We might go on telling farther of her early fame, but space forbids.
Having received fine intellectual and musical qualifications, she has successfully taught in the following States: Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee for nearly twenty-eight years, and though her life has been surrounded with many trying difficulties, she enjoys the distinction of being a true woman to her race, a great and successful teacher, an earnest Christian worker, neglecting, oftentimes, for the benefit of humanity, her own personal welfare. Yes, we are told that her life has been one of many privations, disappointments, aspirations, struggles, defeats, temptations, and victories, as she has endeavored to push forward in the race of life. She has often been made the victim of the most cruel injustices, because of racial prejudice, yet as a woman, having a common identity of interest in all that will help to build up the Southland and uplift her race, her sex, and the body politic of her country; with all other American citizens, she has done much for herself, her race, her sex, and her home, and is building up for her people a name that will benefit them more than words can tell. Indeed, she has borne with a fortitude unsurpassed for bravery, what no other woman has been known to bear. She oft hath turned the other cheek to her enemies and oppressors, and though crushed and tossed about, because of the whims of American prejudice, she has quietly submitted to injustices of the severest nature, and yet still blesses the hand of her oppressors for the sake of her race; and she has never lost her patriotism. She often is heard to say, "Take your wounds to the great Healer of wounds." She is a firm believer in prayer, and can relate many strange and miraculous answers to her prayers for the removal of obstacles. She truly believes in liberty and equality, but is not willing to think that liberty means freedom to do wrong, nor that equality means the invasion of social realms.
She lives in hope that soon, and very soon the "missing stone" will be placed in the "building," and that when placed in it will be so riveted that it can never be displaced by any concerted blow of "wrong hammers." We invite a careful reading of her article, "Duty of the Hour."
Establishing herself in Memphis well before the turn of the century, she became active in musical groups such as Liszt Mullard Club, which performed classical music concerts in the city during the 1880s. Other members of the group included Mrs. R. R. Church, Sr., who frequently played piano duets with Mrs. Hooks, and Mrs. Josiah T. Settle, Sr., known for her beautiful soprano voice.
Mrs. Hooks also was involved with various churches because of her expertise in playing the organ and her talent for directing choirs and choral groups. In addition, she taught music, and every year her students appeared in recital at Zion Hall, Beale Street Baptist Church, and, after Church's Park and Auditorium was completed, they appeared in Roberta Church was one of Mrs. Hooks's piano pupils.
For a while, Julia Hooks served as a teacher and principal in the Memphis city schools; she later operated a private kindergarten and elementary school in her home on South Lauderdale Street. Among her pupils, in addition to her sons, Henry and Robert, were Robert Church, Jr., and his sister, Annette, Allison Vance, Nellie Bowles, Edgar Mitchum, and Fred L. Hutchins. Julia Hooks loved children and had an unusual capacity to relate to them; they returned her affection. Frequently, she would organize groups of youngsters for picnics, play activities, or musical programs, arriving at rehearsals for recitals with an ice cream cone for each child.
A dignified, compassionate woman, her sincerity and gentle manner inspired confidence and trust. These qualities served her well when she became an officer of the Juvenile Court, and often she was able to modify the attitude of wayward youngsters and help them cope with their problems. She also was known to provide religious inspiration and spiritual comfort to adult prisoners on occasion.
Around 1907, the city opened a small Juvenile Detention Home next to her residence, which she and her husband, Charles, a truant officer, supervised. Mr. Hooks was killed by one of the wards, but Mrs. Hooks continued her efforts to help young people. At times Judge Camille Kelly, a well-known judge of the Juvenile Court, would invite Julia Hooks to sit with her when certain cases concerning Negro youths were presented.
Although her primary interest and occupation was music, throughout her lifetime Julia Hooks maintained an interest in the underprivileged of all ages. She initiated the founding of the Old Folks and Orphans Home, located on the old Hernando Road. Using her talent as an accomplished pianist, she played in concerts to help pay for the home.
Two sons, Henry and Robert, were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hooks. Both sons became expert photographers and established a studio known as Hooks Brothers Photographers. The interest in photography was passed on to the next generation, and Charles Hooks, son of Robert Hooks, and Henry Hooks, Jr., operated the family business. Henry Hooks, Sr., was a member of the Iroquois Club, a well known social club organized by a group of young men in Memphis. Henry Hooks, Jr., and his father, Charles, were signers of a petition circulated by a group of prominent black and white Memphians endorsing Robert Church, Jr., as Surveyor of Customs for the Port of Memphis. The petition was sent to President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908.
Julia Hooks died at the age of ninety and, according to her obituary, was able to play the piano until a few weeks before she passed away. She is survived by several grandchildren, including Julia Hooks Gordon, a retired employee of the federal government; Robert, Jr. and Raymond Hooks, both employees of the U. S. Post Office; Mildred Hooks, an employee of the Shelby County Government; Benjamin Hooks, who in 1972 became the first black member of the Federal Communications Commission and served as executive secretary of the NAACP; and Bessie Hooks, an employee of the Internal Revenue Service.
__________________________________________
In 1895 Mrs. Hooks was included in James T. Haley's Afro-American Encyclopedia. The article is printed in full below. It is of particular interest as it was written by one of her contemporaries during the prime of her life.
JULIA ANN AMANDA MOOREHEAD BRITTON HOOKS. The writer of the article, "Duty of the Hour," was born May 4, 1852, at the Capital of the State known as the "Dark and Bloody Ground," by the side of one of its lofty land elevations, near the banks of the Kentucky river. Her parents, Laura Marshall and Henry Harrison Britton, were descendants of some of the old Southern aristocracy and Indian blood. Her mother, though born a slave, was liberated at the age of sixteen by her mistress, who was also a very near relative of her father, who was no less a personage than the Hon. Thomas F. Marshall, of Kentucky, the great and renowned statesman. She received at the hands of her owner a splendid education, and was, therefore, left a free girl, above the average colored girls of the South. Her intelligence gave her great advantage. The writer's father was free born, but a descendant also of great lineage.
She was raised in Lexington, the garden spot of Kentucky, and at a very early age was given every advantage of a high learning, having been sent to Louisville in company with her older sister, and placed in the late Mr. Wm. Gibson's school for colored youths, in 1859. Remaining there until the spring of 1860, just at the outbreak of the great civil strife, she was taken back to her home and then placed under the tuition of an English lady in music, having received some instruction from her mother, who was a gifted singer and accomplished musician. Having inherited from her mother great musical gifts, she very soon became famous as Kentucky's little musical prodigy, performing at the age of nine years many works of the Masters, Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, and others. Indeed, she performed at the age of eight and a half years Beethoven's Sonata Pathetique with all the beauty and smoothness of an artist. Her parents were free, and standing high in the social scale of their race, were greatly esteemed and respected by the aristocracy of Lexington, and she and her mother were often seen and heard in parlor concerts by the very highest society, among whom it is pleased to be noted Mrs. Gen. Wm. Preston, Mrs. Gen. Morgan, Mrs. Hunt Dudley, and other grand women who have long since gone to the beautiful beyond.
The writer likes to refer to those dear old happy days of her childhood, when but a child, she and her mother played and sang for their good old friends. She often loves to relate the sad experiences of the scenes and times of the war when they would go to comfort the hearts of their white friends by the singing of the dear old songs, "My Old Kentucky Home," "Old Dog Tray," etc. She, too, likes to tell the stories of the times she would, when but a child, write passes for the slaves who would come to the singing class of her mother and get so deeply engaged in the study that they would forget about the hour, and would be afraid to start home without the "pass to show Mr. Paterole Man." It is sad to listen to her story about helping her mother to teach the slave children in the old garret, who would come to learn with their old "blue back speller" hid in false pockets. This she did with a childish relish. She would often travel around on concert tours with her mother, and would be forced, because of accommodation, to call her own mother Miss Laura. How strange, to think of a little colored girl calling her own mother mistress because her color differed. We have learned that there was never a concert programme complete in Lexington without the Britton's name thereon among their people, and they were often largely attended by the best white people of Lexington. She was pronounced by the press of Kentucky the "Wonder of the Age," being able at the age of nine to read at sight intelligently the most difficult selection for the piano. We might go on telling farther of her early fame, but space forbids.
Having received fine intellectual and musical qualifications, she has successfully taught in the following States: Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee for nearly twenty-eight years, and though her life has been surrounded with many trying difficulties, she enjoys the distinction of being a true woman to her race, a great and successful teacher, an earnest Christian worker, neglecting, oftentimes, for the benefit of humanity, her own personal welfare. Yes, we are told that her life has been one of many privations, disappointments, aspirations, struggles, defeats, temptations, and victories, as she has endeavored to push forward in the race of life. She has often been made the victim of the most cruel injustices, because of racial prejudice, yet as a woman, having a common identity of interest in all that will help to build up the Southland and uplift her race, her sex, and the body politic of her country; with all other American citizens, she has done much for herself, her race, her sex, and her home, and is building up for her people a name that will benefit them more than words can tell. Indeed, she has borne with a fortitude unsurpassed for bravery, what no other woman has been known to bear. She oft hath turned the other cheek to her enemies and oppressors, and though crushed and tossed about, because of the whims of American prejudice, she has quietly submitted to injustices of the severest nature, and yet still blesses the hand of her oppressors for the sake of her race; and she has never lost her patriotism. She often is heard to say, "Take your wounds to the great Healer of wounds." She is a firm believer in prayer, and can relate many strange and miraculous answers to her prayers for the removal of obstacles. She truly believes in liberty and equality, but is not willing to think that liberty means freedom to do wrong, nor that equality means the invasion of social realms.
She lives in hope that soon, and very soon the "missing stone" will be placed in the "building," and that when placed in it will be so riveted that it can never be displaced by any concerted blow of "wrong hammers." We invite a careful reading of her article, "Duty of the Hour."
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