Robert L.
Yelp
The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee is a true resource for not only the history of the African-American people, but also of the entire United States.
The museum traces the history of black people from the time enslavement originated in the 17th century, through the Civil War, reconstruction, Jim Crow, the civil rights movement add up to the current time.
Upon arrival of the Lorraine Hotel, you can look up from the street and see the actual place where the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was standing at the time he was gunned down. Upon entering, it is possible to go to the second level of the museum so you can see the location with Dr. King spent his last few hours alive. As you go through the rest of the museum and trace the entire timeline, it is impossible not to be impressed with the faith and resilience of the African-American people.
The visitor can see how slavery developed and how its presence affected the entire shape of agriculture in the United States, and, through that, how America actually functioned as a country.
Eli Whitney's cotton gin made each slave massively more productive. Instead of using slave labor to pull the seeds out of the cotton, the cotton gin could do the job faster while still being efficient. The size of the nd of the Covil War crop grew exponentially from the end of the 18th century up until the Civil E
Are the Civil War ended slavery, it was depressing to see how, after the assassination of President Lincoln, how white Southerners used both legal and illegal means to suppress the newly freed black population. While Andrew Johnson was clearly commiticeted to the preserva tion of the Union, his heart was clearly not in the fight to establish justice for Black people. Although the reconstruction amendments were passed within a few years after the end of the Civil War, organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan antd other similar efforts suppressed the black population. Even the efforts of President Grant and his newly created Department of Justice-created specifically to enforce the Ku Klux KlanActs-destroyed the original Klan organization, but not the other legal structures thatgrew up to support the suppression of Black people.
The museum dealt with the successful efforts of Black people to create a vital economic life for their people. It also dealt with the all too frequent riots which led to the destruction of successful black business districts, such as existed in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by white race riots after World War I.
You can learn how any Black people went north during World War II to take part in defense plans and also serve in the military. Blacks continuing to live in the South, continue to have restricted opportunities and were heavily employed in the agricultural sector.
They They The museum shows how electrification improved the lives of all Southerners.
Unfortunately, modernization also brought about unwanted consequences. Getting gasoline powered tractors made the work of the individual farmer far easier-and far more productive-then it had been using mules driven by sharecroppers. This drastically reduced the need for workers on the farm. Within the space of a few years, this massively increased the flow of African-Americans northward. For someone, such as myself who had never lived in a primarily agricultural community, this came as a revelation to me.
The museum detailed the legal and legal political struggle for civil rights. It also dealt with the cultural effect of black music in the growth of gospel, music, country music, and, of course, rock and roll.
The museum describes the struggle of Black people to be recognized in all areas of the economy, and acknowledged their advances in areas of entertainment and in sport. It also describes the initial political advances of Black people.
While I only spent a few hours at the museum, one could easily spend a month there and spend it profitably. The world of exhibits and of the information presented in them cannot be summarized in a brief review. The museum shop contains an invaluable collection of books for a person's education about the struggles of the African-American community. A visit there is well worth your time.
