The National Civil Rights Museum is in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. It is 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 the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., but was foreclosed in 1982. The property was purchased by the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial foundation at auction in December of that year. In 1987 construction of the museum started, opening its doors to visitors on September 28 1991. An expansion project in 2001 added the Young and Morrow building and the former rooming house at 418 S. Main St where James Earl Ray allegedly fired the shots that killed King.

External links

• National Civil Rights Museum

Museums in Tennessee | Martin Luther King, Jr. | Memphis, Tennessee | National museums