TN SJR0572

Honors Centenary United Methodist Church in Memphis upon the dedication of its Tennessee Historical Commission-approved historical marker on November 20, 2025

Recognizes the church's 160 years of service since its founding in 1865, including rebuilding after being burned during the Memphis Massacre of 1866

Acknowledges the church's educational contributions, including operating a school that trained Memphis's first Black teachers, the city's first kindergarten for Black children, and the first Black Boy Scout troop in Memphis

Highlights the church's civil rights leadership, including voting rights work in the 1940s under Dr. H.B. Gibson and serving as an organizing hub for the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers' strike under Rev. James M. Lawson, Jr.

Notes the church's connection to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who came to Memphis at Rev. Lawson's invitation to support the sanitation workers before his assassination on April 4, 1968