28-04-2025
What happened to Clayborn Temple Church in Memphis? Fire destroys historic 130-year-old-church at heart of Civil Rights Movement
The Clayborn Temple Church in Memphis, with 130 years of history, went up in flames on April 28.
The Downtown Memphis historic church and birthplace of an iconic Civil Rights Movement caught fire early Monday morning, and while firefighters tried to save it, the church crumbled under the flames that tore through it.
Memphis Fire Department responded to the church on Hernando Street around 1:40 a.m.
The church has not only a place in Memphis history, but also in the history of the Civil Rights Movement. Here's everything you need to know about the church, the fire and the historical significance it played decades ago.
As of 8:45 a.m., no cause for the blaze had been released by the Memphis Fire Department.
It was originally founded in 1892 by a white congregation called Second Presbyterian. It didn't become Clayborn Temple until 1949, when an African-American congregation purchased the church and renamed it.
Clayborn comes from AME Bishop Jim Clayborn.
Since its changeover in 1949, the church became a "haven and assembly point for social, cultural, spiritual, and political expressions for Memphis's African American communities."
Clayborn was center stage in the 1969 Sanitation Workers' Strike in Memphis which launched the "I AM MAN" campaign that became a focal point during the Civil Rights Movement.
"A central staging ground for the Civil Rights Movement and social justice, Clayborn Temple itself canonizes the story of 'Black Memphis', embodying a rich history spanning more than a century," read the history page of the church at
Clayborn closed its doors in 1999 and had been undergoing restorations in recent years.
In 2023, the church celebrated the completion of a second phase of restorations, meant to keep Clayborn's history alive for another century.
Historic Clayborn Temple went through a $6 million restoration that included the preservation of the stained-glass windows on the northern and southern halves of the building at 294 Hernando St., along with reinforcing the truss and attic.
The church is owned by The BIG We, a foundation that has been working to revitalize it.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Clayborn Temple Church in Memphis fire: Who owns it, what happened
