Founded by twelve African Americans in 1893, the 100 Men Debating Benevolent Association (D.B.A.) worked to “assist its members when sick, bury its dead in a respectable manner, and knit friendship.” The organization held dances to raise money and, in 1923, dedicated this social pavilion, which originally was open-air and possibly screened, but by the 1940s was enclosed with walls. The one-story building resembles a large bungalow, with a gable-on-hip roof and deep eaves. New Orleans jazz and blues artists played here, and the building was a regular stop on the “Chitlin Circuit” of black music venues. After desegregation, audiences diminished, and the Disabled American Veterans used it as a bingo hall from the mid-1970s through 2004. Hurricane Katrina damaged it, but new owners repaired it to serve again as a music hall, with the help of grants from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.