Colored Masonic Temple

View of the Colored Masonic Temple

The Colored Masonic Temple (officially the Masonic Temple Building) is an 8-story Renaissance-Revival style building located at 1630 4th Avenue North. It was constructed for the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge, Free & Accepted Masons of Alabama and is a contributing structure to the 4th Avenue Historic District. The building was developed under the leadership of Grand Master Walter Woods and the $750,000 cost was funded entirely by contributions, without taking on any construction debt.

The brick building was designed by the firm of Taylor & Persley (Robert Robinson Taylor and Louis Hudson Persley), and built by Windham Brothers Construction. The cornerstone was laid in 1922 and the building opened on April 1, 1924. Its design features an engaged limestone temple front on the south facade. The architrave and frieze of the Corinthian entablature was segmented to make room for the fourth-floor windows. The dentil cornice is continuous, and wraps two sides of the building, dividing the upper and lower sections. The upper part of the facade is gridded off into two and 1 1/2-story sections, separated by pilasters and smaller entablatures.

Throughout its history the building has housed the offices of notable African-American professionals, businesses and organizations, and a popular drug store and soda fountain on the ground floor. Its auditorium, with a capacity of 2,000, was used for meetings, ceremonies, concerts, dances, cotillions, mass meetings and other special events. The Duke Ellington Orchestra and Count Basie's big bands played regularly in the Temple ballroom.

In October 1932 the auditorium hosted an All-Southern Scottsboro and Civil Rights Conference organized by the Communist Party-affiliated International Labor Defense. Speakers included Donald and Alice Burke, Mary Leonard and Ben Fowler. Most of the hundreds of people who came to participate were turned away by a police intimidation.

The Alabama NAACP held a meeting to reorganize in the Auditorium in the 1930s.

Three ground floor rooms were used for the Booker T. Washington Library, the first public lending library open to Black citizens in Birmingham. The offices of the NAACP, in this building, were padlocked following litigation by Arthur Shores over an African American student attempting to enroll in The University of Alabama. May 26, 1956 order by Montgomery Circuit Judge Walter Jones banning the organization from operating in the state of Alabama.

The 1960s saw the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham, with the Colored Masonic Temple playing a large role. Many protests and sit ins were organized in the building, Martin Luther King, Jr. visited the Temple during the Birmingham Campaign. A makeshift infirmary was set up to treat wounded protesters during the riots. One of the largest demonstrations of the Birmingham Campaign was held in Kelly Ingram Park in front of the Temple. Attorney Arthur Shores operated from his offices in the Temple, leading the Civil Rights legal battle in the South. The home of Shores, along with the homes of many other Civil Rights leaders working from the Masonic Temple, such as accountant T.L. Crowell, were bombed by white supremacists. The home of then Mayor Albert Boutwell was also targeted by dynamite, although the bombs were disarmed before they could explode. These bombings led to the name of Dynamite Hill in the Smithfield neighborhood, and Birmingham to be nationally nicknamed "Bombingham". Shores led efforts to integrate Birmingham City Schools and to nullify thousands of those arrested during demonstrations during the Birmingham Campaign.

Around the 1990s, problems began to arise with HVAC systems and funds to keep the Temple operational. Around 2011, all tenants had moved out entirely, and the building shuttered and left dormant.

In the 2010s, space in the hallway by the Masonic Auditorium was damaged by fire, suspected to be from squatter activity. The Temple was fitted with a security system to aid in protection of the structure.

The Masonic Temple was still used for meetings of the the Prince Hall Grand Lodge until 2022 renovation efforts began.

Redevelopment proposals

In January 2009 Main Street Birmingham hosted a workshop at the building to generate ideas for creative redevelopment. A campaign to raise $10-15 million for restoration and expansion of the Temple Building was launched by the Grand Lodge in 2017, shortly after it was made part of the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument. Schemes for possible expansion discussed at the time included a multi-story parking deck to the west of the Temple with retail spaces on the ground floor.

In November 2019 The Lodge announced that it was working with Historic District Developers (a venture of Henderson & Co. of Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina with Direct Invest Development LLC of New York) on a $29 million mixed-use redevelopment of the building. Urban Impact Inc. and the Birmingham Department of Innovation and Economic Opportunity also participated in the project, which was intended to qualify for Historic Preservation Tax Credits, New Market Tax Credits, and Opportunity Zone tax credits.

Plans for the building include incubator retail, maker-space and office space. The project's design phase continued into 2022, with the start of construction planned for late that year.

The interiors of the Colored Masonic Temple building have been preserved by the closing and dormancy of the building. Prior to renovations beginning in 2022, a time capsule of life in Birmingham for African Americans from 1924 on to the 1990s survived, including fully-furnished and stocked dental offices from the 1930s and 1950s, Masonic meeting halls stacked with boxes of records and regalia dating as far back as the 1920s, artifacts from the Civil Rights era, and dozens of file cabinets filled with paperwork from the operations of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge and all affiliates in Alabama during the 20th century. These artifacts are being processed and catalogued by the Lodge for preservation and historical interpretation with the support of a $670,000 from the Mellon Foundation.

Tenants

basement: Temple Bowling Center for Colored People bowling lanes (1941) Stag Barber Shop / Stag Billiard Parlor Knick Knack Bar Forniss Printing Company Good Deal News Distribution Company Wallace's Studio photographers (1949) lobby: Ford & Campbell jewelers (1941), Ernest Ford jeweler (1949) Lillie Robinson florist (1941–1949) ground floor: Booker T. Washington Library (1924-1956) Birmingham Plumbing Company (1926) Your Flower Shop florist (2000s) Simp's Barber and Style Shop men's barber shop (2000s) John's Alterations and Repair (2000s) Esquire's Shoe Shine and Repairs cobbler (2000s) Temple Pharmacy (1940s) McCain Realty 2nd floor: Masonic Auditorium 3rd floor 301-303: Ferdinand Bradford Sr physician (1941–1949) 304-307: Jefferson County Colored Schools / Paul Jones director (1941) 308–309: Camel's Club 310: Jackson's Dental Lab dental prosthetic laboratory 316: Arthur Shores attorney Mercedes Entertainment 4th floor Billionaire Records Label Flip the Script Productions Derlesia Sims Gospel Show 401-403: Eugene Elliott dentist & Charles McPherson physician (1941–1949), Boy Scouts of America 404: American Federation of Musicians Local 733 (1941) 405-408: L. U. Goin physician and Grand Medical Registrar (1926), Pierce Moten physician (1949) 405: Mattie Moreland dressmaker (1941), P. S. Moten physician 406: Colored YMCA offices (1949) 407-408: John J. Thompson dentist (1941–1949), Farm Home Agency 409: J. B. Bayton & Co. accountants (1949), A. Shakespeare dentist 410: Washington Sales Agency / Simmons Construction Co. (1949) 431: Masonic Library Supplies and Masonic Church Supplies Birmingham Housing Authority Offices of Benjamin Greene NAACP meeting halls Masonic meeting halls

5th floor R. M. Howard dentist (1950s-1990s) Heroines of Jericho Alabama State Coordinating Association for Registration and Voting, 9th Congressional District 501–504: Marion McCall physician (1941–1949) 501: B. M. Jefferson / F. E. Jamison dentists (1930s-1980s) 502: Samuel Harris / E. S. Jamison physicians (1941) 503: Colored Fair Association (1928) 505-506: Herman Clayborne dentist (1941–1949) 507-508: John Hutchinson physician (1941), Henry Dale physician (1949) 510-512: Hollins & Shores real estate (1941), Arthur Shores / Frederick Curtis attorneys (1949) Orzell Billingsley attorney, A. Peter Hall attorney 514: Toussaint Crowell accountant (1949) 516: Order of the Eastern Star secretary 517: People's Insurance Co. 521-522 J. P. Pearson podiatrist, Capital Life Insurance Co. 521: Cooperative Life & Hospital Insurance Co. (1949) 522–524: Southern Negro Youth Congress (1949) 523–530: Protective Industrial Insurance Co. (1949) 523-528: Birmingham Reporter newspaper (1930–1932) 525-527: American Cross Chemical Company (1926) 525: Stauffer Colored Salon beauty shop (1940s), Birmingham Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses (1949), Radio Cab. Co. 526: Protective Industrial Insurance Co. 529-530: Cooperative Life & Hospital Insurance Co. (1941) 6th floor 601-606: Atlanta Life Insurance Co. (1941–1949) T. L. Crowell accountant Morris & Lavette attorneys 607-612: Pilgrim Health & Life Insurance Co. (1941) 611–615: Pilgrim Health & Life Insurance Co. (1949) 613–614: Fraternal organizations (see list below) 613: NAACP / H. McCain real estate 622: Jackson Dental Laboratory (1949), American Woodmen's Life Insurance Company 623: Elenora Garth dressmaker (1949), Simmons Construction Co. 624: Forrest Realty Co. (1949) 625: U.S. Farm Home Demonstration Agents (1949), John Norton tax consultant 626-630: Atlanta Life Insurance Co. agents' rooms (1941) 7th floor 701-704: Ernest Taggart dentist (1941–1949), R. M. Howard dentist 705-706: Charles Hendley attorney (1949) & Grand Master, Most Worshipful Grand Lodge (Prince Hall) Ancient Free & Accepted Masons (1949) 707-714: Ancient Free & Accepted Masons of Alabama endowment office (1926–1949) 711: Fred Jenkins accountant / endowment secretary (1941–1949) 715-720: North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Co. (1941–1949) 721–722: Home Boys Social Club (1949) 723–726: Royal Bucks Social Club (1949) 724: Oscar Adams Jr / Demetrius Newton attorneys 727-728: Black Eagle Detective Agency & J. J. Israel Advertising Agency (1941), The American Woodmen insurance (1949), Ferdinand Bradford Jr physician 729-730: Henry Guin dentist (1941), Price Pearson podiatrist / NAACP (1949), Depew Bradford physician

Fraternal organizations and labor unions

Ancient Free & Accepted Masons Mt Hebron Lodge No. 15 Ancient Free & Accepted Masons Khedive Temple No. 16 Ancient Free & Accepted Masons Occidental Lodge No. 31 Ancient Free & Accepted Masons Triple Tau Lodge No. 104 Ancient Free & Accepted Masons Jachanina Lodge No. 147 Ancient Free & Accepted Masons Tyree Lodge No. 148 Ancient Free & Accepted Masons Geometry Lodge No. 410 Ancient Free & Accepted Masons Triune Lodge No. 430 Ancient Free & Accepted Masons Mt Nebo Lodge No. 463 Ancient Free & Accepted Masons Woods Joy Lodge No. 752 Ancient Free & Accepted Masons (1941) American Krusaders Hulda's Beauty Chapter No. 2 American Krusaders Patillo's Success Chapter No. 3 American Krusaders Bolden's Success Chapter No. 7 American Krusaders Owens Delight Council No. 387 American Krusaders Pride Ruth Chapter American Krusaders Tellers Success Chapter American Krusaders Order of the Eastern Star Imperial Chapter UD Order of the Eastern Star Therah Chapter No. 4 Order of the Eastern Star James A. Davis's Chapter No. 19 Order of the Eastern Star Evening Star Chapter No. 19 Order of the Eastern Star Cape Jessamine Chapter No. 51 Order of the Eastern Star Silver Queen Chapter No. 58 Order of the Eastern Star Mary"s Success Chapter No. 68 Order of the Eastern Star Myrtle Day Chapter No. 104 Order of the Eastern Star Superior Chapter No. 134 Order of the Eastern Star Howard's Beauty Chapter No. 168 Order of the Eastern Star Mizpah Chapter No. 194 Order of the Eastern Star Gordon Heights Chapter No. 307 Order of the Eastern Star Pride of Birmingham Chapter No. 370 Order of the Eastern Star Erwin Success Chapter No. 381 Order of the Eastern Star Naomi Chapter No. 385 Order of the Eastern Star Beulah Star Chapter No. 418 Order of the Eastern Star Lilly of the Valley Chapter No. 419 Order of the Eastern Star Avondale Chapter No. 451 Order of the Eastern Star Daniel Pride Chapter No. 467 Order of the Eastern Star Loving Progress Chapter No. 518 Order of the Eastern Star Sherrod's Choice Chapter No. 556 Order of the Eastern Star Pride of Sayre Chapter No. 557 Order of the Eastern Star Terrell's Chapter No. 562 Order of the Eastern Star Evening Star Chapter No. 578 Order of the Eastern Star Cannon's Beauty Chapter No. 589 Order of the Eastern Star True Friend Chapter No. 627 Order of the Eastern Star Lilly Bell Chapter No. 687 Order of the Eastern Star Golden Beauty Chapter No. 703 Order of the Eastern Star Peace of Unity Chapter No. 708 Order of the Eastern Star White Swain Chapter No. 758 Order of the Eastern Star Geometry Joy Chapter No. 765 Order of the Eastern Star Martin Beauty Chapter No. 70 Order of the Eastern Star Free & Accepted Masons Spring City Lodge No. 94 Free & Accepted Masons Mt Tabor Lodge No. 114 Free & Accepted Masons Jethro Lodge No. 140 Free & Accepted Masons

Triune Lodge No. 430 Free & Accepted Masons Mt Hebron Lodge No. 463 Free & Accepted Masons Imperial Lodge No. 619 Free & Accepted Masons Woodlawn Beauty Lodge No. 646 Free & Accepted Masons Wilson Chapel Lodge No. 693 Free & Accepted Masons Byrd's Pride Lodge No. 718 Free & Accepted Masons Wood's Joy Lodge No. 758 Free & Accepted Masons Council Lodge No. 778 Free & Accepted Masons Pride of East Birmingham Lodge No. 836 Free & Accepted Masons Rosemont Chapter No. 865 Free & Accepted Masons Knights of Tabor Knights of Tabor No. 30 Knights of Tabor & Daughters of the Tabernacle Chapter No. 31 Royal Arch Masons Red Cross Consistory No. 2 Royal Arch Masons Zerubbabbee Chapter 3 Royal Arch Masons Kappa Chapter No. 4 Royal Arch Masons Zerubbabel Chapter No. 3 Royal Arch Masons Labor Unions American Federation of Labor Local No. 1044 American Federation of Labor Auxiliary No. 32 International Association of Colored Machinist Helpers Local No. 19 Firemen & Oilers Local No. 433 Friendship Local No. 6059 Jefferson Lodge No. 2021 Lathers Local No. 7 Movings Picture Operations Local 836A Railroad Aux. 6108 Seminole Lodge 6060 B.A.R.E. Lodge 304 Birmingham Printing and Paper Products Union 569 United Mineworkers Local 12830 Switchman's Union No. 18152 Boiler Makers Helpers Local No. 8A Brotherhood of Railway Clerks LOcal No. 6060 Southern Car Local No. 1812 Southern Railwroad Freight Handlers Local No. 6108 Other Masonic Bodies Airport Highlands Lodge 289A Abigail Chapter No. 46 Naomi Chapter No. 44 Heroines of Jericho Burns Beauty Court No. 44 Heroines of Jericho Bethlehem Star Society No. 1 Birmingham Tent 18 A.W. Birmingham Camp 62 A.W. Good Luck Chapter No. 232 Greene Beauty Chapter 807 Khedive Temple No. 16 Ancient Egyptian Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine Lily of the Valley Chapter Owens Delight Council 387 Persia Commandery 2 Queen Elizabeth Court Victory Court Heroines of Jericho Sunbeam Chapter 844

Gallery

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  Interior of the auditorium. Photo by Austin H. Stone]]

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  Cornerstone of the Masonic Temple Building. Photo by Austin H. Stone.]]

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  Building directory from the Colored Masonic Temple on display at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute

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  Protests outside the Colored Masonic Temple during the Birmingham Campaign, 1963 The Birmingham News

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  Martin Luther King Jr playing at Stag Billiard Parlor, 1963. Grand Master S. J. Bennett visible in background

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  Office of the Endowment Secretary. Photo by Austin H. Stone

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  Trunk belonging to Geometry Lodge No. 410 in a meeting hall. Photo by Austin H. Stone

References

• Polk's Birmingham (Jefferson County, Ala.) City Directory, including Fairfield and Homewood (1941) Richmond, Virginia: R. L. Polk & Co.
• Ruisi, Anne (January 12, 2009) "Masonic Temple in downtown Birmingham draws preservationists." The Birmingham News
• Weiss, Ellen (2012) "Robert R. Taylor and Tuskegee: An African-American Architect Designs for Booker T. Washington." Montgomery: New South Books ISBN 1588382486
• Edgemon, Erin (February 26, 2017) "Historic civil rights landmark launches fundraising campaign." The Birmingham News
• Van der Bijl, Hanno (November 20, 2019) "Developer eyes mixed-use project at Masonic Temple in city center." Birmingham Business Journal
• Watson, Nathan (February 14, 2022) "$29M renovation underway for Masonic Temple Building." Bham Now
• "Historic Masonic Temple in Birmingham Receives Mellon Grant to Preserve Artifacts." (April 21, 2023) The Birmingham Times

External links

• Grand Lodge History at mwphglofal.org
• AL-Colored Masonic Temple Project fundraiser by Ken Collins II at gofundme.com
• The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge: A Last Look, photographs by Leland Kent at abandonedsoutheast.com
• 2022 video tour by Austin H. Stone.