Prince Hall Masonic Lodge and Temple, the so-called “Jewel of Auburn Avenue” has been home to many Atlanta greats over the years Martin Luther King Jr.’s only office, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the country’s first Black-owned radio station and Madame C.J. Walker’s Beauty Shoppe.
Now it’s home to the local nonprofit Center for Civic Innovation.
On June 4, the nonprofit opened its doors to show off the new 4,500 square foot headquarters. It’s a major step up from their previous small space on Edgewood Avenue, and a new era for the 12-year-old nonprofit.
“This space is going to be a place that gives people the tools, the community, to fight even when it’s hard or even when people tell us to give up,” CCI Founder and Executive Director Rohit Malhotra said.
Malhotra and the small but scrappy CCI team have big goals for the new space. They will keep up the current work — policy reports, civic labs, monitoring meetings, city panels, classes, awareness campaigns and more. But now they have an entire floor of rooms to work with.
He envisioned a center for programming, a gathering space and even a co-working hub. People will be able to pay for monthly memberships to get access to the offices, or even pay to rent out rooms for meetings and events. The bottom line is bringing people together.
“This is a gathering space,” CCI Board Chair Dr. Tanya Washington said. “This is a space where we will gather as people who believe in treating people equitably, who believe in policies that are going to promote people, not just projects.”
Washington joined the board five years ago and has been the board chair for four years. On June 4, she said she was proud of the small staff for the “long hours, long nights, energy and effort” they put into transforming the space into a proper nonprofit home.
It’s no coincidence the nonprofit is doing it at Prince Hall. In February, the hall reopened after a lengthy $10 million makeover as an official part of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Park.
The hall is widely considered one of Atlanta’s most significant historic buildings. In 1940, Sweet Auburn’s unofficial mayor and civil rights activist John Wesley Dobbs built the hall. It soon became home to the Georgia Chapter of the country’s oldest Black fraternity – the Prince Hall Masons.
That kicked off a rich history with decades of historic tenants. Today, the masons use the top floor for meetings and events, and visitors can look at the iconic “WERD” radio sign on the side of the building. Malhotra said it reflects Atlanta’s rich history.
“Almost every social movement in this country has come through Atlanta,” he said at the June 4 event. “Our city has been a moral compass in some of this city’s hardest moments.”
The crowd and CCI members acknowledged the country is one of its “hard moments.” Malhotra, reflecting on MLK Jr.’s windowless office, said organizing can be “lonely work.”
“We are living in a moment where good trouble and important work is called radical work now,” he said.
Washington echoed his sentiments, saying nobody was “coming to save us, but we can save ourselves if we work together.”
And CCI leadership hopes to pull from the energy inside the historic building. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park Superintendent Reggie Chapple thinks it’s already coming back, as the district creeps past MLK Jr.’s childhood home.
“What’s greater is that we actually get to move into the modern era and match the energy of the civil rights movement that was happening here with what’s happening at CCI,” Chapple said. “And I think it’s a perfect match.”
Standing in front of the historic green windowsills and on the building’s original floors, Malhotra told people they should feel something. And he looked to the work ahead.
CCI plans to create a “safe space” with short-notice events in the future, like explainer conversations on MARTA or the ongoing TAD conversations. Malhotra hopes to expand civic education beyond occasional sessions and give real programs to individuals and organizations. He used to speak on the importance of coming together in difficult moments. Now they can, at CCI.
“Being in this space that holds this energy should give us all hope,” Washington said. “Because the energy that the folks poured into this space, the time they’ve poured into it, actually rhymes with the times we’re in.”
Maria Saporta contributed additional reporting and photos to this story.
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