The Working People's Labor and Art Association (WPLAA)

I have written before about the Sons and Daughters of Cyrene, the successor group to the Working People's Labor and Art Association (WPLAA). Today I am going to discuss the WPLAA, the group that drew me into researching African American benevolent and fraternal groups.

Cover page to the Working People's Labor and Art Association 1901 Constitution. It was printed in Nashville at Walden University, an African American school.

According to the 1901 Constitution of the Working People's Labor and Art Association, Perry Morton and H.H. Bains formed the group in 1890. From the beginning the group prided itself on being different from other benevolent and fraternal groups. They did not wear regalia and did not create rituals for the membership. The introduction to their Constitution states that the group was "fitly adapted for the learned and unlearned for the city and country . . ."

Introduction to the Constitution 

The language of the document is a product of its time, and it progressive in its tone. It warns about the dangers of "wealthy capitalists" who "combine, consolidate, monopolize and control the world of wealth." The group was also concerned with the uplift of their race, stating in the Preface that, "The aim of the Association is to elevate, unite and give employment to the Negro youth, to establish and encourage charitable undertakings . . . to encourage and foster trades . . . that will guarantee the Negro livelihood . . . and to be of practical utility to race and state." In addition to creating and fostering trade, the WPLAA was a temperance organization, and no one who sold alcohol could be admitted to membership.

Preface to the Constitution

Although the organization wanted to become national, my research indicates that it's reach did not extend beyond Tennessee.  Indeed, most lodges appear to be located in Middle Tennessee, although the Nashville Globe reported on July 9, 1909 that J.N. Watkins had recently been in West Tennessee visiting lodges in that region.

Murfreesboro was the site of at least 1 lodge hall for the WPLAA. In 1918, the Working People's Labor and Aid Association (the group had tweaked its name) purchased a lot on South Maple Street, just south of Lytle's Creek from B.F. Gannaway for $350. You can find the lodge hall (labeled as "Lodge Hall Colored") on the 1924 Sanborn map of Murfreesboro in the location described in the 1918 deed.

1924 Sanborn map of Murfreesboro showing the location of the WPLAA lodge hall (sheet 6)

While it is not known how long the group endured, it is known that the Murfreesboro lodge had ceased existence by 1953. In that year, in an effort to clear the "slums" known as "The Bottoms," the Murfreesboro Housing Authority obtained title to the property on South Maple Street that housed the WPLAA lodge. In the Circuit Court Minutes, it is stated that, "for a number of years past the Lodge has been inactive, no regular meetings have been held and no payment of dues made or required."

In 2011, I presented a paper to the Ohio Valley History Conference about the WPLAA in Murfreesboro and a lawsuit that tore the group apart. You can read the paper here.

Sparta's Benevolent Society

I have posted before about finding the Proceedings of the Fifty-eighth Delegated Assembly of the Benevolent Orders State of Tennessee, dating to 1926.  Part of this treasure trove of information is a section in the back with the lodge number and town of each Benevolent Society lodge in the state in that year. Other information also includes the number of members for each lodge as well as the value of their cash holdings and property at that time. I'm slowly working my way through this list to gain a better understanding of the scope of the Benevolent Society.

One thing that stuck out was that Sparta, Tennessee, the county seat of White County on the Cumberland Plateau, was the home of 3 lodges.  Being that this is not a section of the state known for a large African American population, I was intrigued by the number of lodges.  Additionally, these 3 lodges reported a total of 143 members in 1926.

Since no census record exists for 1926, I looked at the 1920 Census for Sparta to learn more about the African American population of the town at the period.  Of the 1,517 people enumerated in that 1920 census in Sparta, 245 were identified as black or mulatto. The remaining 1,272 residents were identified as white. This means that 16% of Sparta's population in 1920 was African American.  It was more than I had anticipated.  Furthermore, this means that possibly something close to 58% of the African American community was a member of the Benevolent Society.

Looking more deeply at the census records, I noticed a pattern to where African Americans lived. While there were some white households with individual African Americans living in the home (usually as servants or cooks), the majority of the African American population lived along South Jail Street, North Main Street, West Church Street, West Bridge Street, and Sand Bottoms Street. It was clearly a segregated town, not unusual in Tennessee or the South during this period.

A section of the 1920 Census for Sparta showing a predominantly African American population in this part of town.

I then turned to the Sanborn Insurance Maps, hoping to get a better sense of where these streets were located in the 1920s. While the 1921 Sanborn Map did not show most of these streets, I did find the African American section on the 1931 Sanborn Map of Sparta.

1931 Sanborn Insurance Map (Sheet 7) of Sparta, TN showing an African American section of town.

In a section bounded by North Bridge Street, Klondyke, Church Street, and an unnamed street, was the African American section of Sparta. Three African American churches are located in this area as well as the African American school. And sitting beside the 1st Baptist Church (Colored) (as labeled on the map) was a building labeled "Hall." Lodges, churches, and schools were often located together in African American communities across the state, so it is very likely that this Hall is a lodge hall. A second Hall can be found 2 buildings away from the 1st M.E. Church (Colored) (as labeled on the map).  And given that the Benevolent Society in Sparta had 143 members in 1926, it is very possible (and quite likely) that the Benevolent Society lodges met in one of these buildings.

A cursory glance at Google maps suggests that these buildings (as well as the churches) no longer exist.  Wali Rashash Kharif and William Lynwood Montell, in Reminisces and Reflections: African Americans in the Kentucky-Tennessee Upper Cumberland Since the Civil War (2005) states that the African American population of Sparta and White County declined significantly during the 20th century, and that there were only 518 African Americans left in the entire county by 1930.  It seems likely that the Benevolent Society did not survive long into the 1930s.

Mapping the Benevolent Society of Tennessee

As I mentioned in a July 2017 post, I recently found a copy of the proceedings from the 1926 meeting of the Benevolent Society in Tennessee. One of the interesting pieces of information in that is the list of every lodge that existed in the state of Tennessee at that time.

Although this list does not show the street address for each lodge, it does list the town the lodge was located.  To that end, I created a simple Google map to gain a better understanding of the distribution of lodge locations in 1926.

Benevolent Society lodges in 1926. Courtesy of Google Maps.

As expected, the majority of lodges were located in Middle Tennessee. There were some surprises (such as lodges located in Dayton and Kingston).  I plan on doing more work to narrow down locations, if possible, but I think this is a useful tool for understanding the spread and scope of the group in 1926.

To see the full map, you can visit my map here.

The Benevolent Society after World War I

My initial thoughts on the Benevolent Society (and other African American benevolent groups) were that these types of organizations slowly died out in the 1920s due to a variety of factors, such as World War I, the Great Migration, and (in the 1930s) the Great Depression. However, recent research has shown that this is not entirely true.

Cover page of the 1926 Proceedings of the annual convention of the Benevolent Society.

While at the Tennessee State Library and Archives last week, I found a copy of the Proceedings of the Fifty-eighth Delegated Assembly of the Benevolent Orders State of Tennessee. This assembly took place in Murfreesboro, Tennessee between August 9 and August 12, 1926. In addition to listing the speakers, what they spoke about, and the business of the annual meeting, a list of all of the presidents of every Benevolent Society lodge in the state can be found near the back of the book. This treasure trove lists the number of the lodge and the town it was located in. I am excited to spend some time in the near future combing through the proceedings to glean as much information about the structure and spread of the organization.

Another interesting insight from my initial look at the Proceedings is that this group was not solely confined to Middle Tennessee. Although the majority of lodges were located in towns across Middle Tennessee, there are also lodges in West Tennessee towns such as Humboldt and Jackson and East Tennessee towns such as Dayton and Chattanooga. I hope very soon to create a general map of all towns with lodges in 1926.

A partial list of lodges from the 1926 Proceedings

Beyond the 1926 Proceedings, I have found evidence of Benevolent Society lodges in Nashville well into the 1930s and beyond. The 1933 Nashville City Directory shows at least 4 Benevolent Society lodge halls still present at that period.

The 1933 Nashville City Directory shows the location of at least 4 Benevolent Society lodges.

In fact, one lodge listed as being located at 1338 Lewis Street can be found in the 1955 Nashville City Directory, making a strong argument for the persistence of the group well past World War I and the Great Depression.

1955 Nashville City Directory showing a Benevolent Society Hall remained at 1338 Lewis Street

While I am still working through various materials, I believe a strong argument can be made for the continuance of African American benevolent groups, and specifically the Benevolent Society, beyond the Great Depression and both World Wars.