In the Memphis, Tennessee area, Behind the Veil (BTV) project staff, students, and local volunteers conducted 108 interviews with African Americans in summer 1995. Earlier dates represent historical images accompanying the interview materials. Interview listings are in alphabetical order by last name. Administrative folders which accompany almost all the interviews can include detailed biographical data sheets, interviewer notes and summaries; they also occasionally contain small amounts of donated original papers such as documents, obituaries, booklets, and news clippings. Their presence is recorded in the administrative file note. A subset of over 300 interviews also come with transcripts created by Behind the Veil staff, available as digital files. Finally, some interviewees donated historical photographs and other materials to be imaged by BTV staff at the interview sites and turned into slides. The original materials were then returned to the donors. If there are slides associated with an interview, they are listed at the end of the interview entry in this collection guide. There is a total of 52 slides in the Tennessee series.

The Behind the Veil (BTV) project records and preserves the living memory of African American life during the age of legal segregation in the American South, roughly from the 1890s to 1950s. Most of the over 1200 interviews were conducted by BTV staff in private homes with one person or two people, often a married couple or two siblings; in many interview recordings one can hear additional voices in the background. There are also a number of larger group interviews usually associated with a family or local club. The interviewers came to the sessions with a standard list of questions crafted by staff for the project.

The collection guide entry for each person interviewed usually offers biographical data voluntarily provided by the interviewee; details may include date of birth, place of birth, and present and past occupations.

The interviews typically lasted at least one or two hours, but some lasted much longer and were sometimes conducted over several days. They were recorded on audiocassettes which have been digitized and are available online along with other associated materials.