Franklin’s casket moved from museum that hosted viewings

DETROIT — Aretha Franklin’s body has been transported from a Detroit museum that hosted two days of public viewings of the Queen of Soul, the next step in a journey leading up to her funeral on Friday.

Workers carefully moved Franklin’s polished bronze casket from the rotunda of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and loaded it in to a 1940 Cadillac LaSalle hearse.

Journalists from The Associated Press were allowed to document the casket’s movement Wednesday night after the public viewing concluded. Wednesday’s viewing attracted thousands of fans and mourners from around the country.

A viewing at New Bethel Baptist Church on Thursday provided the public another opportunity to pay their respects to the late Queen of Soul.

Franklin’s invitation-only funeral will be held Friday at the Greater Grace Temple.

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This story has been corrected to show that Franklin’s funeral will be held at Greater Grace Temple, not New Bethel Baptist Church.

The Associated Press

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