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- <text id=90TT1916>
- <title>
- July 23, 1990: American Notes:Memphis
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1990
- July 23, 1990 The Palestinians
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- NATION, Page 29
- American Notes
- MEMPHIS
- Showdown at The Lorraine
- </hdr>
- <body>
- <p> Since the 1988 closing of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis,
- where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, there have been
- two constants at the scene: a steady stream of sightseers
- looking at the unofficial shrine, and the motel's last manager,
- Jacqueline Smith, who stubbornly refuses to say goodbye to the
- facility. Night and day, through storm and sunshine, Smith, 39,
- has camped out in a pup tent in front of the fenced-in
- property, courteously greeting tourists and adamantly opposing
- plans to renovate the Lorraine and construct a $9 million
- Lorraine Civil Rights Museum. She thinks the place should be
- used to house the homeless in tribute to King.
- </p>
- <p> Smith was still there last week, forcing crews to work
- around her as they began gutting the motel. With city and state
- officials wary of being drawn into the fray, the construction
- company, facing possible delay penalties, reluctantly
- petitioned a chancery court judge to order Smith's removal. The
- court directed Smith to vacate the property or face arrest.
- Sheriff's deputies are expected to try to enforce the court
- order this week.
- </p>
-
- </body>
- </article>
- </text>
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