Grand Fountain of the United Order of True Reformers

A collage of photographs from the turn of the twentieth century exhibits the far-reaching influence of the Grand Fountain of the United Order of True Reformers, an African American fraternal organization in Richmond. Among the enterprises started by the True Reformers and featured on this page are the nation's first black-owned, black-operated bank, a hotel, a printing office, a grocery store, a concert hall, and a real estate office. The collage also shows the current officers of the organization as well as the employees of its businesses. The founder of Richmond's True Reformers, William Washington Browne, is shown (at top center) "lying in state" after his death in 1897.