Historic Vernon AME Church

Vernon AME Church was founded in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1905. The construction for the current location began in 1914 and the basement was completed in 1919. During the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, many African American residents hid in the basement kitchen. The church was damaged badly and the basement is the only part of the building that wasn’t completely destroyed. Vernon AME Church is the only Greenwood building still in existence that survived the 1921 Race Massacre in Tulsa.  

Greenwood’s Historic Vernon AME Church is right across the street from The Greenwood Cultural Center. The church serves food to homeless Tulsans daily. If you come at the right time, you may be lucky enough to get a free personal tour inside the church.

After the 1921 Race Massacre in Tulsa, church patrons gave many small donations, including 25 cents, 50 cents, one dollar or more donations to rebuild the church. This was a lot of money at the time to donate, especially for Black Tulsans trying to rebuild their own homes and businesses. Those who couldn’t afford to donate money brought bricks to contribute to rebuilding the church. There is a large ledger book holding the records of these donations called the “Book of Redemption” in the basement of the church. Reconstruction of the church began within 2 months and was finished by 1926. There are many beautiful stained glass windows throughout the church that are original to this time period when the church was rebuilt. Many of the windows have the names of people or groups that made large donations towards rebuilding the church.

Damage from 1921 can still be seen in the church. One of the strong metal pillars in the basement that hold up the church is visibly scarred from flames. When the church restrooms were getting remodeled in 2021, workers abruptly stopped working because they smelled smoke. The bricks they had dug up still had residual smoke smell from the 1921 attack 100 years earlier. The church has kept some of these bricks and keeps them on display in a prayer room in the basement.

Personal interview and tour of the church with Vernon AME Church member Leroy H. Alfred.