Journal Gazette from Mattoon, Illinois • C6

C6 SATURDAY, APRIL 7, 2018 JOURNAL GAZETTE TIMES-COURIER 1 National Civil Rights Museum The National Civil Rights Museum in the South Main area of downtown Memphis is the center for all things related to King in the city. The museum, built at the site of the Lorraine Motel, opened in 1991, then underwent a $28 million renovation and reopened in 2014 with many new interactive exhibits. From the street, visitors approaching the museum see a striking sight: a wreath on the balcony where King was shot. Inside, exhibits tell the story of the civil rights movement, including detailed scenes of the desegregation of a lunch counter and sanitation workers marching in Memphis. The workers were seeking higher pay and better working conditions after two of them were killed by a malfunctioning garbage truck.

Visitors end their museum tour back at the assassination site, looking into the preserved interior of room 306, where King was staying, and looking out, from inside the building, onto the balcony where he was shot. The museum plans several anniversary events, including on April 4, a day of remembrance and the opening of an exhibit of more than 150 photographs looking back at the 50 years since death. REMEMBERING MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. 50 YEARS LATER BY ADRIAN SAINZ Associated Press ifty years ago, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

was killed while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The civil rights shocking murder on April 4, 1968, marked one of the most cant moments in U.S. history. The role in the civil rights movement and death has long made it a destination for anyone interested in legacy. Museums, churches and even iconic Beale Street tell the story of nal days here.

Thousands of people are expected to make the pilgrimage to Memphis for the 50th anniversary. Several events honoring work and commemorating the sanitation workers strike that brought him to Memphis have already taken place. More are scheduled in early April, including marches, speeches and conferences. The Associated Press takes a look at places to visit with connections to King in Memphis and other U.S. cities, along with some events.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS Martin Luther King III speaks April 3, 2013, at the Mason Temple in Memphis. The Mason Temple is where father, Dr. Martin Luther King gave his last speech the night before he was assassinated April 4, 1968. Restoration has begun on the historic church, the Clayborn Temple in Memphis, that was the home base for the sanitation workers strike. Take a visit to legendary civil rights movement locations Left: This March 13, 2017, le photo shows a view of the former Lorraine Motel balcony where Martin Luther King Jr.

was shot in 1968 in Memphis, Tenn. The former motel is now part of the National Civil Rights Museum. Right: A woman looks out of a window during her 2009 visit to the National Civil Rights Museum. Atlanta: The Rev. Martin Luther King birth home is now operated by the National Park Service.

Mason Temple The night before he was killed, King made a stirring speech at this church, located near the Lorraine Motel. In his Been To the speech, King gave an impassioned account of his life experiences and seemed to foretell his death when he said: seen the Promised Land I may not get there with Built in the 1940s, the gray church looks plain and boxy from the outside. But inside reveals a cavernous nave, with pews surrounding an elevated pulpit. Colorful ags are placed throughout the church. easy to imagine people standing in the balcony during speech, which was delivered on a stormy night, with thunder booming and winds shaking the building.

The Mason Temple is scheduled to host a Speech event on April 3 with children, Bernice King and Martin Luther King III, and Andrew Young, a con- dant of and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The temple is also the nishing point for an April 4 march that could attract as many as 100,000 people. The rapper Common and other performers will kick the march with a rally at the union hall where the sanitation workers organized in 1968. Clayborn Temple With its tall tower and multi-colored stained glass windows, this 19th century church was the headquarters for the sanitation workers strike.

Men and women regularly gathered at the temple for meetings, rallies and before marching to City Hall. Led by King, supporters of the sanitation workers assembled at the temple before embarking on his rst march in Memphis, on March 28, 1968. That march turned violent: Police and protesters clashed, and several storefront windows on Beale Street were smashed. Marchers ran to the temple, seeking sanctuary. Police beat protesters outside the building, and threw tear gas inside.

The temple eventually fell into disrepair and closed, sitting empty for 25 years. In 2016, a group called Clayborn Reborn announced it was renovating the church. Work is underway, and a memorial honoring the sanitation workers is under construction. pilgrimage pilgrimage A path of Above: The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

acknowledges the crowd Aug. 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington for his Have a speech. Main: The tomb of Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, is shown as the sun sets last year in Atlanta. Montgomery, Alabama: The Dexter Parsonage Museum is located in the house where King Jr.

lived while serving as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and while leading the bus boycott that started with Rosa arrest. Washington: The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial is inscribed with words from Have A speech, which he delivered at the Lincoln Memorial. Elsewhere.