Lorraine Motel, view 12, National Civil Rights Museum, 450 Mulberry St, Memphis, TN, USA

opened as 16-room Windsor Hotel, c. 1925, later named Marquette Hotel • purchased, 1945, by Loree & Walter Bailey (1915-1988), renamed Lorraine after Bailey's spouse and the song Sweet Lorraine, a 1940 hit by Nat King Cole • added second floor, 12 rooms • later addition converted Lorraine to motel with more guest rooms and drive up access • upscale motel for African American clientele • guests included musicians recording at Stax Records, e.g., Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, Ethel Waters, Otis Redding, Staple Singers, Wilson Pickett • at least two hits written here, “In the Midnight Hour” and “Knock on Wood”

site of April 4,1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) as he left his room, No. 306 • Bailey set aside King's Room and adjoining 307 as memorial • hours after assassination, while on the switchboard, Loree suffered a stroke, died five days later • James Earl Ray (1928-1998) charged with murder of King, pled guilty, convicted, 1969, later recanted his confession

Bailey declared bankruptcy, 1982, building to be auctioned • self-described “black radical” D’Army Bailey (b. 1941), a circuit court judge, organized Memphis philanthropists to "Save the Lorraine" from foreclosure and possible demolition • motel building now part of the National Civil Rights Museum (1991) • Wikipedia • SepiaTown • The Crucible –Memphis Magazine • Memphis Manhunt –History Matters • Findings on MLK Assassination -National Archives • Former Memphis policeman keeps studying King's murder -Memphis Commerical Appeal • King Assassination Conspiracy Theories • King Assassination Conspiracy Trial • trial transcript

Marker: Originally the Windsor Hotel (c.1925) and later one of only a few hotels for blacks, it hosted such entertainers as Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Count Basie, B.B. King, and Nat King Cole. Walter and Loree Bailey bought it in 1942, renaming it the Lorraine. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated outside room 306 on April 4, 1968, making it a symbol for the civil rights movement. In 1982, a local nonprofit group saved the site from foreclosure for use as America's first civil rights museum.

Taken on: August 13, 2010

Tags:

memphis

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Sets appears in: • Black History • Memphis

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