Mosaic Templars of America

The Mosaic Templars of America was a black fraternal order founded by John E. Bush and Chester W. Keatts, two former slaves, in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1883.

John E. Bush and a white acquaintance were standing on the corner of Ninth and Broadway in Little Rock, when an elderly black women requested a donation to help with the final expenses of her husband.

[3] The name metaphorically linked the organization's services to African Americans and the oppressive conditions of the Jim Crow South to Moses' leadership during the Israelites exodus from slavery in Egypt and into the Promised Land.

[5] The MTA's goal was "to unite fraternally all persons of African descent of good character of every profession, business and occupation and to give all possible moral and material aid in its power to its members."

Its headquarters were housed in a handsome new building that opened in 1913 at Ninth and Broadway in Little Rock, Arkansas; Booker T. Washington delivered the dedication speech.