(gentle music) - The first time I heard about you being at Lorraine Hotel when Martin Luther King was assassinated I was probably 10 years old.

It's one of those stories that were whispered to me.

And so I knew that it wasn't something that I was supposed to talk about.

- Yeah.

- So it wasn't until when recently that we even talked about it.

- That we talked about it.

Yeah.

- [Tiffany] In Memphis during that time segregation was the rule.

So the neighborhoods, there was black neighborhoods and white neighborhoods.

How did you feel of about that?

- I didn't think about it.

- Because it reminds me of Forrest City, Arkansas where I was born.

The black people lived on the south side of the tracks, and the white people lived on the north side of the tracks.

And even though I was pretty young, during the time that that was most common, I definitely remember it being that way.

And the only white person we saw in our neighborhood was the postman and the insurance man.

- Yeah.

(Tiffany laughing) - I didn't think about it because the couple that lived across the streets from us was white.

And then my brother went to the school across the street from where we would live and he was in ROTC, so.

- So it was integrated?

- Yeah.

- So he went to a school where it was both white and black people.

But did your school that you went to was all black?

- Right.

- What was the name of your school?

- Wanda High.

- [Tiffany] Wanda High?

- Mm-hmm.

When I was in school, it wasn't no white kids there, just all black.

- Very different than, you know, how I grew up.

- Right.

- 'Cause I went to all schools where I was the only black person.

Being the only black girl in my classes could be very uncomfortable with people saying things that were very insulting and things like that.

I was only one of a few black children that went there.

So Martin Luther King to me was very brave 'cause I think what people don't realize is how young he was.

Were you involved in any of the freedom marches?

- No.

I was afraid for the peoples.

A lot of the peoples that was in it.

Because it was so much violence.

Like, they put the city on lockdown.

You had a curfew because it was so much, so many people who's out.

They didn't know what was gonna happen.

Everything just shut down like about six o'clock, and you had to be in by eight.

- It reminds me a lot of like the Black Lives Matter marches.

- [Mary] At that time the garbage strike was going on, and that's the reason why he was there, because of that.

He had been on strike for like three months or so.

- So he was basically trying to help them get better working conditions?

- Yeah, better working condition.

- So I'm happy tonight, I'm not worried about anything, I'm not fearing any man!

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!

(crowd applauding) - At 7:10 this evening, Martin Luther King was shot in Tennessee.

- Martin Luther king was 39 when he was assassinated, and he accomplished so much.

- A lot.

- And to become the man that he was in such a short amount of time, to me was very amazing.

- He was friendly.

I got to serve him.

(Mary laughing) - So did you enjoy working at Lorraine Hotel?

- I loved working there.

I loved working there.

(both laughing) The Lorraine Hotel, it's downtown Memphis.

Now they turned it into the museum.

It was the hotel where a lot of the black entertainers came and they stayed there.

- Was it a big hotel?

- It was a big hotel.

On the the backside was like 20-some rooms, and on the other side it was like 15.

I did a little bit of everything, I did.

(indistinct) or cook, help clean the rooms.

They would have parties and they would call my husband up, and he would come up there and help them do the shrimp.

So I would call him and I said, "Ms. Bailey wants you up here."

He said, "Okay, I'll be there."

So he would come up there and I loved it.

I loved working there.

If it was still there, I probably would've still been there, we hadn't moved here.

But yeah, I loved it.

- What was Martin Luther King's favorite meal to order?

- He ordered cheeseburger and French fries.

(both laughing) - You got to meet him more than once, right?

- Yes.

- Because he always stayed at the Lorraine.

- He always stayed there when he came there, and he was a very nice person.

And I think a day before he got assassinated, he was hungry, so I went up and I took his order, he wanted a hamburger and stuff.

So I took it to him and I was just so nervous, you know?

'Cause this is somebody I'm meeting, and he's here, and I get to see him.

(Mary laughing) That was excited.

- [Tiffany] Somebody that was very much respected.

- Yeah, you know, very much respected.

Him, and Jesse Jackson, and (indistinct), and all those guys was there.

They all was there.

And meeting him was excited.

- Fond memory.

- Yes.

When I get to talking about it, I can see a lot of the things that I liked about him.

Just nice person.

I don't wanna get emotional.

- Everytime you talk about him, you get emotional.

Why is that?

- I don't know.

- And I notice it's only when you talk about how you felt about interacting with him.

- I don't know why I get emotional.

I guess it's just the thrown of him not here.

(melancholic music) I guess that's why I don't talk about it that much 'cause I get so emotional when I talk about it.

And I guess that's why a lot of times I have just locked it out of my mind 'cause I don't wanna think about him.

I could see him laying there, you know?

I'm sorry.

- You don't have to be sorry.

It's hard- - I went and do this.

(both laughing) - You know, I understand.

I imagine it'd be very hard.

You know how important he was, and you got to meet him, and you know what he was like alive.

And then to be there when someone took his life.

- Yeah.

- To be emotional about that is natural.

- It just, I don't know.

It's like something just come over me when I get talking about that.

- [Tiffany] That part of it?

- Yeah.

- Our God is marching on!

Glory, Hallelujah!

Glory, Hallelujah!

Glory, Hallelujah!

Glory, Hallelujah!

His truth is marching on!

- It was fun to hear him speak about a lot of the things, and talking to the peoples, and telling them that we don't want no violence.

This is not what we're here for, violence.

- Right.

Encouraged everyone to stay nonviolent.

When you heard the gunshots, you said you thought it was like fireworks.

- Yeah.

I was in the kitchen when that happened.

We dropped everything and ran outside, and we stood there, and the rest of the peoples that was with him was on the balcony.

And then that's when we heard somebody say that somebody had shot Dr. King.

And then the ambulance came and took him away.

We were in shock.

I know everybody was in shock, 'cause if you look at it, you can see that we just standing there, like "What just happened?"

You know?

- Can you describe what it was like afterwards?

You weren't allowed to leave?

- We had to stay there at the hotel for three days, and then we could go home.

We had to all try to don't talk to reporters and it was crazy.

It was crazy.

- So why did they tell you that you needed to stay at the hotel for that time?

- Because they wanted the streets clear.

- But why did you have to stay at the hotel?

Why couldn't you go home?

- 'Cause I couldn't go home.

- The FBI or the police or somebody told you- - Yeah, we couldn't go home.

We had to stay there.

- [Tiffany] You had to stay there.

- Everybody that was there had to stay there.

- What did they say, it was your safety?

- Yeah.

- [Tiffany] Okay.

- For our safety.

- What did they think would happen to you if you left?

- I don't know.

I don't know what they was thinking, but we couldn't leave.

My kids at home crying.

(Mary chuckling) Wanted their mom.

So I just had to stay there.

- You had to stay there until they let you go home, but did they tell you initially how long you had to stay there or you just figured it out after day three that you can finally go home?

- After three days they said we could go home.

- That's a long time to be separated from your family.

- Yeah.

- When did you find out that you were witness 43?

That when they interviewed you, they gave you a number and didn't use your name.

- I never knew that because when I found out about that is when my brother went to do the research, and he found out that I was number 43.

'Cause they never interviewed me.

- They never interviewed you at all?

- No.

- So how did you get to be witness 43?

- When he did the research, he found that, I don't know.

- [Tiffany] Oh, okay.

- I don't know how.

And if they did, I don't remember them interviewing me 'cause it was lots of peoples around.

- So they never actually came and asked you what you saw or anything?

- No.

- But they knew that you were there.

- Right.

- [Tiffany] And they gave you that label.

- Right.

- Free at last!

Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

(crowd cheering) - How do you feel about the difference in time from that time to now?

- A lot of changes it's been made.

- What do you think is the most significant changes or the things that you notice most about?

- I can go wherever I wanna go.

(Mary laughing) I don't know if that's the right answer or not, but.

- That's a good answer.

- I don't have to go in the back door anymore.

- Go in through the front door.

- I can go in through the front door.

So that's a lot of changes, you know?

You don't have a white and a black bathroom, or white and a black water fountain.

I don't know if this appropriate, but.

- It's very appropriate.

(Mary laughing) Because it's a very- - So that's the changes.

- Significant change.

- Yes, a lot of changes, big changes, you know?

Like we sitting here with all of these, we would never be sitting up in the room of all- - With all these different people.

- You know, different, you know?

- Yeah.

- You know, that's changed.

- What do you hope the future will be like for your grandkids?

- I hope it would be different than my life coming up.

I want them to grow up and be themselves.

Don't change.

- Be able to have different experiences.

- They have a different experience than I had growing up.

And hopefully one day they can look back and say, "My granny was there when Martin Luther King got shot."

Which they too young, they not too young, but they young, they don't understand, you know, back then what was going on back then and now.

- I hope they never have to understand.

- Right.

- Anything else you wanna add?

- One thing I would like to share is that I lost my husband like three years ago.

And I was so excited that I got to do the first interview I did because he got to see it.

He got to go down to The Capitol with me, and I'm glad he got to see that.

Because if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have did it.

- He got to see you tell your story?

- Yeah.

- I'm so happy you did this because I know it's not easy.

- I'm just glad he got to see it, you know?

'Cause by him being sick, he couldn't go to the interview with me, but he watched the interview on TV.

So he was telling me how proud he was, I mean, 'cause I did it.

(gentle music)