Exploring the Legacy expansion opened September 2002 and asks the critical questions: what happened after Dr. King’s death? What happened to the Movement, did it die in Memphis? Are we any closer today to the life that Dr. King dreamed of than when he was assassinated 34 years ago? Critical questions such as these are examined in the long anticipated expansion project of the National Civil Rights Museum entitled Exploring the Legacy.
For over a decade, the National Civil Rights Museum has chronicled the Civil Rights Movement from the earliest days of slavery to that fateful day in 1968. With the opening of Exploring the Legacy, the Museum now looks at the history of the Movement following the assassination of Dr. King. Furthermore, Exploring the Legacy expands the Museum’s focus beyond civil rights to encompass human rights movements worldwide.
This $11 million expansion project adds 12,800
square feet of exhibit space gained from the acquisition of the Young and
Morrow building and the 420 Main Street rooming house where the fatal shot
was allegedly fired. Additionally, the expansion project exhibits evidence
from the State of Tennessee vs. Ray investigation, create Freedom Plaza -
an outdoor promenade, provide Museum access from Main Street and convert
the existing gift shop to a self-service coffee shop/bistro.
Unremitting Struggle
