A visitor’s guide to the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel

17.12.2024 - 21:27 / lonelyplanet.com / Aretha Franklin / Martin Luther

Dec 17, 2024 • 5 min read

Arguably one of the most important museums in the United States highlighting the American Civil Rights movement, the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel is both an educational center and a shrine to civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr who was assassinated at this location in 1968. Get a preview of what visitors can discover at this museum with the guide below, and learn about other intriguing Civil rights sites in the south.

The National Civil Rights Museum’s story begins in Memphis, Tennessee’s South Main Historic Arts District. Here, travelers will find the Lorraine Motel, where the museum is partially located.

Built in 1925, the Windsor Hotel (as it was known then) was a whites-only establishment that discriminated against African Americans and other people of color. Though the hotel became the Marquette in the 1940s, the racial policy remained.

Things changed in 1945. Walter Bailey, a Black Memphis businessman, purchased the establishment and renamed it the Lorraine Motel. He named it after his wife, Loree, and a well-known tune called "Sweet Lorraine."

The Lorraine was one of a few hotels that served Black travelers.

Singers like Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and The Staple Singers were among the motel’s most popular guests. This was largely due to its proximity to a trio of famous recording studios – Stax Records, Royal Studios and Sun Studio – all less than three miles away.

On April 4, 1968, the Lorraine Motel witnessed one of the darkest days in American history. This was the day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on the motel’s balcony.

Dr. King was in Memphis to support a sanitation workers strike. He gave his famous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech at Mason Temple the day before his death, not far from the motel.

The room where King stayed – 306 – was never rented out again and has been preserved, exactly as it was on that day.

By the 1980s, the Lorraine Motel was in foreclosure when D’Army Bailey, who was an activist, a lawyer and a judge, raised over $140,000 to purchase the motel. Bailey’s vision was to make the motel more than a place to learn history. He hoped it would inspire people to take action.

The National Civil Rights Museum opened in 1991 and underwent a $27.5 million renovation in 2012. Today, it is one of the most visited museums in Memphis and serves as the heartbeat and anchor of the city’s downtown. Its presence directly benefits the neighborhood and has sparked the area’s revitalization, with new hotels, restaurants and apartments.

Over the last 30 years, the National Civil Rights Museum has become a place of unity and community for Black Memphians and those who support the ongoing civil and human rights issues