Why "Artesian"?
In the late 1800s, Memphis was almost destroyed as a city due to a Yellow Fever epidemic. So many people died or left the city that the state of Tennessee revoked the city’s charter in 1879. Green Polonius Hamilton comments on the severity of the situation in his book, “The Bright Side of Memphis”:
“Finally the health of the city became so precarious that it became absolutely necessary to improve its water supply and sanitary conditions. Scourge after scourge of pestilential diseases had stricken the city, destroyed its population and brought desolation and woe to thousands of its citizens. Driven to this extremity the people had either to improve their sanitary conditions or die.”
Three important things happened that restored the city’s health:
~ ~ ~
Great schools transform communities. Like the discovery of the artesian water that restored health to the city of Memphis during the Yellow Fever epidemic, Artesian Schools, Inc. will serve as a conduit to tap into already-existing community resources to revitalize Memphis neighborhoods.
Our alums will return to their communities with a post-secondary education with tools, jobs, and the ability to positively impact their city. They will have the knowledge and networks to drive change locally. They will become influential community members and reinvest in their childhood community through job creation and contributing more money into the local economy.
- The discovery of an artesian water supply (pure, sanitary water)
- The completion of a city-wide sewage system
- The constructing of a crematory for trash and garbage
~ ~ ~
Great schools transform communities. Like the discovery of the artesian water that restored health to the city of Memphis during the Yellow Fever epidemic, Artesian Schools, Inc. will serve as a conduit to tap into already-existing community resources to revitalize Memphis neighborhoods.
Our alums will return to their communities with a post-secondary education with tools, jobs, and the ability to positively impact their city. They will have the knowledge and networks to drive change locally. They will become influential community members and reinvest in their childhood community through job creation and contributing more money into the local economy.
