Carrying the Torch through Memphis: Overton Park Conservancy

Tell us about Overton Park Conservancy. Why is the work you do important?

Overton Park Conservancy is the nonprofit that has been taking care of Overton Park since 2012. Our vision is to foster a beautiful, welcoming, and safe park that encourages our diverse community to explore, learn, create, socialize, and play. Our mission is to protect, preserve, and improve Overton Park.

Five years ago, we installed visitor counters that show the park consistently receives between 1.2 and 1.3 million visitors every year! These are locals enjoying walks and runs in the forest, families taking kids to the playgrounds, people having birthday parties and family reunions at the pavilions, and visitors to all the park’s wonderful cultural organizations. By keeping the park well-maintained, making thoughtful improvements, and connecting Memphians to nature through our community programming, we’re making sure that every Memphian has a place to go where they always feel welcome.

How did Overton Park Conservancy begin? How has it evolved over time?

Our organization began with the vision of the late George Cates, along with Gary Shorb, who saw a problem common to most cities in America: the underfunding of public parks. This led to neglect and deferred maintenance that kept people from wanting to spend time in places meant for them to enjoy.

George and Gary led a team of volunteers who surveyed the community about what they wanted to see change in Overton Park. In addition to safety and cleanliness, people expressed a desire for updated playgrounds, more community activities, a fenced dog park, restrooms, and protection of the Old Forest and Greensward.

We spent our first few years tackling capital projects that addressed these issues—newer Memphians might not realize Overton Park didn’t even have working restrooms before 2012! One of our first and most important initiatives was achieving State Natural Area designation for the Old Forest, which legally protects it from development.

Over the past few years, we’ve focused on developing community programs that bring people into the Old Forest to show them what an incredible ecosystem we have in our own backyard. We’ve also spent significant time talking to the community and developing a comprehensive plan for the park’s future, identifying the next round of park improvement projects.

What Memphis needs is Overton Park Conservancy responding to?

While the Conservancy exists to protect Memphis’ central green space, what makes the park special are the people who come here and make it part of their story. Cities need places where people of every background can meet each other and feel like part of a bigger whole—and that’s what Overton Park does.

We’re also carrying on a tradition of advocacy for this space. When the U.S. Department of Transportation planned to build Interstate 40 through the heart of Overton Park, the community fought back and won a 1971 Supreme Court case that set a precedent for other cities whose public spaces were threatened by highway development. The park was also central to the 1963 Supreme Court decision Watson v. City of Memphis, which ruled that Memphis’ public spaces must be integrated immediately.

Activists throughout Memphis’ history have stood up and said that parks are important, and parks are for everyone. We hope to carry that powerful legacy forward. 

How can Memphians get involved or volunteer?

First and foremost, we’d love for folks to check out our programs! We always have a busy fall planned, especially in October when we hold our annual NatureZen Month celebration. We’ll have guided walks, volunteer events, a festival for dogs, nature journaling, a tree giveaway, and more.

We also host group volunteer events throughout the year, and last year we started a Volunteer Ranger program, where people sign up for shifts answering questions, reporting maintenance issues, and picking up litter. You can find all this information on our website at overtonpark.org.

Do you have any annual events or fundraisers? How can people contribute?

We typically host a large fundraising event in the park every other year, and 2025 is an off year. However, 2026 marks Overton Park’s 125th anniversary (which is why I now know the word “quasquicentennial”), and we’re already planning fun ways to celebrate!

Tell us about your organization’s dreams and goals for the short-term and long-term. What does success look like?

Our comprehensive plan has brought forth some really exciting projects that we’ll be working on in both the short- and long-term.

• Fall 2025: We’ll open a brand-new trail in the Old Forest. This area has been behind a fence since the 1980s, when it was slated to become a Zoo exhibit. Now that the Zoo has given the land back, we’ll remove the fence after addressing invasive plants that have been growing there.
   
• Next up: We plan to focus on the East Parkway side of the park. The pavilion, the oldest surviving structure in the park, needs some TLC. The playground and the signature concrete picnic tables, where so many have gathered over the decades, need some too.
   
• Long-term: We will improve the heart of the park by adding a walking loop around the Greensward, building a new indoor/outdoor pavilion near Rainbow Lake, and naturalizing the lake into a functioning ecosystem instead of a shallow concrete pond.

Success means seeing the community embrace the park as they always have, while also helping them experience it in new ways, like families who’ve only visited the Zoo or playgrounds coming to a guided walk to learn about native birds and butterflies.

We’d love to continue building school partnerships to bring kids into the park as part of their curriculum. One of our biggest future visions is creating a Department of Conservation, Research, and Education that builds on the last decade of urban forest research. For example, our Director of Operations, Eric Bridges, recently completed a PhD studying why new oak trees struggle to establish. He concluded that planting small trees, rather than relying solely on acorns, is the best hope for the forest’s future.

We’re planning lots of tree planting, and we’ll need volunteers to help monitor them, remove invasive species, and spread the word about how planting native species in home gardens helps wildlife thrive.

Tell us a little about you and your role at Overton Park Conservancy.

I’ve been at the Conservancy since about 10 months after it was founded. As Director of Communications for the past 13 years, I’ve experienced everything from installing the Bike Gate arch in the dead of night (when the crane sank in the mud!) to getting lost in the woods deciding where to install trail markers, to seeing the Greensward controversy resolved in a way that preserved the parkland people love.

I’m an enthusiastic naturalist, so I can’t imagine working anywhere that doesn’t involve spending time in nature. I’m especially grateful that this role allows me to share my photos and reflections with people, particularly through our monthly NatureZen series. You’ll usually find me in the Old Forest in spring, fall, and winter, or in the Veterans Plaza pollinator garden in summer—reveling in the incredible wealth of flying creatures that light up our world.
 

Overton Park Conservancy is carrying the torch by protecting Memphis’ beloved green space and ensuring it thrives for generations to come. We’re grateful to Melissa for sharing her time, her passion for the park, and her ongoing work to keep this community treasure flourishing.