In 1925, Tom Lee steered his tiny boat back and forth along the Mississippi to rescue 32 people from a capsized steam boat. He did not know how to swim, yet he continued through nightfall, hanging a lantern on his skiff. He became a hero, local and national. “Shine on, Tom Lee, shine on!” the African Methodist Church hailed at the time. 

A century later, Memphis River Parks Partnership commissioned Chantelle Rytter to conceptualize a lantern parade in honor of Lee’s heroism. Tom Lee’s Mississippi River Gumption Revival Lantern Parade was born, a new Memphis tradition recognizing Tom Lee's heroic gumption and raising a light to revive our own. ​​