Our visit to the National Civil Rights Museum

On our first trip to Tennessee we came to Nashville and then drove to Memphis to visit a few places.  Among them, the National Civil Rights Musuem which is at The Lorraine Motel.   

The Museum was great.  It started with a short movie that gave an overview of the Civil Rights Movement, and the events leading up to it.  After viewing that, we walked through the museum.   A lot of the exhibits were interactive.  You could walk onto the buses, walk among the statues and scenes to become a part of the movement.  Some were not interactive, but they had great narratives so you could follow along and really understand the story.  They did a great job of setting the scene.  It's set up so you walk through and it chronologically showcases events as they occurred.  The kids enjoyed it as much as as the adults, that doesn't always happen, and is a testament to how great it was.

Outside is a plaque commemorating Martin Luther King, and if you look up above the plaque, up where  that wreath is, you will be looking at the balcony where he was standing when he was shot.

Inside the motel, room 306, where Dr. King was staying. has been restored to the way it was on April 4, 1968 and is part of the museum.

The museum has been renovated since our visit, so I'm not sure what it looks like now.   I only hope that they were able to retain the feeling that it belongs to everyone.  It holds a great amount of really important history.  

If you ever get to Memphis - it's a must see!!

My favorite quote from a Dr. King speech:

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral,
begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.
Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
Through violence you may murder the liar,
but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.
Through violence you may murder the hater,
but you do not murder hate.
In fact, violence merely increases hate.
So it goes.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.