barbershop. Many other social events took place at the Temple - wedding receptions, sorority and fraternity functions, commencement exercises and private parties. On Jan. 10, 1972, years after the building's heyday, a riot between police and a small band of black Mus- lims traveling the country erupted on North Boule- vard in front of the Temple. Five people - two sher- iff's deputies and three Muslims - were killed, and 31 people were injured in the fighting. Members of the local black community refuse to let this one day of violence mar their appreciation for the Temple. Thomas Buffington Jr. believes that the Temple must be preserved for the "grandsons and great - granddaughters to enjoy musical and other cultural events, or merely to serve as a community meeting place." Times have changed. Meeting facilities are no longer segregated, but activities continue at the Temple. A board outside the Roof Garden announces the weekly schedule of events. The old movie theater has been dismantled, and the room is now available for private meetings and parties.
"There is no one in the community of greater Baton Rouge over age 30 who does not know the Temple, and we all seek to preserve this landmark because of its history and the part it has played in our lives and the lives of all who have gone before us in this centu- ry," Thomas Buffington Jr. wrote. Members of the Prince Hall Masonic Temple have plans now to renovate the old building, which was entered on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. Sometime in 1998, they plan to remove the paneling on the walls of the Roof Garden to once again expose the windows covered in an earlier renovation. "We're
Reference: Advocate Archives. (n.d.). https://theadvocate.newsbank.com/doc/news/0EB47886BA6AC300
10
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator