In 1872, a 13-volume compilation of reports and testimonies, including those from previously enslaved individuals, documented a Congressional committee’s investigation into the Ku Klux Klan and other insurrectionary movements in the former Confederate states.
In 1872, a 13-volume compilation of reports and testimonies, including those from previously enslaved individuals, documented a Congressional committee’s investigation into the Ku Klux Klan and other insurrectionary movements in the former Confederate states.
While Virginia is absent from this congressional report, the testimonies offer valuable insights into the beliefs, attitudes, misconceptions, and misdirections surrounding the mistreatment of newly freed people residing in the former Confederate states.
In Blacksburg, Virginia, the Independent Order of St Luke shared the same building with the Grant United Order of Odd Fellows, Tadmore Light 6184, located in New Town. That order’s copy of the Constitution and By-laws may be lost to history, but the Queen of Sheba Council’s 1921 version is fortunately accessible. This document highlights the significance of mutual aid within the framework of the function of the Order of St Luke.
Independent Order of St. Luke. Queen of Sheba Council No. , Randall K. Burkett, Lucy Emanuel, and Amos M. Gailliard. Constitution And By-laws of Queen of Sheba Council No. 1307, I.O. of St. Luke, Organized January 28th, 1921, White Plains, N.Y. [White Plains, N.Y.]: [The Council], 1921.
Madame Maggie J. Walker’s Vision for the Independent Order of St Luke Reflected in the Constitution and By-laws
During the Jim Crow era, white-owned firms refused to grant disability and life insurance to the black community. In response, IOSL provided weekly sickness and disability benefits as well as funeral assistance for its members starting in 1895. Similar to contemporary insurance companies, it offered various premium options. Mrs. Walker’s effective leadership in membership drives bolstered the organization’s finances, enabling prompt payment of death claims and reduced premium costs.
Sick Benefit
Members who wished to receive financial support in the event of being sick or disabled, paid monthly dues into the Sick Benefit fund. The Sick Committee manages the implementation of this benefit. The member could receive no more than $35/year. That equates to about $t00 in current value.
Christiansburg Institute, Inc provides an excellent tour of Montgomery County historic sites, including much information about the Morgan family who owned and ran the Eureka Hotel.
The famous Green Book guide points travelers to seek the Eureka Hotel in Christiansburg. This hotel was located on Depot Street, east of Franklin street.
Courtesy of the Henry Ford CollectionEureka Hotel
The Eureka Hotel was on the left side of Depot Street, at the top right section of this map. The Morgan family owned and operated the hotel from the 1930 to 1970. After that time the building was used as Rosalie’s Soul Kitchen (Rosalie Paige, 1983 to 1985), grocery store, beauty shop, barber, and taxi stand. Burrell and Rae Morgan along with S.B. Morgan, Burrell’s brother owned the establishments along with other businesses in Christiansburg.
The Roanoke Times, 13 December 2000 (photo Gene Dalton, Roanoke Times)
Memories of the Soul Kitchen and Eureka Hotel.
One building due to be demolished with the mill was a haven for black-owned businesses through the decades.
Like the S&M Mill, the Eureka Hotel has seen better days.
The front is covered with a hodgepodge of different sidings in various stages of decay. The glass is missing to a second-floor picture window, leaving a blue room with a broken chandelier exposed to winde, rain and worse.
The tough old building still looks sturdy, but like the mill, is slated for destruction because it’s worth much less than the land it sits on.
Bruce Reynolds inherited both buildings, which are near the intersection of Depot and North Franklin streets. He has put the 1.3 acre site on the market for $500,000 and is having the old hotel and half of the mill demolished.
Perched at the edge of a traditionally black neighborhood, the building had been The Eureka Hotel, lodging for blacks during segregation. From the 1930s to the ’70s, the Morgan family owned and operated it as a combination grocery store, beauty parlor, barber shop, gas station and taxi stand. In the early ’80s it had a fling as Rosalie’s Soul Kitchen.
Julie Morgan Hardy said she’s glad they’re tearing the “eyesore” down.
She grew up in the building’s second floor apartment and helped her parents, Burrell and Rae Morgan, run the first-floor store, selling bread, canned goods, cookies, candy and other items. She even drove a cab sometimes.
Her parents’ dedication to that store, along with her father’s second job as a railroad postal clerk, put her and her four siblings through college, she said.
By Tom Angleberger, The Roanoke Times, 13 December 2000
In the 1932 Christiansburg, Va Directory Wm B (Burrell) & Ray Morgan were listed at 204 Depot Street (taxi driver) along with his brother S.B. Morgan (taxi driver) and William Morgan. Daisy Morgan was listed as the proprietor of the Sterling Cafe (101 1/2 Depot). William Morgan at 204 Depot was the brother of Burrell and S.B. Morgan.
1932 Christiansburg Directory
In the 1962 Christiansburg Directory S.B. Morgan, Taxi Co was located at 100 Depot, Burrell Morgan residence was 10 Depot (Eureka Hotel), & Mrs Daisy Morgan was living at 119 Depot.
Courtesy of Montgomery Museum of Art & History, Christiansburg, Va
Obituary for Senior Barrett Morgan (S.B.) Roanoke Times, 23 June 1990
Senior Barrett Morgan, age 75, departed this life June 20, 1990, at the Montgomery County Regional Hospital after a short illness. He was born October 12, 1914, in Buxton, Iowa, the son of the late William Morgan and Ella P. Morgan. He was a faithful member of the Shaeffer Memorial Baptist Church in Christiansburg, Va., where he served as Chairman of the Trustee Board and past Chairman of the Deacon Board. He was the owner and founder of the S.B. Morgan Cafe and Taxi Company in Christiansburg, Va., having served the community for over fifty years. He was also a member of the Montgomery County Branch of the N.A.A.C.P. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mrs. Lucy Holmes Morgan; one son and a sister, Annette Simmons. His survivors are one daughter, Ruth M. Crisp of Washington, D. C.; a son-in-law, James R. Crisp, also of Washington, D. C.; one granddaughter, and two great-grandchildren; one brother, Mr. Burrell Morgan of Christiansburg, Va. Funeral services will be Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at the Shaeffer Memorial Baptist Church, Christiansburg, Va., with Dr. C. L. Brown officiating. Burial will be at the Shaeffer Memorial Cemetery, Christiansburg, Va. Viewing will be Saturday from 7:00 until 9:00 p.m. at the Claytor-Alexander and Penn Funeral Home, Radford, Va. The body will be placed in the church one hour prior to service. Claytor-Alexander and Penn Funeral Home in charge of the arrangements.
Gathering African American History 