Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Moments in a longer story.
Selected milestones in the history of the Lorraine Motel and the National Civil Rights Museum.
On this page
Hotel, motel and museum
These dates describe the place you can learn about here. They are not a company timeline for Apollonaut.
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1920s
The Windsor Hotel
The building opens as the Windsor Hotel, later becoming the Marquette Hotel.
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1945
The Lorraine
Walter Bailey buys the hotel and renames it the Lorraine.
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1964
The Lorraine Motel
After the Civil Rights Act, Bailey expands the building and names it the Lorraine Motel.
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4 April 1968
Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr King is shot on the balcony outside Room 306 and dies about an hour later.
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28 September 1991
The museum opens
The National Civil Rights Museum opens to the public at the Lorraine.
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2002
A second building
An exhibit opens in the Young and Morrow Building across the street, acquired by the foundation in 1999.
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5 April 2014
Reopened
The museum reopens after a renovation, with new films and interactive displays.
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2016
Smithsonian Affiliate
The museum becomes a Smithsonian Affiliate.
Follow the stories behind the dates
A timeline is a beginning. The longer history introduces the people and places; the sources below provide further context.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
