Today's then and now: The Calvary Baptist Church at 300 N Walnut, Deep Decue. This historic black church once turned down a young Martin Luther King Jr. down for a job as pastor. The church was also the launching site for many a civil rights protest led by the legendary Clara Luper. Sadly, the church is up for sale now and its future is uncertain. More sad: the paster, Phillip Davis Jr., took down the historic neon sign a few years ago promising to return it. The sign hasn't been seen since. 

Constructed in 1921 by black architect and church member Russell Benton Bingham, Calvary Baptist Church stands three stories tall with twin towers capped by brick parapets. In the early 20th century it served as the religious and social center of Oklahoma City's black community.

Luper's  sit-ins started in 1957 when 26 high school drama students visited St. Louis, where they ate at integrated lunch counters. Back home and determined to change "Jim Crow" Oklahoma, they met at Calvary with their drama teacher and a NAACP advisor to plan a sit-in campaign.

On August 19, 1958, 12 youths marched to nearby Katz Drug Store and took unoccupied seats at the lunch counter. When they were not served, they remained, quiet and orderly. After another sit-in the next day, the shop manager agreed to serve them. At the second stop, S.H. Kress, the youths were not so lucky. The store yielded but all stools at its lunch counter were removed. The sit-ins were repeated almost on a daily basis, at food service spots all over the city.

By mid-1961, more than 175 city restaurants had opened their doors to black residents, and before long, segregated eating places had virtually disappeared in Oklahoma City. The Calvary church was home base for the sit-ins and the congreation braved bomb threats and efforts to cancel their insurance.