![]() They believed it was cost $4 million to renovate the building on top of the $1 million price. Church was targeting a foundation or non-profit organization for a buyer. church planned to restore the property, but instead decided to list it for sale in 2011 for $1 million. The congregation could not support the building and decided to close its doors in 2002. However, by the 1990s, the church was in disrepair. The NRHP listing was updated in 2017 with the name Clayborn Temple, and included documentation of its pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement.Īfter a $500,000 renovation, the Clayborn Temple was rededicated in 1983. The church was originally added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 for its local significance and as a rare example of Romanesque Revival architecture. By the mid-1970s, the church was in a state of disrepair due to neglect by the congregation and abuse from vandals. With the growth of downtown Memphis, residents moved farther out and the congregation slowly dwindled. However, additional strikes had to be threatened before the City of Memphis would honor its agreement. The sanitation workers’ strike ended on April 16, 1968, with a settlement that included wage increases and union recognition. Protestors gather outside the Clayborn Temple with signs to march to City Hall. Two months after the strike began, sanitation workers gathered at Clayborn to to accept the city’s offer to recognize the union. ![]() The following day, Martin Luther King, Jr. At the end of his speech, King discussed the possibility of an untimely death. The church suffered heavy damage as protesters retreated inside from law enforcement to an already tear-gas-filled church.ĭue to the ongoing protest, on April 3, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech was moved from the Clayborn Temple to the Masonic Temple. One 16-year-old boy was shot and killed by Memphis Police. Police used teargas and rubber bullets to push the march back towards the church. However, one march turned unexpectedly violent as local youths joined the march and began smashing windows on Beale Street. used the church as a home base for planning marches as well as the starting point for nightly non-violent marches to City Hall. On March 28, 1968, a large crowd gathered to march downtown. The Clayborn Temple was the distribution site for sanitation workers’ “I Am A Man” protest signs which were made in the church’s print shop. On February 12, 1968, Memphis Sanitation Workers went on strike after two African-American sanitation workers died due to work-related injuries followed by years of discrimination and dangerous working conditions. Throughout the 1960s, the Clayborn Temple was a hub for the civil rights movement. The African Methodist Episcopal Church purchased the property from the Second Presbyterian Church in 1949 for $90,000 and renamed it the Clayborn Temple in honor of Bishop John Henry Clayborn, chairman of the A.M.E. Historic photo of the Second Presbyterian Church later renamed the Clayborn Temple. ![]()
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