Photos of reality today that look back 
Last week, I had the honor and pleasure to participate in a corporate diversity initiative by taking them on a photo tour of several untold or little understood stories in African American history. I like to think of these as pictures of everyday places that engage us to think about the past in order to learn more.

As a little background, the photos for the presentation (above and below) were selected by the Company from my #Scarredplacesphotoseries on Instagram. I have begun to add this project to website. The project began as I explored a story I thought I knew about – but when I was actually out shooting photos I ended up learning more and more and more. It was more complex and uglier than I had ever imagined or understood.   

That made we realize that there are many historical stories that we either do not know about or do not understand fully. That lack of knowledge and understanding can often mean that the histories and stories that form our friends’ and colleagues’ understanding of the America they know can be very different than the America we believe we know.

That bridge is one we can all cross by opening our eyes.  Photographs of reality can bring those historical stories back to life in new ways that we can learn from.

Each photo in the presentation (above) had a little two minute story…with a few surprises along the way.  Ill share one with you below.

The Lorraine Hotel
and then Motel

Originally this was a whites-only hotel in a very segregated Memphis, Tennessee.  In 1945, Walter and Loree Bailey bought it and renamed it the Lorraine Hotel (after his wife Loree and the popular jazz song, “Sweet Lorraine”). 

They would add a kitchen and a two floor extension at the back with about 39 more rooms, in addition to drive-up parking, large front windows, and a swimming pool. The Lorraine’s new design reflected the space age-inspired googie style (geometric shapes and bright colors) that was popular in California in the fifties and sixties and was also typical of motels at the time. The Lorraine Motel reflected the monumental changes experienced by blacks in postwar America. It is also where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.  It then fell into disrepair.  It was rescued and became the National Civil Rights Museum -- one of the most moving museums I have ever been through.
 
The restaurant was added because in the era of segregation, Black travelers couldn’t just go eat anywhere. The Lorraine was a safe haven for Black travelers and the motel was listed in “The Negro Motorist Green Book.” By the 1960s the Lorraine was also a place for business meetings and weddings, as well as events for the Black community.  Its' guestbook was a veritable who’s who of the black community in the forties, fifties, and sixties. 

It was also a vibrant place for music. While music legends like Cab Calloway and Count Basie stayed here, many of the musicians associated with Stax Records, the legendary soul and R&B label, stayed and hung out here when they were in Memphis for studio sessions. The Stax Studio (also worth a visit if you are in Memphis) was just a few blocks away from the Lorraine Motel, which became a creative oasis of sorts. Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Eddie Floyd are just a few who stayed here.  Wilson Pickett’s “The Midnight Hour” and Eddie Floyd’s “Knock on Wood,” were composed at the Lorraine Motel.
 
Isaac Hayes reminisced, “We’d go down to the Lorraine Motel and we’d lay by the pool and Mrs. Bailey would bring us fried chicken and we’d eat ice cream. We’d just frolic until the sun goes down and [then] we’d go back to work” at Stax Records.
 
Mrs Bailey suffered a stroke at the sound of the shots being fired at Martin Luther King, Jr.  She died. Mr Bailey continued to run the motel but never rented out room 306 again.  By the 1980s Mr. Bailey declared bankruptcy.
 
This place was a safe haven, housed joy, made music and heroes.  It's also a place of deep pain.  If you get a chance visit the museum.