Clayborn Temple, formerly Second Presbyterian Church, is a historic place in Memphis, Tennessee, United States.

It was upgraded to national significance under Clayborn Temple in 2017 due to its role in the events of the Sanitation Workers' Strike of 1968.

[2] In 1888, the congregation of Second Presbyterian Church decided to purchase a lot on the corner of Pontotoc and Hernando for the construction of its new building.

[3] The congregation moved to East Memphis and sold the building to the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1949.

Throughout the 1960s, Clayborn Temple became the city's staging ground for the civil rights movement, particularly the organizing headquarters of the Memphis Sanitation Strike.

When Second Presbyterian dedicated its new sanctuary on January 1, 1892, it was the largest church in America south of the Ohio River.

On February 12, 1968, 1,300 Sanitation Workers went on strike from Memphis City Department of Public Works, led by T.O.

[4] He opened Clayborn's offices, classrooms, and sanctuary to host the strategy meetings and community gatherings throughout the strike.

[5] After marching only half a mile, the youth's agitation, derived from a rumor that the police had killed a Hamilton High Student earlier that morning, erupted into vandalism, looting, and rioting.

One sixteen-year-old boy, Larry Payne died at the hands of a police officer that day, shot in the stomach after being suspected of looting.

After King's assassination, Clayborn Temple remained a key refuge and meeting place for the Memphis Civil Rights Movement.

In November 1969, mass meetings were held at Clayborn Temple while thousands of protesters led by Dr. King's successor, Reverend Ralph Abernathy, marched from the church which remained the epicenter of the Black Monday demonstrations until late November when a compromise was reached, with two African Americans appointed to the school board.

Having been vacant for a number of years, a group of Memphians began the process of rehabilitating the church in October 2015.