Many upper class and influential Americo-Liberians belonged to the Masonic Order of Liberia which was established in 1867 and based in the Grand Masonic Temple in Monrovia. Being a Mason was a veritable prerequisite for positions of political leadership in the True Whig Party. Following the 1980 Liberian coup, Samuel Doe outlawed Freemasonry before lifting the ban in 1987. The Masonic Temple was damaged during the First Liberian Civil War and remained unoccupied before being restored.