The Mosaic Templars of America was founded in Little Rock in 1882 and incorporated in 1883 by two formerly enslaved men, John Edward Bush and Chester W. Keatts. At a time when white insurers refused Black customers equal treatment, it sold illness, death and burial insurance, and in the 1920s its estimated membership passed 100,000, with chapters in twenty-six states and parts of the Caribbean and Central and South America.
The cornerstone of its National Grand Temple was dedicated on May 18, 1913, with Booker T. Washington giving the speech, and the building was finished by October 15. It was one of the most important buildings in Little Rock's Black West Ninth Street business district. The Depression hit the order hard, and it went into receivership in 1930. Rehabilitation of the old building began in 2005, and a fire destroyed it on March 16 of that year. The state rebuilt on the site, and the center opened on September 20, 2008, as Arkansas's first publicly funded museum of African American history and culture.
Admission is free, and the museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 501 West Ninth Street. Permanent exhibits cover the order, the West Ninth Street district, Black business ownership and African Americans in Arkansas from 1870 to 1970, and the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame is on the third floor. Parts of the collection may be closed during a renovation, so call 501-683-3593 before a long trip.
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