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Monday, January 15 - 8:00am-6:00pm

SpecialMuseumAdmission

On the national holiday Monday, January 15, the National Civil Rights Museum will remember the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the most prolific humanitarians and leaders of the American Civil Rights Movement.  The focus of the celebration is community service and social justice in honor of Dr. King’s impact on the global society. Activities include daylong performances, youth-centered "edutainment," a health pavilion and the National Civil Rights Museum experience. In the spirit of service, the Museum will hold its annual drives for Mid-South Food Bank and Lifeblood, and serve as a center for community resources and engagement. 

 

King Day Highlights

  • Visitors can tour the museum from 8am–6pm. Included in the tour is the exhibit From the Vault: Art in Action, where visitors can view original art from some of the Museum’s rarely seen work with a common theme of resistance through demonstrations and collective action.
  • The Community Pavilion will be staged in the museum’s visitor parking lot that includes resources and screenings from a dozen local health organizations like Methodist Mammography Mobile, St. Jude Sickle Cell Program, Church Health, Baptist Women’s Health Center, Southern College of Optometry, CHOICES, LeBonheur Community Health & Well-Being, Early Success Coalition, Healthy Kids and Teens Memphis, and others.
  • The Pavilion will also provide resources and information by organizations including Just City, New Memphis Institute, NAACP, Memphis Challenge, Sister Reach, Wolf River Conservancy, Girls Inc. of Memphis, Revolutions Bicycle Cooperative, and Girl Scouts-Heart of the South.
  • Entertainment throughout the day on the Founders Park Main Stage will feature a variety of performances including Will Graves & Soul, Mighty Souls Brass Band, Stax Music Academy, Watoto Academy of Performing Arts-Meeting Street Academy (Charleston, SC), Ekpe Abioto African drummers, and spoken word artists. Special guests, media personalities and food trucks will also be onsite.
  • Children’s Activity Tent will open 10am–4pm and include storytelling, face painting, music, balloon artists, puppeteers, arts and crafts like creating their own message buttons.
  • The Museum is a sanctioned site of Volunteer Memphis’ Days of Service where volunteer corps will conduct clean-up projects across the city. On Monday, January 15, it will work in partnership with United Way, Clean Memphis, Memphis City Beautiful and several organizations.

Street Closures

Because the safety of museum visitors is a priority, there will be a few road closures for pedestrian traffic around the Museum's campus.

  • Huling Avenue at South Main Street
  • Huling Avenue at St. Martin Street
  • Butler Avenue at South Main
  • Mulberry at G.E. Patterson

  • LIMITED ACCESS to St. Martin Street from Second Avenue to G.E. Patterson

PARKING

The Museum's visitor parking lot will be closed Friday, January 12 - Monday, January 15, due to setup of children's activities, community resources and health pavilion hosted there on the holiday.  On-street parking and public parking lots (some paid) are available off campus.

Security check

Museum visitors should leave behind weapons, tools, self-defense items that might trigger an alarm during the metal detection and bag check process. Guests will be asked to return any prohibited items to their vehicles before entering the Museum.

Annual Mid-South Food Bank Drive

$3 Admission with Canned Good/Non-Perishable Food Donations

FoodBank_logoObserved as a day of service, the King Holiday at the Museum is a chance for visitors to give back to the community and receive discounted admission by making food donations to benefit Mid-South Food Bank. Visitors bringing canned goods or non-perishable items receive $2 off the $5 special admission on January 15 only.  

Non-perishable items include canned meats (tuna, stews, chili, Spam, soups), canned fruit and veggies, canned juices, and peanut butter. NO glass containers.

The Food Drive is just one way everyone can serve the community and take in important history while honoring Dr. King's legacy. One of Dr. King's last initiatives was the Poor People's Campaign, so giving to help those in need furthers this cause. Feed the need!

About Mid-South Food Bank

King Day LifeBlood Drive

With blood donation, receive free admission for up to 4 people on King Day only.

LifebloodLogo2014Give the gift of life during the King Holiday. Lifeblood mobiles will be onsite on the January 15 from 8:00am to 4:00pm to receive blood donations. Donors receive free admission valid only on King Day for up to four people with a one-pint donation. Also, donors who give blood the week of January 8-14 at Lifeblood Centers receive an admission voucher for King Day.

Did you know that 90% of everyone who lives in the Mid-South will need a blood transfusion before they turn 70? Unfortunately, less than 10% of the population actually donates. Visit aLifeblood Donor Center or mobile event today and bring along a friend. Together, you can save up to six lives in under an hour.

About LifeBlood

Thank you!

The Museum thanks the following in-kind sponsors and corporate volunteers without whom the King Day festivities would not be possible.

CORPORATE VOLUNTEERS:
AABE (MLGW)
Caesar's Foudation
Caesar's Hero's
Home Depot
International Paper
Gold Strike
ProTech
Regions Bank
Starbucks
United States Army Corps Of Engineers
University of Tennessee Health Science Center

CHILDREN'S ACTIVITY TENT PARTICIPANTS:

African Drums with Ekpe Abioto
Balloon Artists - Jean Bakken, Cheryl Wortham
Button Making - NCRM Volunteers
Community Painting Activity - Alivepaint/Jamond Bullock
Craft Activity - Home Depot
Face Painting - Just As Beautiful
Faux Cake Decorating - NCRM Volunteers
Magician - Magic Mr. Nick
Making Peace Prizes - NCRM Volunteers
Music for Aardvarks - Joe Murphy
Painting for Peace Activity - Art Educator, Katie Lepo
Puppeteers - Les Passees Kids on the Block
Planting Seeds of Peace Activity - Memphis Botanic Garden

COMMUNITY SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS:

Clean Memphis
Girls Inc. of Memphis
Girl Scouts Hearth of the South 
Just City
Latino Memphis
Memphis Challenge
NAACP - Voter Registration
New Memphis Institute

HEALTHY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS:

Baptist Women's Health Center 
CHOICES - Memphis for Reproductive Health 
Church Health
CORPRO CPR 
Early Success Coalition
Healthy Homes Partnership
Healthy Kids & Teens Memphis Tilth 
Le Bonheur Comm. Health and Well-Being
Methodist Mobile Mammography
Revolutions Bicycle Cooperative
Shelby County Breastfeeding Coalition
Shelby Farms Park 
Sister Reach
St. Jude Sickle Program 
SC Relative Caregiver Program - UT Health
Southern School of Optometry
Wolf River Conservancy

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is what are you doing for others?"

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.