Tennessee
James Earl Ray doubted jury would believe an MLK conspiracy
James Earl Ray doubted a jury would believe a defense proposal to blame the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on a conspiracy, according to letters he wrote to his lawyer as he tried to win a trial and withdraw his own guilty plea in the 1968 slaying. The letters are among documents [...]
Board approves naming Memphis street for MLK
Memphis officials on Thursday approved naming a city street after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., nearly 44 years after the civil rights leader was killed in the city. The 10 members of the Memphis and Shelby County Land Use Control Board voted unanimously to re-name a nine-block downtown stretch as Dr. Martin Luther King [...]
In Nashville, a Country Club’s Changing Colors
Legendary comedian Grouch Marx once quipped, “I don’t care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members.” Today, that one-liner takes a more serious turn with a story out of Tennessee, where a country club is pondering whether or not to let in Black members. Reports Nashville paper The Tennessean: Nashville [...]
Memphis may finally name city street after King
In the more than four decades since the Rev. Martin Luther King was assassinated on the balcony of Memphis’ Lorraine Motel, about 900 U.S. cities have named local streets for him. Memphis is not one of them, though there is a stretch of interstate bearing his name. Now Memphis officials will consider a naming a [...]
Civil rights exhibit opening in Brownsville, Tenn
A traveling exhibit commemorating the 50th anniversary of Tennessee sit-ins opens Friday at the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center in Brownsville. “We Shall Not Be Moved: The 50th Anniversary of Tennessee’s Civil Rights Sit-ins” continues through Jan. 22. The exhibit was organized by the curatorial staff at the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville. The free [...]
