Memphis part 3 – The Lorraine Motel, the National Civil Rights Museum, and a great old dive bar
Growing up black in the segregated South in the early 20th Century was no picnic. Memphis saw its share of troubles, just like a number of other Southern cities.
In late March of 1968 Martin Luther King, Jr. arrived in Memphis to lend his support to the local striking sanitation workers. This wasn’t the first time that he had come to Memphis. Dr. King and his best friend and partner in the civil rights movement, Dr. Ralph Abernathy, stayed at Memphis’ Lorraine Motel so often that Suite 306 was known locally as the King-Abernathy Suite.
On April 3rd Dr. King gave his legendary “I Have Been to the Mountaintop” speech at Mason Temple:
The site of the King assassination
“And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. “
Nearby Earnestine and Hazel's Sundry Store/bar and grill
On the evening of April 4th Dr. King was standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel when a single gunshot rang out, ending his life.
Today the Lorraine Motel is part of the National Civil Rights Museum, along with the building that housed the rooming house where alleged King assassin James Earl Ray supposedly fired the fatal shot.
The National Civil Rights Museum tells the story of the arrival of the first African slaves in the early 1600’s through the era of Dr. King’s assassination. It highlights significant events in the history of racial relations in the USA as well as the civil rights movement.
This is an awesome historical site with major significance for all Americans.
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On a bit of a lighter note, literally around the corner from the Lorraine is a grungy old bar with a history all its own, and like the Lorraine and the National Civil Rights Museum this place speaks volumes about what it was like to be black in Memphis in the early days.
Earnestine and Hazel’s Sundry Store (531 S. Main St.) was a drug store in the 30’s and 40’s but by the 50’s and 60’s it was a bar downstairs that concealed a brothel upstairs. There were also some legitimate rooms upstairs (you know, the kind where you get a night’s sleep by yourself), another bar and rooms where gambling took place.
Better yet, Earnestine and Hazel’s became a popular place for the musicians that drifted through Memphis, largely because it was across the street from the railroad station and near the Lorraine Motel. All of the Stax Records and Sun Studios gang seems to have found their way to Earnestine and Hazel’s and the walls are covered with great photos of the legendary blues musicians.
Naturally enough the brothel is now closed (although upstairs tours are granted on request) and today Earnestine and Hazel’s is a bar with decent burgers and live music every so often. There are usually a few stragglers hanging around during the day sipping beer, but don’t expect the place to get going until later at night. Like midnight.
It’s a fun place – just don’t expect anything fancy. Just historic.
Oh, and ghosts? Various ghost investigators have spent considerable time at Earnestine and Hazel’s. Obviously this is a place where the walls do, indeed, talk - with a little help from former patrons.
--PirateJohn—
John@PirateJohn.com
For more info:
Link to Earnestine and Hazel’s official web site: You are kidding, right? Real dive bars don’t have stinkin’ web sites. But they do have a telephone - 901/523-9754. Call ‘em and ask ‘em.
INSIDERS’ TIPS:
* The last resident of the Lorraine Motel has been protesting her eviction and the gentrification of the neighborhood for 20 years. Jacqueline Smith, not only a resident but once an employee of the Lorraine, was sitting at a table, surrounded by banners, on the corner of Huling Avenue and Mulberry Street when Yours Truly visited in May of 2009. Ms. Smith’s website is at http://www.fulfillthedream.net/
* Whether James Earl Ray actually fired the shot that killed Dr. King, or whether he was set up to take the fall, is a matter of continued discussion. Plenty of theories have been presented, and almost the entire King family has gone on record as stating that they feel that a conspiracy took place and that Ray, a small time crook, was a hapless patsy. (In fact, the King family won a lawsuit against Memphis businessman Lloyd Jowers for his confession of taking part in an assassination plot). Read up on some of the conspiracies and then take a tour around the neighborhood and decide for yourself.
* The Wiki article on Jowers is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyd_Jowers
* There are so many conspiracy web sites out there on the King assassination that it would pay the reader who is interested to Google them themselves. But the theories run the gamut from conspiracies involving the military, the FBI, and the Memphis police. It’s no secret that the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover was keeping Dr. King under surveillance. Alternative shooting sites include the nearby fire station, which still stands to this day (the fire station is near where Ms. Smith holds her protests).
* This entire area is easily accessible by the trolley which runs along Main Street. The Lorraine Motel and Earnestine and Hazel’s are only a few blocks from Beale Street. This area has improved tremendously over the years, and is fine during the day, but you might be a bit careful about walking around by yourself after dark.
* Check out the jukebox at Earnestine and Hazel’s. It’s full of old Stax and Sun 45’s and should be declared a national treasure all by itself.
* Something like 13 movies and a music video or two have used scenes from Earnestine and Hazel’s. This place has atmosphere that won’t quit! If you like dive bars, then this place is one of the diviest, if there is such a word.
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Memphis part 3 – The Lorraine Motel, the National Civil Rights Museum, and a great old dive bar
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