Hotel Metropolitan Museum

Historic hotel in Kentucky, U.S.

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

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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

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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

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* List of museums focused on African Americans

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e f West, Joyce (February 15, 2015). "Paducah's Hotel Metropolitan > KET". KET. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
2. ^ a b "The Hotel Metropolitan". Partake in Paducah. February 26, 2019. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
3. ^ "Hotel Metropolitan Hosts First Purple Room Performance in 50 Years". WKMS. November 14, 2014. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
4. ^ "Black History in the Jackson Purchase – Part 1 – Hotel Metropolitan » Jackson Purchase Historical Society". Retrieved October 13, 2022.
5. ^ a b Sanders, Forrest (July 22, 2021). "National Trust gives $3 million to sites linked to Black history". Denver ABC 7.

37°4′45.5″N 88°35′57″W﻿ / ﻿37.079306°N 88.59917°W﻿ / 37.079306; -88.59917