Walkabout: Kickin’ at the Kismet

When I give walking tours of Bedford Stuyvesant and Crown Heights North, people invariably ask me about the building with the onion domes that can be seen from a great distance, rising over Herkimer Street. “Is that a mosque?” I’m often asked, or more simply, “What is that building?” Some of our tours go down Herkimer Street, and visitors are always wowed by the building, now a Baptist church, but still have to ask “What was this building? Who built it, and why?” One of my earliest Buildings of the Day, several years ago, was about this building, formerly called the Kismet Temple, but I’d like to elaborate on my short piece, because this really is a special building, and the men of the Kismet Temple were indeed, an interesting bunch.

Turn of the 20th century Brooklyn was a time of clubs and organizations. The Brooklyn Eagle Almanacs for the final decade of the 1800’s list pages upon pages of organizations that were in existence here in Brooklyn. There were fraternal clubs; athletic, drama, political and social clubs. Every religion, ethnic group, and income group had clubs and clubhouses. There were men’s clubs and women’s clubs, poetry and music clubs, and clubs of people who gathered to help others less fortunate. In this age before television and radio, there was a club for everyone. Many of these, one would attend, and get down to business or fun, but some clubs came with an air of mystery.

Fraternal clubs and orders, like the Freemasons, based some of their exclusivity on ritual and mystery. There were serious oaths to be taken, rituals to be learned and traditions to be respected. In 1870, a group of Masons were meeting in Manhattan, and decided to form a new group among themselves, that would be devoted to fun and fellowship. Two men, Dr. Walter M. Fleming and William J. Florence decided to codify the rules for the organization and start collecting members.

William Florence was one of the more famous actors of his day, and while in Marseille, was invited to a Middle Eastern potentate’s home for a party. The party had an Arabian theme, and involved a play, at the end of which the characters are offered a chance to join a secret society. Florence loved the idea, and took notes. He also travelled to Cairo and Algiers, and took more notes, which he brought back to New York. From all of this information, Dr. Fleming established the rules and bylaws, rituals and costumes. He and Florence were the first members initiated into the order, in 1870, with eleven more men joining them the next year, in 1871.

They called the organization “The Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine” (A.A.O.N.M.S) which became known as the Shriners. The Victorians of this time had a strong fascination with the exotic and mysterious Middle East, so it really shouldn’t be a surprise that the organization took an Arabic theme, with members wearing traditional North African style fez hats and robes for their ceremonial uniforms. They called their chapters “Temples”, which were organized to meet at “Mosques”, although none of this had anything to do with the religion of Islam, whatsoever. It was just exotic and cool, and allowed the members to indulge in their inner potentate. In fact, Dr. Fleming would become the first Potentate, the highest ranked member of a Temple.

By 1876, there were only around 40 members in the Manhattan Temple, and they wanted the organization to grow. They opened it up to national membership, establishing Temples in cities across the country, all within the larger Masonic framework. The idea took off, and temples were founded across the US and Canada. Dr. Fleming would rise to the rank of Imperial Potentate, with jurisdiction over all of the Temples. Each individual member was known as a “Noble”. In 1887, Noble Wayland Trask was given permission to establish a Temple in Brooklyn, which would be called the Kismet Shrine. Their first meetings were at 38 Court Street, but they soon moved to the Aurora Gratis Cathedral, a much larger building on the corner of Madison Street and Bedford Avenue in Bedford. This was a former church, now belonging to another Masonic order. The building still stands, and is a church again.

By 1910, the Kismet Order of the Mystic Shrine had grown large enough and wealthy enough to commission a new Temple to be built. The New York Times reported that this Temple would be the “finest Shrine building in the country”. The architect was R. Thomas Short, of the Manhattan firm of Harde & Short. Despite the rather unfortunate name, Harde & Short were very good, and responsible for some amazing buildings in Manhattan, including Alwyn Court, a terra-cotta encrusted fantasy of a building at the corner of 58th and 7th Avenue, near Central Park. They designed apartment buildings and theaters. Thomas Short is credited with 26 theater buildings in the New York City area. Most of their apartment buildings were quite spectacular, and in that tradition, this building was no different. Short was also a Shriner, himself.

The Kismet Temple, at 92 Herkimer Street, between Nostrand and Bedford Avenues, is an homage to Moorish design, with two large onion domes crowning the square building, one on each corner of the front of the building. The temple is clad in golden brick, with white terra-cotta ornament with Arabic and Moorish style flourishes and themes. The interior features a large auditorium which seats 2300 people, and downstairs, a banquet hall that seated 1200 people. There was also a ballroom on the top floor, and the second floor had lodge rooms and smaller meeting rooms, rest rooms, etc. It opened in a grand flourish in February of 1910.

The Kismet Temple flourished for many years. The Brooklyn Public Library has a wonderful piece of ephemera from one of their events in 1928, which lists the members and their functions and titles, which includes “Alchemists, Imperial Bench Warmers, Camel Milkers, Purveyors of Sneer Zem Zem, Keepers of the Seraglio and Feedologists.” They loved wearing the silly hats and costumes, and apparently had a lot of fun. Shriners are also well known for their charity work, and this temple contributed to many worthy Brooklyn charitable causes, especially those involving children.

The Temple was also a grand meeting hall for other events besides those belonging to the Shriners. It became a place for political rallies and fund raising events. Many local and national political debates and rallies took place here, and the building has hosted senators, congressmen and even presidents. But by 1932, the building had become a movie theater. It remained as such until the 1960’s, when Friendship Baptist Church bought it in 1966. They still own it, and the church thrives, making them the longest owner of this wonderful building, with its Eastern minarets still rising above Bedford Stuyvesant. When the call to prayer from a real mosque nearby wafts over Herkimer Street, you can almost imagine you are in the “Mystic East”. The Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine might have liked that. GMAP