Memphis’ National Civil Rights Museum rises from turmoil

It amazes me that our country once denied basic rights to people based on the color of their skin. We’ve come a long way as a nation, but we still have a ways to go before we don’t judge someone based on the color of their skin.

The National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis provides an informative record of that struggle. It’s fitting that it resides in the same building where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated for his dream of a colorless society.

Dr. King was assassinated in April 1968 outside his room at the Lorraine Motel. James Earl Ray was convicted of the murder. Dr. King was in town to support African American sanitation workers on strike for benefits.

The motel went through a period where it became run down and was nearly demolished. But, civic leaders pulled together and saved the building. The museum opened to the public in 1991.

The museum has an organized flow to its visits. The lobby is spacious and can hold hundreds of people. A sculpture honoring the struggle for civil rights stands in the middle of the lobby. It is black stone with carvings of people climbing the mountain for civil rights.

A special exhibit room gives visitors an opportunity to see temporary exhibits. During our visit, we viewed a photo exhibit that highlighted key southern sites during the struggle for civil rights. One man looked intently at a photo marking a key event in Montgomery AL. Nearby was a photo of a door of the building where the Ku Klux Klan was born. Someone turned the plaque backwards that identified the site.

The museum has a short film that starts the actual tour of the exhibits. It is emotional. People wait in a circular room that recognizes the early days of slavery and its global impact. There are portraits and statues that depict the international slave market.

I was actually angered by the sculptures of a slave trader auctioning off a black woman and her baby. It is ridiculous that our nation treated people like this through history.  As you read the information next to the woman, you see the average amount of money certain skill sets brought at auction.

After watching the film, half of the screen opens up and visitors walk through into the main part of the museum.

Initially, you get a view of African American accomplishments in the education, medical and military arenas.

One chilling view was a KKK white hood sitting high above the exhibits. It’s a sad reminder of the hatred some people felt (and unfortunately, still do).

“Separate Is Not Equal” documents the struggle for integration in the public schools. Thurgood Marshall, who later served as a US Supreme Court Justice, was the lead attorney in a legal challenge of segregation. The Supreme Court agreed that American children deserved equal opportunities in the classroom in Brown vs. Board of Education. We visited the national historic site in Topeka KS, home of one of the schools involved in the legal action.

The 1954 court decision wasn’t well received in the South. National Guardsmen were activated to help escort black children to school.

Moving along, the struggle for civil rights really hit the pavement in December 1955, when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white person in Montgomery AL. That led to a boycott of the bus system.

“Standing up by Sitting Down” recognized the efforts of protestors to sit at “whites only” lunch counters. The lunch counter on display was an actual lunch counter that protestors sat at. The protestors are represented by sculptures sitting at the counter while hecklers berated them at that their side. A film runs in the background of actual footage of the nonviolent protests.

“We are Prepared to Die” recognizes the efforts of the Freedom Riders. The Freedom Riders were primarily college students were traveled to the South via buses to help support the enforcement of integration of busses and terminals. They often were met with resistance and busses destroyed by fire. Some of the Freedom Riders were arrested.

“The Children Shall Lead Them” focuses on the time Dr. King was held in Birmingham jail. Visitors can watch a video of him reading a letter, as well as footage of President John Kennedy calling for the passage of a civil rights act.

“For Jobs and Freedom” focuses on Dr. King’s famous speech “I have a Dream” that he delivered on the Mall in Washington DC. In the background are people holding signs calling for equal pay and fair housing, among other issues.

“Is This America?” highlights the summer of 1964, when northern college students came south to help people register to vote. The exhibit includes coverage of the murders of three students – James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman.

“How Long? Not Long” examines the brutality marchers encountered crossing a bridge in Selma, AL, in 1965. Dr. King led a group of protestors from Selma to Montgomery, where he delivered the speech, “How Long? Not Long?” on the steps of the Alabama capitol.

“What Do We Want?” focuses on the fight for “Black Power.” It racks the rise and fall of the movement, including a look at the Black Panthers and other protest groups.

The exhibit “World in Transition” traces the growth of social movements in America through the years, including the fight for gay rights, women’s rights, workers’ rights and even Native American rights. The American Indian Movement is recognized in the exhibit. My oldest brother, John, was the national leader for AIM for several years beginning in the mid-1970s.

As the museum moves to its final two main exhibits, you sense what was going to happen that fateful day in 1968.

In February 1968, African American sanitation workers went on strike, citing dangerous working conditions, mistreatment, as well as discrimination. Dr. King visited the strikers a few times during the work stoppage.

Dr. King made his final trip to Memphis March 29th, in support of the strikers. He had planned to deliver a speech in Memphis before eventually moving on to Washington DC for the “Poor Peoples campaign” rally.

After delivering a speech called “I’ve been to the Mountaintop” at the Mason Temple, Dr. King’s delegation returned to the Lorraine Motel, where they often stayed.

The rooms where Dr. King stayed and met with the Southern Christian Leadership Council are maintained as they likely were on the day of his assassination.

As the group left his room on the second floor to attend an evening event, a shot rang out, hitting the reverend in the face. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

A wreath hangs on the railing in front of room 306, where Dr. King often stayed in.

Riots erupted after his assassination. The Memphis strike was settled within days.

As the museum tour ends, visitors can move to The Legacy Building. This building was once the boarding house where James Earl Ray stayed when he killed Dr. King.

The building has been renovated to maintain a positive influence, beginning with a third floor exhibit on Civil Rights timeline.

The second floor covers the Ray story – the room where he stayed.

He shot the rifle from a bathroom window. The room is enclosed. But, visitors can get a decent view of what he likely saw from a window next to the room.

Also on the floor are pieces of evidence the government used to convict James Earl Ray.

The first floor of The Legacy Building highlights the civil rights movement on human rights.

The National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel is a must-see when in Memphis. We strongly recommend visiting.

For more information, please visit its website at http://civilrightsmuseum.org/.

Disclaimer: Thank you to the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau for the complimentary tickets to the museum. However, all opinions and views are ours.