Calvary Baptist houses the rich legacy of OKC's Civil Rights Movement
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - Four of the original members of the Oklahoma City Youth Council sat in a pew at Calvary Baptist Church, at 2nd and Walnut Streets.
They’d obviously aged with time, but this group is well-remembered as youth, marching in 1958 with the legendary Clara Luper for historic sit-ins at lunch counters and other segregated spaces throughout the city.
Larry Jeffries sighed as he looked around the sanctuary.
“[This] has always been, you know, something that people remember because [Calvary] is where we left from [on our marches],” he said, motioning around the room.
The historically Black church was a proving ground for civil rights and the group could often be found preparing for the sit-ins that would radically shift the state of segregation in Oklahoma and around the South at the historically Black church.
Marilyn Luper Hildreth remembered watching meetings and rallies up high from the balconies the building once held.
“That's one of the things I remember about Calvary…up in that corner there…When Martin Luther King spoke here, I was here,” she said.
Ms. Hildreth said when her mother brought her young army together, there was one goal in mind.
“We were preparing for the war, [and] that's where we learned the radical love,” she added.
“When somebody would spit on you, [you’d] wipe it off, turn the other cheek, [if they threw] coffee on you, move your foot…don't be reactionary to them because it was a peaceful, nonviolent movement.”
“We would go to businesses that we hadn't already picketed and we wanted to find out whether or not they would serve us or whether or not they'd hire us [and] that was our next target, or later on down the line…restaurants, grocery stores, ice cream parlors,” Larry continued.
“You still feel just the energy that we had because we were doing something that was important to all of us, not just here in Oklahoma, all across the country,” added Joyce Jackson as she looked towards the stained glass windows.
At Calvary, songs of freedom were sung at the same octave as gospel music.
Joyce Henderson was a song leader.
“You walk to freedom. I can't hear you. You want your freedom? I can't hear you. And other songs like We Shall Overcome,” she sang.
“And give me that …oh, freedom, spirit,” she trailed off.
“See, those are songs that come back to me when I come back in the building.”
In the pews, Black families held fast to faith while staring down deep-seated racism.
Larry pointed to the pulpit as he shared fond memories of a childhood baptism.
“It used to be a pool right here,” he said.
“My sisters and I came up and we started going to Bible school. We all joined church and we were all baptized at the same time. So that's a monumental memory for me,” he said.
“The city and [the civil rights] movement could not have survived if it hadn't been for our churches,” added Ms. Henderson.
“You could say Calvary Baptist Church to a generation and we know what that church meant to us then and what it means to us now. So it has historic value, but it also has sentimental value for many of us,” she continued.
The deliberate work both in and outside of the church would pay off.
Within years, once segregated seats would disappear, but the building that helped set the stage also fell into disrepair, until a law firm moved in.
“We loved restoring the building and keeping the building and bringing it back to where it was when it was first built. And I think that means a lot to the community. And we're proud of that,” said Dan Davis, Dan Davis Law.
His firm brought the building back to life in 2012 with an extensive renovation, while keeping much of the building’s historical significance.
Today, if you ask the group, OKC has made many strides, but many of the challenges from the early days are the same.
In 2024, the group is fighting to preserve history.
“American history. It's Oklahoma history. It's not just Black history. And it shouldn't be relegated just to Black History Month, because guess what? We were here before, we're still here,” said Joyce Jackson.
“I have a granddaughter. She stood up and asked me, ‘Grandma, what is all this freedom about? Will we ever as Black people, be free?,’” Ms. Hildreth ruminated.
“I gave her the same answer that my grandfather gave my mother,” she answered with a pause.
“Someday.”