![Seen from the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, the Main...]()
Jay Jones/Chicago Tribune
Seen from the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, the Main Street Boarding House across Mulberry Street is where James Earl Ray purportedly fired the shot that killed King. While many observers still have doubts, others believe he poked his rifle out a small bathroom window on the second floor.
![In a museum exhibit detailing the 1968 strike by Memphis...]()
Jay Jones/Chicago Tribune
In a museum exhibit detailing the 1968 strike by Memphis garbagemen, models of the sanitation workers hold placards that read, "I Am a Man," the battle cry of their successful effort to organize a union.
![Newspaper headlines from 1968 are projected onto the side of...]()
Jay Jones/Chicago Tribune
Newspaper headlines from 1968 are projected onto the side of an old garbage truck inside the National Civil Rights Museum, which shares the story of the sanitation workers strike that fatefully brought King to Memphis.
![The Four Way owner Patrice Thompson checks on orders during...]()
Jay Jones/Chicago Tribune
The Four Way owner Patrice Thompson checks on orders during the Sunday lunchtime rush at her restaurant in Memphis. Thompson said King routinely stopped by for soul food when he was in town.
![Visitors to the Withers Collection view a series of poignant...]()
Jay Jones/Chicago Tribune
Visitors to the Withers Collection view a series of poignant pictures of King, including one of him relaxing on a bed at the Lorraine Motel two years before his assassination there.
![Along Memphis' famed Beale Street, the Withers Collection museum displays...]()
Jay Jones/Chicago Tribune
Along Memphis' famed Beale Street, the Withers Collection museum displays just a fraction of Ernest Withers' photos. His images cover several key events of the civil rights movement, including the life and death of King.
![Cracked plaster is visible on the ceiling of Clayborn Temple,...]()
Jay Jones/Chicago Tribune
Cracked plaster is visible on the ceiling of Clayborn Temple, where sanitation workers organized during their 1968 strike. An image of one of their protest marches hangs from the balcony wall.
![Set in an aging neighborhood of small shotgun houses, The...]()
Jay Jones/Chicago Tribune
Set in an aging neighborhood of small shotgun houses, The Four Way restaurant has been a popular spot for soul food for more than 70 years.
![Known historically as Mason Temple, the world headquarters of the...]()
Jay Jones/Chicago Tribune
Known historically as Mason Temple, the world headquarters of the Church of God in Christ is where King delivered his famous "Mountaintop" speech, an address that seemed to foreshadow his death one night later.
Follow the footsteps of MLK Jr. in Memphis on the 50th anniversary of the civil rights leader’s death.
