Brick from the Lorraine Motel where Dr. King was assassinated

Object number2001.058.0009

Datecirca 1955

ClassificationsArtifacts

ObjectBrick

Credit LineNational Civil Rights Museum Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

MediumClay

Dimensions2 5/16 × 8 3/16 × 1 3/16 in. (5.9 × 20.8 × 3 cm)

Terms

Collections

Civil Rights Movement

DescriptionA beige brick from the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. Similar to the development of The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza inside the former Texas School Book Depository building, the National Civil Rights Museum began when the Martin Luther King Memorial Foundation purchased the Lorraine Motel in 1984. After the last tenant vacated the space in 1988, construction began on the National Civil Rights Museum. This brick, supposedly from the area surrounding the motel's swimming pool, was among those removed during construction and preserved by the Museum. The National Civil Rights Museum donated this brick to The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in 2001.

Curatorial Commentary

The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza received this Lorraine Motel brick from the National Civil Rights Museum in 2001 shortly after the September 11th terrorist attacks. Immediately after the tragedy in 2001, The Sixth Floor Museum began work on an exhibit titled "Loss and Renewal: Transforming Tragic Sites." This exhibit explored how significant sites of American tragedy -- Ford's Theatre, Pearl Harbor, Dealey Plaza, the Lorraine Motel, and the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City -- were transformed into sites of memorialization and reflection. This brick was among many original artifacts, including a piece of the U.S.S. Arizona battleship at Pearl Harbor and a desk calendar from the Murrah building, on display as part of this exhibit. - Stephen Fagin, Curator