Exhibits & Memory Sites
The MCAAHA has researched numerous landmark buildings and sites of African American significance in Madison County. We are actively engaged in the preservation of some of these historical sites, such as the 19th-century Odd Fellows Lodge Hall on Main Street and the Red Rooster Juke Joint in Elly. Currently, we have curated collections available for viewing at the Lodge Hall and at the Madison County Historical Society location in the Kemper Residence on Main Street. The MCAAHA has also partnered with the University of Virginia Special Collections Library in the stewardship of several historic documents and artifacts from the local chapter of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows.
The Red Rooster Juke Joint in the Elly neighborhood was well known for its food and music. Now owned by Nancy Garnett Williams, MCAAHA’s founder, the building has been saved and is being restored.
The Madison Friendship Lodge #2121 is located at 700 South Main Street. Built in 1880 by formerly enslaved men, the structure has been used as the home of the Grand Order of Odd Fellows in Madison, and as a dance hall, pool room, and auto body shop.
African American artifacts, including historic items found in the 19th-century Lodge Hall on Main Street, are on display in the Madison County Historical Society’s Kemper Residence through December 2023.
The Lodge Hall on Main Street features a unique collection of hair care equipment once owned by Mrs. Ellen Stewart, one of the successful agents of Madame C.J. Walker’s hair products.
Mrs. Ellen Stewart was a prominent entrepreneur and member of the Madison Community. In addition to her thriving hair care business, she owned the popular Red Rooster Juke Joint. MCAAHA founder Nancy Garnett Williams’ uncle, William “Buster” Garnett was the proprieter.