Exhibit aims for reflection

Today is the 40th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination.

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

ATLANTA — The tattered wooden wagon stands in the middle of the room, the centerpiece of an exhibit that is as much about America’s past as its present.

It is a stark reminder of the day nearly 40 years ago when the wagon, pulled by two mules, rolled down the streets of Atlanta carrying the coffin of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. More than 200,000 mourners lined the streets, while millions of others watched on their television sets at home.

The wagon, a symbol of King’s life mission to uplift the poor, is the first thing that visitors see when they enter the exhibit at the Martin Luther King Jr. Historic Site. Black and white photographs from the scene of the assassination at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis hang on the walls. The death certificate, a funeral home invoice for $3,475.89 and a $352.15 receipt for the newspaper funeral notice are displayed in a glass case.

“From Memphis to Atlanta: The Drum Major Returns Home,” opening today on the 40th anniversary of King’s assassination, is designed to merge the past with the present, to awaken emotions and to reconcile, according to the National Park Service, which owns much of the King family site.

Such exhibits are part of a growing movement by museums around the world that offer a forum for exchanging ideas and awakening one’s conscience.

“We have the wagon there because it gives people that ‘Wow, oh my God’ reaction,” said Judy Forte, superintendent of the King site. “This is not a story that is easy to tell. It is a story that makes people feel uncomfortable in knowing this part of American history exists.

The exhibit provides a station where visitors can write down their thoughts in journals. Some also include community forums.

Since the National Park Service established the site in 1980, at the request of King’s widow, Coretta King, it has held exhibitions on controversial issues such as how Confederate currency glorified slavery, the 1906 Atlanta race riots, Russian gulags and lynchings in America.

April 4, 1968, is etched in the minds of many older Americans.