The National Civil Rights Museum is the site of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. The Museum is located at South Main and Huling Streets, in the historic art district of downtown Memphis. Dedicated on September 28, 1991, the museum exists to assist the public in understanding the lessons of the Civil Rights Movement and its impact and influence on human rights movements worldwide, through its collections, exhibitions, research and educational programs. It chronicles the civil rights movement from 1619 to 2000 with historical exhibits, including Room 306, the hotel room where Dr. King stayed in April of 1968.
Major components of the complex include a museum and the Lorraine Motel and hotel buildings. The complex also includes the Young and Morrow building at 422 Main Street, which was the site where James Earl Ray initially confessed to shooting King. The complex additionally includes the Canipe’s Amusement Store at 418 Main Street. The store is next door to the rooming house where the alleged murderer weapon, with Ray’s fingerprints, was found.
The Lorraine Motel was originally names the Windsor Hotel in 1925. It was renamed Marquette Hotel in 1945 and offered for sale. Walter Bailey purchased it in 1945 and renamed, after his wife Loree and a song title “sweet Lorraine.” At the time of purchase the Lorraine motel included a café’ and living quarters for the Baileys. The Lorraine Motel is designated an historic site by the Tennessee Historical Commission.
The National Civil Rights Museum was birthed out of