People from all over the world are traveling to Memphis Wednesday to remember and celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr.
King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis 50 years ago today. The motel is now home to the National Civil Rights Museum, which organized and hosted a yearlong calendar of events commemorating King’s life and will serve as one of the main locations for events in Memphis Wednesday.
Rev. Bernice King, second from left, daughter of the late civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., tours an exhibit at the National Civil Rights Museum, Monday, April 2, 2018, in Memphis, Tenn. The museum was formerly the Lorraine Motel, where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated April 4, 1968. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Members of The Daily Mississippian and the University of Mississippi’s Student Media Center will be reporting in Oxford and Memphis to publish content throughout the day on TheDMOnline, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Thursday’s print edition of The Daily Mississippian will be a special issue commemorating King’s lasting legacy featuring coverage of Wednesday’s events in Memphis, reflections from leaders on the Ole Miss campus, features of special exhibits and more.
Calendar of events in Memphis area:
8 a.m. to 7 p.m. – National Civil Rights Museum open for extended hours
All day beginning at 10 a.m. – Tributes from the MLK50 Main Stage in Museum Courtyard
3:30 to 6:01 p.m. – 50th Anniversary Ceremony from the Balcony of the Lorraine Motel
6:01 p.m. – Bell toll – Places across the nation will ring bells 39 times to honor the number of years MLK lived.
6:15 p.m. – Evening of Storytelling – Civil rights icons and current activists speak about the civil rights movement then and now.
