One of the most important museums in the South—if not the country as a whole—the National Civil Rights Museum takes visitors on a journey through time, starting four centuries ago and ending at the present. Part of the museum backs the historic Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, and another part is in the building across the street, which is where the escaped convict James Earl Ray shot Dr. King. The room where King was murdered is set up as it was that fateful night in 1968, and his final year—particularly his final days—are well-documented, sometimes by the hour. Replicas of MLK’s jail cell and the Rosa Parks bus, from Montgomery, Alabama, are also on display. Significant court cases, protests, and sit-ins are covered at length, and the whole experience can be an emotional one. In 2014 a new collection of 40 new films, oral histories, and interactive features debuted. Estimate on it taking a solid couple of hours to work your way through this in-depth museum.