Above: Students visited the National Civil Rights Museum located in the Lorraine Motel, the site where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.
The art, chorus and drama students of New Albany High School visited the city of Memphis on Wednesday, January 14, 2009. Sixty-eight students, teachers and parents visited the National Civil Rights Museum, enjoyed dinner on Beale Street, and attended The Drowsy Chaperone, a Broadway musical, at the Orpheum Theatre.
Students began the tour of the Civil Rights Museum with a moving performance of the freedom song, “Wade in the Water”. When the tour guide asked student Jasmine Knox if she would lead the group in song, she was shocked when the entire group burst into song. The students performed a moving chorus that filled the museum with emotion and applause.
The group moved through the museum silently as they listened to audio tours. Teachers Lee Ann Thompson and Tamara Waldrop discussed with the students how shocking it was to realize that lynching in the South was still occurring in 1968, the year of their births.
Afterwards, the group followed their noses to the delicious smells of Beale Street and dined at the Blues City Café. Students enjoyed ribs, catfish and chicken tenders before being treated to an impromptu karaoke concert by their own Godfather of Soul, Neal Sanford.
The final stop of the night was the beautiful Orpheum Theatre. Volunteer guides inside gave the group a history of the building and inspired them to follow their dreams to be artists and performers.
When students were asked what they learned on the trip, freshman Alesha Crockett said, “I enjoyed everything we did, but I loved the Civil Rights Museum. I learned more about how good people like Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King and Thurgood Marshall made a difference for blacks today.”
“My favorite part of the day was going to the musical because that was a new experience for me” said Summer Sanderson, a freshman art student.
