By Dr. Noelle Trent Director of Interpretation, Collections and Education In 2020, we respond to news and events within seconds on Social Media; however, in 1968 the American public responded to news and events through letters and telegrams. Letters and telegrams are written communications which required deliberate and intentional action. For a telegram, a person […]
Category: From the Collection
Look closely at the artifacts the museum preserves, from the 1968 Lorraine Motel guest book to letters written in the days after Dr. King’s assassination. Our collections staff share the stories behind objects most visitors never see up close. These pieces are how we keep the record of this history intact.
Model Slave Cabin
Among the interstingly novel artifacts in the National Civil Rights Museum’s collection is a model slave cabin donated to the museum along with figurines, furniture and accessories. It was fashioned by the well-regarded dollhouse enthusiast Jacqueline Andrews of Ashland, Virginia. In 1975, Barbara Grey commissioned Ms. Andrew to create these dolls and the house. It was […]
The Lorraine Motel Guest Book
One of the unique collections housed at the National Civil Rights Museum is the Evidence Collection, related to the trial of Martin Luther King’s assassin James Earl Ray. Among the 1,760 items in this collection is the Lorraine Motel guest book from 1968. In this book, Walter Bailey, the proprietor of the establishment, made note […]
Lorraine Motel
For this month’s blog, I want to share two photographs from our Lorraine Motel archive collection. The National Civil Rights Museum provides an engaging narrative of the civil rights struggle, but few know the story behind our most important artifact, the motel building itself. In 1945, a local African American businessman, Walter Bailey (no relation […]
Water Dippers
Jim Crow restrictions separated the races in America in every aspect of public life. Restaurants, buses, trains, restrooms, theatres, water fountains and workplaces posted “White Only” and “Colored” signs to remind people of their place. Jim Crow restrictions separated the races in America in every aspect of public life. Restaurants, buses, trains, restrooms, theatres, water […]
Gradual Matriculation: Brown vs. Board of Education
White columns guide you when entering the Brown vs Board of Education exhibition. On the right are pews and a short video recapping the world-changing U.S. Supreme Court decision on May 17, 1954, 66 years ago this week. For 89 years, schools across the South were racially segregated and drastically different. Despite a court order […]
America Has a Hate Problem
By Terri Lee Freeman, Museum President Our issues of hate are killing our country… still. Last fall, we witnessed NBC Today Show host Megyn Kelly state, “…when I was a kid that [using blackface] was okay if you were dressing up as a character.” Uh…no, Ms. Kelly, it wasn’t okay then, and it isn’t okay […]
Confederate Manifesto: Southern Heritage or Southern Injustice
by Ryan M. Jones, Museum Educator In the recent weeks across the nation, the tension and controversy surrounding the flag of the Confederate States of America have hit its boiling point. With the senseless tragedy in Charleston, South Carolina, where nine African Americans were executed during Bible study by a young […]
The Crafts of Freedom
by Scott Newstok On April 3, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was summoned to the Bishop Mason Temple in Memphis to address the striking sanitation workers and their supporters. King wasn’t scheduled to speak at the rally, but Reverend Ralph Abernathy, sensing the crowd’s disappointment, had persuaded King to come from the Lorraine Hotel to make a […]