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THE LORRAINE MOTEL In 1968 Martin Luther King, Jr., went to Memphis, Tennessee, to support a garbage workers strike. The strikers, all of whom were African-American, wanted better wages and working conditions. On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was assassinated by a rifle shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. |
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This sign is now one of the great icons of the Civil Rights
Movement.
The sign was prominently displayed in news coverage of the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. |
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The Lorraine was a typical motel of the 1960s.
The spot where Martin Luther King was standing when he was shot is marked by a white wreath at the left side of the photo. |
| Here is the white wreath.
Martin Luther King was on the balcony talking to friends at the moment he was shot to death. The Lorraine is now the National Civil Rights Museum. |
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The bullet that killed Martin Luther King
was fired from one of the windows in this building across from the
Lorraine Motel.
The building has been acquired by the National Park Service and will be restored as part of the National Civil Rights Museum. |