Historical Feature
On March 16, 2025, the National Civil Rights Museum proudly celebrates the 100th birthday of A.W. Willis, Jr., a trailblazing attorney, businessman, and civil rights leader who dedicated his life to justice and equality.
Historical Feature
The National Civil Rights Museum joins the world in mourning the passing of President Jimmy Carter. A giant among leaders and a true example of the highest ideals of public service, President Carter’s legacy will…
Historical Feature
This post contains mature language. April is National Jazz Appreciation Month. Jazz remains a highly celebrated art form and inspires artists in other genres to this day. Jazz music had a critical role in the Civil…
Historical Feature
In a 1961 strategy meeting, members of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) gather in Alabama to discuss their next moves.
Historical Feature
Photographs taken at the Lorraine Motel on April 4, 1968, have indelibly etched our museum’s landmark in America’s collective memory. These famous images were taken in the midst of the chaos that ensued after Dr.
Historical Feature
The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, caused shock throughout America. His loss was mourned not only in our country, but throughout the whole world, and people’s reactions ran the gamut of…
Historical Feature
Musician Ben Branch was at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968. He had returned to his hometown at the behest of the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC) and Dr.
Historical Feature
Every year, the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, bestows its prestigious Freedom Award upon individuals who have made significant contributions to the advancement of civil and human rights.
Historical Feature
“We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.” ? Martin Luther King Jr. Sixty years ago, one of the “greatest demonstrations for freedom in the…
Historical Feature
America’s hate problem persists. We know that Blacks have been victims of hate crimes in pretty much every category since the FBI started gathering data more than 20 years ago. We can go back further, 400+ years, when…
Historical Feature
By Herb Hilliard Chair, Museum Board of Directors Terri Lee Freeman answered the call to lead the National Civil Rights Museum in November 2014. She arrived just a few months after the museum’s most expansive renovation.
Historical Feature
I write this letter today because I am both exhausted and frustrated. I can only imagine what Dr. King was feeling when he wrote his Letter from a Birmingham Jail. I'm angry at a nation that I love but doesn’t seem to…