The Hampton House Motel, now operating as Historic Hampton House Motel museum and cultural center, is a historic former lodging facility in the Brownsville neighborhood of Miami, Florida. The motel served Black patrons during segregation in the American South. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in February 2023. [1]
The Booker Terrace Motel opened in 1954 to satisfy Miami's growing need for lodging facilities for African Americans. [2] The building was purchased by Jewish couple, Harry and Florence Markowitz, who remodeled the existing hotel into the Hampton House Motel, which opened in 1961. The remodeled Hampton House Motel was designed by architect Robert Karl Frese in the Miami Modern architecture style. [1]
Throughout the 1960s, the Hampton House Motel hosted many prominent Civil Rights leaders, athletes, and musicians, including Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Sammy Davis Jr., Sam Cooke, Nat King Cole, Jackie Robinson, and Joe Louis. [2]
Documents have revealed that Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered an early version of his I Have A Dream speech at the motel. [1]
The Hampton House Motel closed in 1976 and remained abandoned until the early 2000s. [3] Threatened with demolition, a local advocacy group worked to declare its block a historic district in 2002, and the building was eventually purchased by Miami-Dade county. Beginning in 2015, the building began a $6 million restoration project with plans to open a museum, community center, cafe, jazz club, and gift shop. [3]
The restored motel now operates as the Historic Hampton House Motel, a nonprofit organization, museum, and cultural center. [4]
Hampton House Motel was declared a National Historic Landmark in February 2023. [1]
The hotel serves as the site of a fictional meeting between Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown in the 2020 film One Night in Miami. [4]
Malcolm X was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Islam until 1964, he was a vocal advocate for Black empowerment and the promotion of Islam within the Black community. A posthumous autobiography, on which he collaborated with Alex Haley, was published in 1965.
Samuel Cook, known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred to as the "King of Soul" for his distinctive vocals, pioneering contributions to the genre, and significance in popular music.
Ali is a 2001 American biographical sports drama film co-written, produced and directed by Michael Mann. The film focuses on ten years in the life of the boxer Muhammad Ali, played by Will Smith, from 1964 to 1974, featuring his capture of the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston, his conversion to Islam, criticism of the Vietnam War, and banishment from boxing, his return to fight Joe Frazier in 1971, and, finally, his reclaiming the title from George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle fight of 1974. It also touches on the great social and political upheaval in the United States following the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
Raiford Chatman "Ossie" Davis was an American actor, director, writer, and activist. Liking the music of Slim Dusty, he was married to Ruby Dee, with whom he frequently performed, until his death. He and his wife were named to the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame; were awarded the National Medal of Arts and were recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1994.
The National Civil Rights Museum is a complex of museums and historic buildings in Memphis, Tennessee; its exhibits trace the history of the civil rights movement in the United States from the 17th century to the present. The museum is built around the former Lorraine Motel, which was the site of the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.. Two other buildings and their adjacent property, also connected with the King assassination, have been acquired as part of the museum complex.
Liberty City is a neighborhood in Miami, Florida, United States. The area is roughly bound by NW 79th Street to the north, NW 27th Avenue to the west, the Airport Expressway to the South, and Interstate 95 to the east. The neighborhood is home to one of the largest concentrations of African Americans in South Florida, as of the 2000 census. Although it was often known as "Model City" both historically and by the City of Miami government, residents more commonly call it Liberty City.
"A Change Is Gonna Come" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sam Cooke. It initially appeared on Cooke's album Ain't That Good News, released mid-February 1964 by RCA Victor; a slightly edited version of the recording was released as a single on December 22, 1964. Produced by Hugo & Luigi and arranged and conducted by René Hall, the song was the B-side to "Shake".
The Miami Beach Convention Center is a convention center located in Miami Beach, Florida. Originally opened in 1958, the venue was renovated from 2015-2018 for $620 million. The re-imagined and enhanced MBCC includes a 60,000-square-foot Grand Ballroom, four junior ballrooms, 500,000 square feet of flexible exhibition space, 84 meeting rooms, and pre-function space, as well as outdoor spaces and terraces.
No Name in the Street is American writer and poet James Baldwin's fourth non-fiction book, first published in 1972. Baldwin describes his views on several historical events and figures: Francisco Franco, McCarthyism, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver, and the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The book also covers the Algerian War and Albert Camus' take on it.
The La Concha Motel was a motel that opened in 1961 and closed in 2004. It was designed by architect Paul Williams who was one of the first prominent African American architects in the United States and was also the architect who designed the first LAX theme building. It was located at 2955 Las Vegas Blvd South, on the Las Vegas Strip, in Winchester, Nevada, and was considered one of the best-preserved examples of 1950s Googie architecture. It is believed to be named after the Beach of La Concha in Spain.
The De Anza Motor Lodge was a historic motel located on former U.S. Route 66 in the Upper Nob Hill neighborhood of Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was built in 1939 by Charles G. Wallace, a local trader of Zuni art and pottery, who remained the owner until 1983. Wallace decorated the motel with a variety of Native American art, including a series of murals by Zuni artist Tony Edaakie in a basement room.
The history of the 1954 to 1968 American civil rights movement has been depicted and documented in film, song, theater, television, and the visual arts. These presentations add to and maintain cultural awareness and understanding of the goals, tactics, and accomplishments of the people who organized and participated in this nonviolent movement.
The Trials of Muhammad Ali is a 2013 American documentary about the heyday of boxer Muhammad Ali's career, with special focus on his conversion to Islam and his refusal to fight in the Vietnam War. It won an award for Best Use of News Footage from the International Documentary Association in 2014.
Attallah Shabazz is an American actress, author, diplomat, and motivational speaker, and the eldest daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz.
One Night in Miami is the debut play written by Kemp Powers, first performed in 2013. It is a fictional account of the real night of February 25, 1964. It pinpoints a pivotal moment in the lives of four, still nascent, Black American icons whose potential, thoughts and actions play out in the 90-minute, one-act play. The four characters are 22-year-old, newly crowned world boxing champion Cassius Clay as he transforms into Muhammad Ali, iconic Nation of Islam leader Malcolm X, influential singer-songwriter and record producer Sam Cooke, and star NFL running back Jim Brown. The men, friends in real life, celebrate Clay's surprise title win over Sonny Liston at the Hampton House in Miami, watched over by Nation of Islam security.
One Night in Miami... is a 2020 American drama film directed by Regina King with a screenplay by Kemp Powers, based on his 2013 stage play of the same name. The film is a fictionalized account of a real February 1964 meeting of Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke in a room at the Hampton House, celebrating Ali's surprise title win over Sonny Liston. It stars Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, and Leslie Odom Jr. in the lead roles, with Lance Reddick, Joaquina Kalukango, Nicolette Robinson, and Beau Bridges in supporting roles.
Magnolia House at 442 Gorrell Street in Greensboro, North Carolina is a Victorian-Italianate-style house which was listed as Magnolia Hotel in the Green Book as a hotel for African American travelers. It is one of the four remaining Green Book sites in North Carolina. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 as a contributing structure to South Greensboro Historic District.
Malcolm X, an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a popular figure during the civil rights movement, was assassinated in Manhattan, New York City on February 21, 1965. While preparing to address the Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in the neighborhood of Washington Heights, Malcolm X was shot multiple times and killed. Three members of the Nation of Islam—Muhammad Abdul Aziz, Khalil Islam, and Thomas Hagan—were charged, tried, and convicted of the murder and given indeterminate life sentences, but in November 2021, Aziz and Islam were exonerated.
The A.G. Gaston Motel is a historic motel in Birmingham, Alabama. Built in 1954 by local businessman A. G. Gaston, it served as premium accommodation for African American travelers. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference used Room 30 as its headquarters for leaders Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth, and others to plan portions of the 1963 Birmingham campaign of the civil rights movement. On May 10, 1963, the motel was bombed by white supremacist terrorists. After discrimination in public accommodation was outlawed, the motel's business declined, and it was used as senior housing from 1982 to 1996. It is now part of the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument established in 2017, co-owned by the National Park Service and City of Birmingham. It has been designated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of America's National Treasures.