What is this all about?

My name is Leigh Ann Gardner, and I am a historic preservationist from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. While working on my master's degree in Public History at Middle Tennessee State University, I became fascinated with African-American fraternal and benevolent lodges. There were largely two types of fraternal and benevolent organizations: those that paralleled a white organization (such as the Masons or the Elks) and distinctive orders that did not directly resemble any white organization. Some organizations were part of larger, national or regional groups (such as the Mosaic Templars or Knights of Pythias). Some groups were purely local, such as the Colored Sisters of Charity, the Social Benevolent Society, and the Independent Pole Bearers Association. One group, the Independent Order of Immaculates, started in Nashville and grew to be a national organization. Beginning in early 2012, I began my quest to document and survey sites in Tennessee associated with fraternal and benevolent lodges. Through my research, I have found that there were hundreds of these groups in Tennessee during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. While some groups did not survive into the late-twentieth century, some do still survive. Through this blog, I hope to highlight some of the groups I have found, and I hope to hear from people that know more about fraternal and benevolent lodges than I do. In addition to lodge buildings, some benevolent and fraternal groups operated cemeteries for the benefit of their members. I am also working to document these resources across the state.