National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis

On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot dead on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in downtown Memphis. Today, the motel is part of a powerful museum dedicated to the history of the Civil Rights movement. Exhibits trace the history of the struggle of blacks, from the early days of slavery, through the Civil War, the Jim Crow era, and into the mid-20th century fight for desegregation and equal rights. The few interactive exhibits are particularly affecting—step aboard an old-fashioned bus and sit down next to a statue of Rosa Parks, only to have a recorded voice jeer "get to the back of the bus!" Prepare to shake with anger, to question your own beliefs about race and history, to cry.

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