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Photo: Courtvonderhaas, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
9th and Broadway. The original headquarters of the Mosaic Templars (a black fraternal organization, now defunct save for a single chapter in Barbados), destroyed by fire in 2005, has been reconstructed to house a cultural center dedicated to the history and culture of black people.
The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center is a nationally-accredited, world-class Department of Arkansas Heritage museum and cultural center in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. Its mission is to collect, preserve, interpret, and celebrate African American history, culture, and community in Arkansas from 1870 to the present and to inform and educate the public about Black achievements, especially in business, politics, and the arts.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
This 1916 building is the only surviving remnant of Little Harlem, an African American community that saw its heyday during the segregation era. By 1992, it was vacant and had a huge hole in its roof, and was subsequently restored to house Arkansas Flag and Banner. There is a movement to restore the Dreamland Ballroom on the building's top floor to its splendor. It once saw the likes of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Nat King Cole.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and known by the nickname "The Westminster Abbey of Arkansas", this historic 19th-century cemetery is the final resting place for many noteworthy Arkansans. Among the most notable: David Owen Dodd, the "Boy Martyr of the Confederacy"; Pulitzer Prize-winning poet John Gould Fletcher; and William Woodruff, founder of the Arkansas Gazette, the oldest newspaper west of the Mississippi. Also buried here are 10 former Arkansas governors, 14 former Arkansas Supreme Court Justices, 21 former mayors of Little Rock, and 6 former U.S. Senators.
Bill Clinton was a frequent visitor to this YMCA branch during his years as governor of Arkansas. The building was built in 1928 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. But in 1995, the YMCA of Metropolitan Little Rock shuttered the branch due to declining membership. The building is now awaiting restoration.
EMOBA - Ernie's Museum of Black Arkansans
This museum housed in the historic First Baptist Church celebrates the colorful culture, history, and heritage of African American people in Arkansas.
The Rep
Live stage performances.