Vernon AME Church - The Basement That Survived
Photo: G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
A stop on Greenwood: Tulsa's Black Wall Street, a free self-guided tour.
The congregation of Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church dates to 1905, and its basement was finished in 1919. During the massacre, residents took shelter in that basement. The upper part of the church was destroyed, but the basement and parts of the brick walls survived, and the church is often described as the only Greenwood building still standing from before 1921.
The basement became a refuge for a shattered community. Booker T. Washington High School seniors held their graduation there that year, and members rebuilt the sanctuary above it over the next several years.
Vernon was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2018. Its pastor since 2017, the Rev. Robert Turner, has become one of the most visible voices for reparations, often standing outside Tulsa City Hall on Wednesdays to call for justice for massacre victims and their descendants.
Look at the old brick and imagine the people waiting below for the night to end.
Getting here: Continue north past the overpass; Vernon AME Church is on the east side of Greenwood Avenue at number 311.
Did you know?: Members who could not afford to give money to rebuild the church brought bricks instead.
Photo op: From across Greenwood Avenue, frame the full brick front of the church and its sign.
More on Wikipedia: Tulsa race massacre · Greenwood District, Tulsa
Stops on this tour
- Greenwood Rising - Where Black Wall Street Began
- Deep Greenwood - Plaques Underfoot
- I-244 Overpass - The Second Destruction
- Vernon AME Church - The Basement That Survived
- Greenwood Cultural Center - Keeping the Memory
- Black Wall Street Memorial - Names That Remain
- Mount Zion Baptist Church - A Debt Paid in Full
- Reconciliation Park - Hostility, Humiliation, Hope
- Pathway to Hope - Stitching Greenwood Back Together
- Oaklawn Cemetery - The Search for the Missing