Memphis, TN – Investigators have determined that a fire which caused extensive damage to the Clayborn Temple, a historic Black church that served as a pivotal headquarters for the 1968 sanitation workers’ strike bringing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis, was intentionally set.
The Memphis Fire Department announced on Wednesday that the fire, which engulfed the downtown church in the early hours of April 28, originated within the building’s interior. Authorities are currently seeking a suspect believed to be involved in the arson.
Fire Chief Gina Sweat stated on the day of the blaze that the interior of the Clayborn Temple was a total loss, although there was hope that the facade could be salvaged. On May 14, the fire department reported that the structure had been stabilized, allowing investigators to utilize specialized equipment to determine the fire’s cause.
Located south of the iconic Beale Street, the Clayborn Temple was constructed in 1892 as the Second Presbyterian Church, initially serving a white congregation. In 1949, it was sold to an African Methodist Episcopal congregation and renamed Clayborn Temple. Prior to the fire, the church was undergoing a $25 million restoration project aimed at preserving its Romanesque Revival architectural and historical significance, including the restoration of a 3,000-pipe grand organ. The project also intended to revitalize the surrounding neighborhood with a museum, cultural programs, and community outreach initiatives.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was drawn to Memphis in 1968 to support approximately 1,300 predominantly Black sanitation workers who went on strike to protest inhumane working conditions. This followed the deaths of two workers in a garbage compactor in 1964, after which the faulty equipment was not replaced. On February 1, 1968, two more men, Echol Cole, 36, and Robert Walker, 30, were also crushed in a garbage truck compactor. As contract workers, they were ineligible for worker’s compensation and lacked life insurance.
The sanitation workers subsequently went on strike, seeking unionization, higher wages, and safer working conditions. City officials deemed the strike illegal, leading to the arrests of numerous strikers and protesters.
The Clayborn Temple became a central meeting place for the strikers, hosting nightly gatherings. The movement’s iconic “I AM A MAN” posters were produced in the church’s basement. The temple also served as a staging point for marches to City Hall, including a march on March 28, 1968, led by Dr. King, which turned violent when police and protesters clashed on Beale Street, resulting in one fatality. When marchers retreated to the temple, police deployed tear gas inside, causing some individuals to break stained-glass windows to escape. Dr. King pledged to lead a second, peaceful march in Memphis but was assassinated on April 4 while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel.
Following Dr. King’s assassination and the resolution of the strike with the workers securing a pay raise, the church’s influence diminished. It fell into disrepair and remained vacant for several years before the restoration efforts commenced in 2017, largely due to a $400,000 grant from the National Park Service. The Clayborn Temple was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. A memorial to the sanitation workers, named “I AM A MAN Plaza,” was dedicated on the church grounds in 2018.
Anasa Troutman, the executive director of Historic Clayborn Temple and founder of the nonprofit The Big We, has been leading the restoration project. She stated that approximately $8 million had been invested in the renovations prior to the fire, with the exterior fully restored. In a recent interview, Troutman noted that two chimneys had to be demolished before investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives could safely examine the property. However, the church organ had been removed before the fire occurred.
Troutman recounted that as the fire burned, people gathered at the “I AM A MAN” memorial, standing at a wall inscribed with the names of the striking sanitation workers. “I watched that wall turn into the Wailing Wall, because people were literally getting out of their cars, walking up to that wall and wailing, staring at the building on fire,” she said, highlighting the profound emotional connection the community has to the historic landmark.
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