By Terri Lee Freeman Museum President A little over a month ago, we were singularly focused on MLK50. Not just the commemoration itself, but for the National Civil Rights Museum, each individual event. We worked to ensure that people were where they needed to be, that programs were rich in content and scope, that the […]
Category: Program Write-up
Go behind the museum’s programs, exhibitions, and events with recaps that carry the experience forward. These pieces revisit what happened on campus and why it mattered, from panels and forums to major openings. Read them to catch what you missed or to relive what you attended.
In Memoriam – Art Shay
By Dr. Noelle N. Trent, Director of Interpretation, Collections & Education Nearly one month after his 96th birthday, April 28, Chicago-based, Bronx-born photographer Art Shay passed away. The name Art Shay may be unfamiliar, but his work is prominently featured in the museum’s newest exhibition MLK50: A Legacy Remembered. I first became acquainted with Shay’s work, when his archivist Erica called […]
Missing the Olympics
By Terri Lee Freeman Museum President It’s been little more than a week since the closing ceremony of one of the most memorable Olympic competitions in history. The United States secured its largest number of medals ever in a non-boycotted Olympics. The Rio Olympics saw a number of firsts – the first refugee team, the […]
Frederick Douglass: Abolitionist, Journalist, Reformer, 1818 – 1895
MOVING!
By Terri Lee Freeman, Museum President Last week, the Museum had the opportunity to play a small role in the home going service for our last living founder, D’Army Bailey. On Friday, July 17, five days following his transition, his body laid-in-state at the National Civil Rights Museum, the […]
We?re Number 2! (And that?s a VERY good thing!)
A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to travel to Washington, DC with museum colleagues from across the country. We descended on Capitol Hill to inform our senators and congressional representatives of the importance of the museum industry to tourism, economic development, education and general community vitality. It was a brisk two days in […]
A Better Mid-South
Editorial by WMC Action News 5 General Manager Tracey Rogers January 19, 2015 A Better Mid-South_ National Civil Rights Museum – WMC Action News 5 – Memphis, Tennessee This week we remember the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I can’t think of a better time to visit the […]
Happy Anniversary to 50 Years of Voting Rights Protection!
By Terri Lee Freeman, Museum President One (wo)man, one vote. This single concept is what our democracy is based on. The Founding Fathers of this country made this so through the ratification of the 15th Amendment in 1870. Each citizen of the United States of America is born with the […]
TOM BROKAW TO RECEIVE A 2014 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT FREEDOM AWARD
MEMPHIS, TN – (October 29, 2014) – Today the National Civil Rights Museum announced that Tom Brokaw is being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Freedom Award. He joins Frank Robinson, also a 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. Charlayne Hunter-Gault will receive the International Freedom Award; Bob Moses will receive the National Freedom Award. The Lifetime […]
RENOVATION HIGHLIGHTS
Back to News New Lobby The original 7,000 lb. bronze signature statue, Movement to Overcome, has been returned to the museum, prominently positioned in the new lobby in front of the new grand staircase. Sculptor Michael Pavlovsky was commissioned to create the statue for the museum’s opening in 1991 and it has […]
Education is the Civil Rights Issue of Today
By Allan Golston The National Civil Rights Museum is housed on the site of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a proud supporter of the museum and of Dr. King’s ideals. When I visit the museum, I am always […]