Lorraine shines beacon to future

During the days of segregation, the Lorraine Motel was a haven for African-American travelers who were prevented from staying in hotels and motels patronized by whites.

During the 1968 sanitation strike, the Lorraine served as a headquarters of sorts for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights and organized labor strategists who came to Memphis to help the strikers.

As the strike continued, King was fatally wounded by an assassin’s bullet as he stood on the motel’s balcony on April 4, 1968.

King’s murder reverberated around the world, shrouding the Lorraine and Memphis in racial-injustice-and-inequality infamy.

But the Lorraine, thanks to some visionary thinkers, has emerged from a place of shame to a beacon for the future and a reminder of our past.

The Lorraine is part of the National Civil Rights Museum, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

Museum President Terri Lee Freeman, in a story in The Commercial Appeal Sunday, summed up the museum’s role succinctly, telling reporter John Beifuss:

“What it (the museum) should do, frankly, is light a fire under us that tells us we can’t get complacent. The museum provides the story for us to see how injustice can occur, how people can work through that injustice, how victories can be won but also how easily those victories can be lost,” especially in what she called “these scary and perilous times,” when gun violence, angry political rhetoric and other attacks on racial, religious, gender and sexual-identity civil rights have seemed almost ubiquitous.

The museum, dedicated on July 4, 1991, has enhanced the delivery of that message with a $28 million renovation that modernized the exhibits, making them more interactive and “tactile,” and less like “reading a book on the wall,” said Freeman’s predecessor, Beverly Robertson, the museum’s president for nearly 17 years.

As the museum prepares to present its 25th Annual Freedom Awards on Oct. 20 for outstanding contributions to civil and human rights, this is a good time to laud Robertson for her steady and visionary leadership as president; the late Chuck Scruggs, the late Circuit CourtJudgeD’ArmyBailey,thelateA.W.WillisJr.,astate legislator and developer, and the late Jesse H. Turner of Tri-State Bank, among others, for their vision that the motel could be transformed into a place of learning.

Also,AutoZonefounderJ.R.“Pitt”Hyde,whohasbeen on the museum’s board for its entire history, deserves praise for his long service. His company was the first to contribute significant private funds to the cause.

The Hyde Family Foundation, in addition, has been a major sponsor of the museum’s Freedom Awards.

There are, of course, others who have played a significant role, including museum board members, in making the museum a success.

Great museums are in a near state of perpetual evolution, as their boards of directors and administrative staffs think of ways to keep exhibits fresh and relevant, along with ways to bring in temporary exhibits or events that enhance the museum’s mission.

The National Civil Rights Museum’s board and administrative staff have been able to do that.

Memphis and the nation are better because of that success.