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Now that the Texas Historical Commission has agreed to award a historical marker for legendary Houston blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins, there comes the matter of raising money to have it installed and to throw a shindig fitting of one of the city's most important musicians. Houstonian Eric Davis, who drove the effort to get the marker, worked with the family of late photographer Andrew Hanson and is now selling 50 prints made from one of Hanson's most iconic shots of the musician. A portion of the photo can be seen below (the version in our archives is cropped differently than Hanson's original).
photo by Andrew Hanson
Hanson snapped the photo of Hopkins in 1959 at Hopkins' Third Ward home. It would later be used on the cover of Hopkins' Autobiography in Blues.
The numbered prints are $100 + $15 for shipping. They can be ordered through redavis59@comcast.net or by sending a check or money order made out to:
Lightnin' Hopkins Marker Fund
501 East 16th St.
Houston, TX 77008
Last month Davis projected that the marker could go up in late summer or early fall.
It would be really cool if you had a free and easy Paypal account where those who wished to contribute but not shell out $100.00 could do so.
I'm sure that you'd get a great response from the Blues Forums like The Blindman's, Tweed's and Blues-L.
Just an idea!
Blindman
Thanks for the article on the Lightnin' Hopkins Marker Fund. This has been a really inspiring journey thus far and, now, international attention! Yes, the statue in Crockett, Texas came firtst, but it was a privately funded, personal project. The project I have been undertaking is get Mr. Hopkins "official" recognition through the State of Texas. Do I wish something was in place like the Mississippi Blues Trail? YES! I would love to see this happen in Texas. This journey began when, after listening to Mr. Hopkins' music for 10 years, it dawned on me that he might actually be buried in Houston and I found that he was buried in Forest Park - Lawndale Cemetery on the south side of Houston. I went with my daughter to find the grave and, even with detailed instructions, had trouble locating it. When we did, I stood there thinking, 'This is it? This is all there is left to commemorate this man?' The stone was dirty and was starting to be covered with grass. It was sad and disappointing; that is what spurred me to take this on. I wanted to honor a man that had given so much to me and others.
Donations can be made to the LHMF without purchasing one of the photographs, but I won't use paypal; I have had too many problems with it to use on something this important.
For more details on how you can help the fund, just e-mail me at: redavis59@comcast.net.
Thank you.
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