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In support of my good friend Demmie Raysor and her son Matthew, who plays football for the University of South Carolina, my family and I traveled to Memphis, Tenn. on Dec. 27 for the Liberty Bowl featuring the Gamecocks and Houston. Our stay was extended through Jan. 1 for several reasons. While the Bowl Game and activities on the famous Beal Street were amazing and the Gamecocks came home with a big win, those experiences did not compare to the experience of visiting the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

Before being purchased and converted to the National Civil Rights Museum, the Lorraine Motel was a small, minority-owned business in the south end of downtown Memphis. The motel’s owner, Walter Lane Bailey, kept a couple of rooms as a shrine to Dr. King and to Bailey’s wife, Lorraine, who died of a brain hemorrhage several hours after King was shot.

By 1982, the Lorraine Motel was a foreclosed property. According to museum information, a group of prominent Memphians, concerned that this historic site would be destroyed through continued neglect and indifference, formed the Martin Luther King Memorial Foundation to save the Lorraine. The Foundation raised $10,000, which brought a short option to buy the Lorraine. However, members of the Foundation were unable to raise the full contract price of $250,000.

By December 1982, the Foundation was able to purchase the Lorraine at an auction for $144,000. Of that amount, $69,000 came from the fund-raising efforts of Foundation members. In addition, $25,000 was donated by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and $10,000 was donated by Lucky Hearts Cosmetics, a business located across the street from the Lorraine. The remaining $50,000 was loaned by Tri-State Bank and secured jointly by AFSCME and Lucky Hearts.

With vital support from the city of Memphis, Shelby County and the state of Tennessee, nearly $9 million was raised to create and construct a civil rights center within the Lorraine Motel designed to help visitors better understand the history and lessons of the American Civil Rights Movement.

The Lorraine Civil Rights Foundation held an official ground-breaking in 1987, and on Sept. 28, 1991, the National Civil Rights Museum opened its doors to visitors. In February 2001, the museum broke ground for an $11 million expansion project titled, “Exploring the Legacy.”

Exploring the Legacy adds 12,800 square feet of exhibition space and connects the main campus of the museum to the Young and Morrow building and the Main Street Rooming House, where James Earl Ray allegedly fired the fatal shot resulting in the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Hyde Family Foundation donated both buildings to the museum.

We toured the facility with people from all walks of life. As I observed the emotions of some of the visitors, I couldn’t help but wonder what they were thinking as they looked at photos and other exhibits that brought tears to some. One visitor was an elderly white woman in a wheelchair. The exhibits seemed to have been speaking to her in a way that only she could understand. She sobbed quietly throughout most of the tour.

It was also touching to witness my 12-year-old son Kyle’s attention to every little detail. Before our arrival, he was about as excited about the museum trip as most of us are about a trip to the dentist. However, when the headsets went on and the self-guided tour began with the assistance of the voice on the headsets, Kyle had forgotten that he would rather have been some place more fun. He paused the cassette on a number of occasions so that he could better understand each exhibit. When we got on the famous Rosa Parks bus, he immediately walked over to the likeness of Mrs. Parks and hugged her without noticing the “Do Not Touch” sign.

As we slowly followed the struggle of all of the civil rights leaders and activities that we often hear about, we finally reached the room where King spent his final night. It was an unbelievable experience to be right there, looking across the street at the building where King’s alleged assassin fired the fatal shot.

Room 307 has the king-sized bed in which Dr. King slept. It is reported that King stepped out of Room 306, leaned over the balcony and said to Chicago saxophonist Ben Branch, who was in the parking lot below: “Tonight I want you to play Precious Lord. ” At that moment, the shot rang out and Dr. King fell to the concrete pavement. The two glassed-in rooms are directly across from each other and are separated by a small hallway.

One of the final exhibits in the Lorraine was a collection of quotes by a number of individuals who made significant contributions during the civil rights era. One author of a quote quickly caught my eye.

As Kyle’s attention was still on an exhibit that I had already passed, I called to him and said, “Look, that’s Bakari’s dad’s name.”

Yes. Hanging proudly with quotes of other significant civil rights leaders included a quote from our very own Dr. Cleveland Sellers.

For more information about the museum, visit www.civilrightsmuseum.org.

-- T&D Correspondent Lisa B. Stokes can be reached by e-mail at lisastokes@bellsouth.net or by phone at 803-245-5648. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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