Mobs of white residents destroyed 40 blocks of the Greenwood neighborhood, which housed an area known as Black Wall Street, and killed upwards of 300 people. The church’s basement, part of the original church built shortly after the congregation’s founding in 1905, served as a place of refuge during and after the massacre. Today, this basement is the only surviving Black-owned edifice intact from the Tulsa Race Massacre and Black Wall Street. In the wake of the violence and destruction, the Vernon AME congregation came together to raise funds for a new Gothic Revival church, erected atop the surviving basement in 1925, becoming one of the first structures rebuilt after the massacre. Due to ongoing racism from local white businessowners, materials had to be purchased outside of Tulsa.

Vernon AME continues to pioneer social activism in Tulsa, leading the citywide Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth celebrations, housing unsheltered individuals, providing daily meals to people in need, and hosting youth summer educational programs. Every Wednesday, parishioners ask the city to repent for the race massacre and provide reparations to the families of individuals killed, robbed, displaced, and thrown in mass graves. The church is included on the Trail of Hope, and the pastor has given tours to over 1,500 visitors.

Coinciding with the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Vernon AME received $250,000 from the National Fund. With matching funds raised by the congregation totaling $500,000, Vernon AME will renovate the basement into a remembrance space for locals and visitors. The church intends to erect a prayer wall on the exterior as an ode to the Wailing Wall of Jerusalem. Vernon will also complete accessibility projects compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act to ensure that all members and visitors can utilize its space.

Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church by Don Thompson