The National Shrine of Saint Martin de Porres has a history going back to 1936. A Dominican priest, Fr. Thomas Weiland, O.P., founded the Shrine in 1936 in Columbia, South Carolina. Along with the Shrine, a Church and school were built and for 60 years, donations were used to support the African-American Catholic community of Columbia.

The Shrine was moved to the headquarters of the Dominican Province of Saint Martin de Porres in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1996. It remained there while a permanent structure was being built. In 2001 Bishop J. Terry Steib of Memphis, Tennessee dedicated the Shrine Chapel at Saint Peter Church in Memphis. Its name became “Shrine and Institute” to include educational and cultural activities.

The Shrine began sponsoring Christmas concerts, retreats, and the Saint Martin de Porres Award. It co-sponsored a symposium on interracial relations in 2008 and a Mass and a procession to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. In 2015 it was awarded “National Shrine” status.