Martin Luther King

I Guess No One Noticed

I Guess King’s Death Just Wasn’t That Important

By Jack Coll

     On Friday April 4, I checked the local newspapers, (yes, I’m one of the few who still read a newspaper) but I didn’t see a word about it.  I figured that’s alright because the television news stations would maybe do a little two minute special on it or something, but I checked in at four, five and six o’clock, but the news had nothing.  Well screw ’em I’ll tune into the history channels tonight and maybe catch a little special, nothing.  I went back to check the Philadelphia papers for a story, a quote, a mention, but nothing.

On April 4, 1968, some 46 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King walked out onto the second floor balcony at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee, some piece of crap with a rifle hanging out a second floor bathroom window in a rooming house across the street from the hotel where King was standing, he pointed it, fired a shot and forever changed the course of history, on April 4.  Certainly someone, somewhere, would want to commemorate this history changing event 46 years after the shot was fired.

When King was 35 years old in 1964, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, King was in Norway at the time and stated “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.  This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.”  King collected the nearly $55,000 award money and donated it to the civil rights movement.

I was just wondering if it was Mr. Joe Blow who at the age of 35 had won the Nobel Peace Prize, and was assassinated by some nut job, if he would have gotten a mention on the six o’clock news 46 years later.

King was in Memphis Tennessee in support of the striking sanitation workers, on the evening of April 3, 1968, the day before he was assassinated, King delivered his now famous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech at Bishop Charles Mason Temple.  King started the speech by welcoming everyone, “Thank you very kindly, my friends,” a little more than 50 minutes later at the conclusion of his speech he said:

     “Well, I don’t know what will happen now.  We’ve got some difficult days ahead.  But it doesn’t matter with me now.  Because I’ve been to the mountaintop.  And I don’t mind.  Like anybody, I would like to live a long life.  Longevity has its place.  But I’m not concerned about that now.  I just want to do God’s will.  And he’s allowed me to go up to the mountain.  And I’ve looked over.  And I’ve seen the Promised Land.  I may not get there with you.  But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.  And I’m happy, tonight.  I’m not worried about anything.  I’m not fearing any man.  Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

Martin Luther King returned to room 306, at the Lorraine Hotel, less than 24 hours later, he was shot to death.  A little known fact, we’re all familiar with the photograph that was taken minutes after the shooting, the photo where everyone is standing on the balcony, with King on the ground and everyone is pointing.  The story leading up to that photo involved Rev. Samuel Kyle, when King was shot, Rev. Kyle ran to a telephone inside Kings room to call for an ambulance.  Back in 1968, if you wanted to make a call from a hotel room, you would call down to the hotel lobby operator for an outside line.  The Hotel operator was Lorraine Bailey, the wife of owner Walter Bailey.  Walter purchased the hotel in 1945, and renamed the hotel after his wife, Lorraine. When Lorraine heard the shot, she abandoned her post at the switchboard and she rushed outside and saw it was Martin Luther King lying on the balcony, Loraine had a heart attack on the spot that led to a stroke, and four days later she died.  A Memphis police officer just happened to drive by, he jumped out of his car and asked where the shot came from, everyone on the balcony pointed to the rooming house across the street.  If you see a wide shot of this photo a crowd had gathered outside the hotel lobby door tending to Lorraine Baily who was lying on the parking lot following her heart attack.

As the news broke about Martin Luther Kings death, protests and violence rocked the nation, (for more on the violence and riots in America pertaining to Martin Luther’s death see, “Talkin’ Music “The Night James Brown saved Boston” on Conshystuff .com) the violence resulted in more than 40 deaths nation-wide as more than a hundred United States cities burned throughout the weekend.

Senator Robert Kennedy was at a campaign rally in Indianapolis,  Maryland, the night of the shooting, he was advised not to mention the shooting in fear of violence.  Kennedy decided not to take the advice of his aids, and delivered what was considered one of his greatest speeches ever and he was credited with preventing further violence.  Part of Robert Kennedy’s speech:

“What we need in the United States is not division;

What we need in the United States is not hatred;

What we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness;

But love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another,

And a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country,

Whether they be white or they be black.”

(Kennedy himself would be assassinated just months later)

     I’m fascinated with Martin Luther King, he skipped the 9^th and 12^th grades in high school and entered Morehouse College at the age of 15, and he graduated from Morehouse at the age of 19.  He is only one of three people in American history that have national holidays honoring them, the others are George Washington and Christopher Columbus, that’s pretty good company.  I wonder how many people know that King won a Grammy award.  In 1971, posthumously the Grammy award was presented for Best Spoken Word Album, for “Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam.”

I’ve been to the Lorraine Motel twice, the former Motel is now a National Civil Rights Museum, the first time I visited the Motel the area was still pretty run-down and depressed.  The first visit was in a tourist bus, where the driver didn’t want anyone getting off the bus.  There was a protest going on across the street from the motel.  It turns out the Lorraine Motel housed overnight guests, weekly and monthly residents.  The last resident of the motel was Jacqueline Smith, a resident since 1973, she lived at the motel for many years and was a former employee who worked as a housekeeper.  When Smith faced eviction for the museum project, Smith barricaded herself in her room and had to be forcibly evicted.

Smith felt that the Lorraine should be put to better use other than a museum such as public housing, a job training center, a free college for under-privileged residents.  Smith has maintained a vigil across the street from the Lorraine Motel for up to 21 hours per day for over 25 years, regardless of weather, she maintains a vigil outside the motel to this day.

I’ve gotta tell ya, should you ever find yourself in Memphis, check out the Civil Rights Museum located at 450 Mulberry Street.  Room 306, where King spent his final night at the Lorraine Motel, and the room he was standing in front of when he was shot, can be viewed, as it was on April 4, 1968.

On the night of April 3, 1968, Martin Luther King delivered his final speech:

(This is an excerpt from “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech

Somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly.

Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech.

Somewhere I read of the freedom of press.

Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for rights.

And so just as I said,

We aren’t going to let dogs or water hoses turn us around.

We aren’t going to let any injunction turn us around.

We are going on.

     I’m sure, somebody, some newspaper, or some television station did something to commemorate the passing of Martin Luther King on April 4^th, and it’s not like I searched long or hard, I just didn’t see anything about it.  The Sunday edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer did run a nice size article in section “C” on April 6, titled “Civil rights fight played out on 2 stages” The article wasn’t necessarily a tribute to King as much as it was an excerpt from a book written by Clay Risen, and editor at the New York Times who happened to be pushing a new book. It was a good article and I’m sure Risen has written a great book.  Risen talks about the March on Washington, the bombing of Birmingham’s 16^th Street Baptist Church that killed four young girls, and he mention’s Martin Luther King’s involvement during the protest campaign in Birmingham, Ala. in the spring of 1963.  But no-where in the article does it commemorate King or mention his death.

I guess it’s okay to run mattress sales on Martin Luther King’s birthday, or run sales in his honor at local five and dime stores, “In honor of Martin Luther King’s Birthday, ten percent off everything, except for the things you actually might need” But if we ran 50 percent off your next mattress in honor of his death, well that might be considered disrespectful.

Anyway, I just thought it was worth mentioning 46 years after his death, but if we can’t make a few bucks on it, why mention it.

One final note, on the day of Martin Luther’s assassination, he called his church to tell them that this week’s speech would be titled, “Why America May Go To Hell,” kind-of makes one wonder.

Below are photos of the Larraine Hotel and the National Civil Rights Museum

1: The Lorraine Motel’s marquee sign—photo taken in 2008

2: At the time of our second visit in 2008 Jacqueline Smith

had been protesting the Civil Rights Museum location for

 20 years and 28 days at that time, she still continues her

protest to this day.

3: Martin Luther stayed in room 306 on the second floor

of the Lorraine Motel during his final night, and was

assassinated just outside the door on April 4, 1968.

4: The overall view of the Lorraine Motel courtyard as it

looked during my 1999 visit.

5: The view of the balcony and where King was

standing when the fatal shot was fired, the wreath

indicates the position of Martin Luther King.

6: This is the rooming house where the shot was fired from,

 the shot came from the corner window, a bathroom.

The rooming house has also become part of the

Civil Rights Museum.  The bathroom, from where the

shots were taken has been sealed in plexi glass.  

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Jack Coll has been a freelance writer and photographer for more than 30 years, Jack and his son Brian have written and published a number of books pertaining to Conshohocken’s history and is currently working on a book to be released in 2015.  One of the topic’s in the book is Conshohocken’s Black History, if you have any photographs or family history that you would like to share, the Coll’s just might use it in their new book.  We can be contacted by visiting us at 324 Fayette Street, call us at 610-825-7072, or E-mail us at Jcollframe@aol.com. Thank You!

History Note:

There are more than 700 Martin Luther King Drives around the world, at least one in every state in this country.