Hotel Metropolitan Museum
Hotel Metropolitan Museum is a museum in historic hotel building in Paducah, Kentucky, U.S. The Hotel Metropolitan provided lodging for African Americans traveling through the area;[1] was a stop on the Chitlin' Circuit, and was listed in The Negro Motorist Green Book.[2] The Hotel Metropolitan Museum focuses on African American history.[1]
History
[edit]Hotel Metropolitan was built in 1909 by its owner, Maggie Steed, to accommodate guests who were denied lodging at white-owned hotels due to discriminatory laws and practices of the Jim Crow South.[1][2] Hotel guests included Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Thurgood Marshall.[3] Notable guests often gathered and performed in the hotel's Purple Room.[1] The Purple Room, a freestanding building behind the hotel, was used as a gathering space and music venue. It was frequented by notable musicians staying in the hotel.[1]
Steed died in 1924. Her son ran the hotel for a few years before selling it to Mamie Burbridge. In 1951, Burbridge sold it to the Gaines family whose son, Clarence "Big House" Gaines, donated it the Upper Town Heritage Foundation.[1][4]
Hotel Metropolitan Museum
[edit]The hotel now houses a museum dedicated to its history.[5] In 2021, the museum received a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation's African American Cultural Heritage action Fund for the purpose of restoring The Purple Room.[5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f West, Joyce (2015-02-15). "Paducah's Hotel Metropolitan > KET". KET. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
- ^ a b "The Hotel Metropolitan". Partake in Paducah. 2019-02-26. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
- ^ "Hotel Metropolitan Hosts First Purple Room Performance in 50 Years". WKMS. 2014-11-14. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
- ^ "Black History in the Jackson Purchase – Part 1 – Hotel Metropolitan » Jackson Purchase Historical Society". Retrieved 2022-10-13.
- ^ a b Sanders, Forrest (July 22, 2021). "National Trust gives $3 million to sites linked to Black history". Denver ABC 7.