Fire at historic Black church in Memphis was intentionally set, investigators say
May 21, 2025
Investigators in Tennessee say a fire that severely damaged a historic Black church that served as the headquarters for a 1968 sanitation workers’ strike which brought the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis was intentionally set. The Memphis Fire Department said Wednesday that the fire at Clayborn Temple was set in the downtown church’s interior. Flames engulfed the building in the early morning hours of April 28. It was undergoing a yearslong renovation at the time. Clayborn Temple hosted nightly meetings during the 1968 sanitation workers’ strike. King came to support the workers that year and was assassinated in the city April 4.
