In this historic African American community, daily life was woven together through hundreds of social and civic organizations, including fraternal organizations, clubs, school alumni associations, and civic associations. The grand five-story Italianate building at the southwest corner of 12th and U Streets, known as the True Reformers Hall and later the Pythian Temple, served as the setting for many of their activities. Completed in 1903, it was among the grandest buildings in the nation designed, built, and financed by African Americans. The Order of True Reformers, based in Richmond, Virginia, provided insurance and other benefits for its members and built the structure at a cost of $100,000 to symbolize the achievements of African Americans in a prominent place in the nation's capital. It was designed by John A. Lankford, the city's first registered African American architect, who later gained national prominence as the architect for African Methodist Episcopal churches across the country. In 1906, Lankford said that, being in Washington, it stood out to the civilized world as an example of what the Negro could do and had done with brain, skill, and money. Duke Ellington played one of his first paid performances with his own band there. Its lofty second-floor auditorium hosted debutante balls, sorority and fraternity dances, and, from 1938, basketball and other activities of the Police Boys Club No. 2. The First Separate Battalion, an African American reserve unit that served with distinction in World War I, drilled on the ground floor. Today it is home to the Public Welfare Foundation, which shares the original mission of the True Reformers in dedicating itself to the well-being of people and communities in need.