"African American Masonry in Alabama: Birmingham’s Prince Hall Temple Grand Lodge" by Mary Stanton

The views and opinions expressed in this presentation do not necessarily reflect those of the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

Food for Thought continues another year of fascinating and informative lunchtime lectures on the rich history of Alabama at the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) on Thursday, April 20 at 12:00 pm. Mary Stanton will present African American Masonry in Alabama: Birmingham’s Prince Hall Temple Grand Lodge. Built in 1924, Birmingham’s Prince Hall Temple Grand Lodge became a social and political center for Birmingham’s
African American community. The Grand Lodge was a civil rights strategy center, providing meeting and conference space for the full gamut of political activists through the New Deal era, World War II, and the Civil Rights movement. It hosted wedding receptions, banquets, athletic events, concerts, conferences, big band and swing dances. It was headquarters for the NAACP, the Booker T. Washington Library, five law offices, six medical and dental practices, a barbershop, a café, a billiards parlor and the Radio Cab Company. On April 20, Stanton will discuss the development of African American masonry in Alabama and the rich history of the Grand Lodge.

Mary Stanton has been writing about Alabama history and the Civil Rights movement for more than twenty years. She is the author of From Selma To Sorrow: The Life and Death of Viola Liuzzo, (nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1999), Freedom Walk: Mississippi or Bust, Journey Toward Justice: Juliette Hampton Morgan and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and many articles for Alabama Heritage magazine.

The Alabama Department of Archives and History is the state’s government records repository, special collections library
and research facility, and is home to the Museum of Alabama, the state history museum. It is located in downtown Montgomery, directly across the street from the State Capitol. The Archives and Museum are open Monday through Saturday, 8:30 to 4:30. To learn more, visit www.archives.alabama.gov or call (334) 242-4364.