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National Civil Rights Museum
The motel where Rev. King was assassinated is now the site of the National Civil Rights Museum. King was standing on the motel's balcony at the place near the wreath.
General information
Town or city	Memphis, TN
Country	United States
Completed	1920 (original building) 1960s (annex)

The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, was built around the former Lorraine Motel at 450 Mulberry Street, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4 1968.

The Lorraine Motel remained open following King's assassination until it was foreclosed in 1982. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Foundation purchased the property at auction in December of that year. In 1987 construction of the museum started, opening its doors to visitors on September 28, 1991. The exhibits of the museum tell the story of the struggle for African American civil rights from the arrival of the first Africans in the British colonies in 1619 to the assassination of King in 1968.

An expansion project in 2001 added the Young and Morrow Building to the museum, the latter being a former rooming house at 418 South Main Street from which James Earl Ray fired the shots that killed King. The exhibits in the rooming house relate the events of the assassination, the Poor People's Campaign, and the legacy of the civil rights movement. It includes a panel describing the murder of the Reverend James Reeb in Selma, Alabama.

Controversy

The last resident of the motel was forcibly evicted in order that the project could go ahead, and has been protesting this decision ever since, maintaining a vigil near the museum.

References

1. ^ "National Civil Rights Museum - About the Museum". Retrieved 2008-02-13.
2. "Protester Is Removed From King Motel Site" (reprint). New York Times. Associated Press. 1990-07-17. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
3. Thomas, Brignall (2003-08-16). "The Exploitation of a Hero: The Use of Martin Luther King's Legacy to Legitimize Gentrification". Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. Atlanta Hilton Hotel, Atlanta, GA. p. 17. Retrieved 2008-02-13. {{cite conference}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |booktitle= ignored (|book-title= suggested) (help)

External links

• National Civil Rights Museum
• National Civil Rights Museum -- History, Hours, Prices, and Other Information
• TN History for Kids article about the museum

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• Museums in Memphis, Tennessee
• American national museums
• Memorials to Martin Luther King, Jr.
• History museums in the United States
• African American museums
• Tennessee geography stubs
• United States museum stubs