Tulsa church restores ‘monument and memorial’ windows

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — One of Tulsa’s most historic Black churches is undergoing a restoration project to preserve what has become a memorial to 1921 Race Massacre survivors. The wooden frames around the stained-glass windows at Vernon A.M.E. Church were rotting so much that the windows shook from Tulsa’s downtown traffic. On Tuesday, crews began removing the stained glass and replaced them with temporary windows to last for the next six months.

Pastor Robert Turner tells Tulsa World that the windows are “monument and a memorial” to the people who rebuilt not only the church but the entire Greenwood District.