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In November 1995, the Masonic forum met and discussed the current trend for traditional "Symbolic Regular" Grand Lodge Bodies to recognize and extend visitation rights to various Prince Hall organizations across the country. In order to faciliate discussion, the following background information is provided for Masons of all experiences to ponder.
Recognition Issues for the 1990's-A Follow-up Report
In November of 1995, The Masonic Forum on AOL conducted a chat-session regarding this controversial issue. A previous article accompanied the meeting notice and can be readily accessed at our WEBSITE at http://members.aol.col/ForumLead/index.html.
Since that time, many "regular" Grand Lodge bodies have considerred legislation to "recognize" Prince Hall organizations. Prince hall recognition has been extended in many US jurisdictions in different forms, including the Grand Lodge jurisdictions of California, Hawaii and Colorado. As this subject will again be up for discussion at Grand Lodge sessions, many of the members may find a use for the facts listed below. Please, let me know how you feel on the subject by joining our meeting or sending me e-mail at ForumLead@aol.com.
Below is a brief history of Prince Hall that should clarify some misconceptions and provide a good basis for study. It is brought to us courtesy the internet, and you can discover more about the organization by visiting :
Prince Hall Masonry-More Info Prince Hall is recognized as the Father of Black Masonry in the United States.
Many rumors of the birth of Prince Hall have arisen. Few records and papers have been found of him either in Barbados where it was rumored that he was born, but no record of birth, by church or state, has been found there, and none in Boston. All 11 countries were searched and churches with baptismal records were examined without a find of the name of Prince Hall.
One widely circulated rumor states that "Prince Hall was free born in British West Indies. His father, Thomas Prince Hall, was an Englisman and his mother a free colored woman of French extraction. In 1765 he worked his passage on a ship to Boston, where he worked as a leather worker, a trade learned from his father. Eight years later he had acquired real estate and was qualified to vote. Religiously inclined, he later became a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church with a charge in Cambridge." This account, paraphased from the generally discredited Grimshaw book of 1903, is suspect in many areas.
Black Freemasonry began when Prince Hall and fourteen other free black men were initiated into Lodge No. 441, Irish
Constitution, attached to the 38th Regiment of Foot, British Army Garrisoned at Castle Williams (now Fort Independence) Boston Harbor on March 1775. The Master of them Lodge was Sergeant John Batt.
Along with Prince Hall, the other newly made masons were Cyrus Johnson, Bueston Slinger, Prince Rees, John Canton, Peter Freeman, Benjamin Tiler, Duff Ruform, Thomas Santerson, Prince Rayden, Cato Speain, Boston Smith, Peter Best, Forten Howard and Richard Titley.
When the British Army left Boston, this Lodge, No 441, granted Prince Hall and his brethren authority to meet as a lodge, to go in procession on St. John's Day, and as a Lodge to bury their dead; but they could not confer degrees nor perform any other Masonic "work".
For nine years these brethren, together with others who had received their degrees elsewhere, assembled and enjoyed their limited privileges as Masons.
Finally in March 1784, Prince Hall petitioned the Grand Lodge of England, through a Worshipful Master of a subordinate Lodge in London (William Moody of Brotherly Love Lodge No. 55) for a warrant or charter.
The Warrant to African Lodge No. 1 of Boston is the most significant and highly prized document known to the Prince Hall
Mason Fraternity. Through it our legitimacy is traced, and on it more than any other factor, our case rests. It was granted on September 29, 1784, delivered in Boston on April 29, 1787 by Captain James Scott, brother-in-law of John Hancock and master of the Neptune, under its authority African Lodge No. 1 was organized one week later, May 6, 1787.
The question of extending Masonry arose when Absalom Jones of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania appeared in 1791 in Boston. He was an ordained Episcopal priest rested in establishing a Masonic lodge in Philadelphia.
Delegations also travelled from Providence, Rhode Island and New York to establish the African Grand Lodge that year. Prince Hall was appointed Grand Master, serving in this capacity until his death in 1807.
Upon his death, Nero Prince became Grand Master. When Nero Prince sailed to Russia in 1808, George Middleton succeeded him. After Middleton, Petrert Lew, Samuel H. Moody and then, John T. Hilton became Grand Master. In 1827, Hilton recommended a Declaration of Independence from the English Grand Lodge. In 1869 a fire destroyed Massachusetts' Grand Lodge headquarters and a number of its priceless records. The charter in its metal tube was in the Grand Lodge chest. The tube saved the charter from the flames, but the intense heat charred the paper.
It was at this time that Grand Master S.T. Kendall crawled into the burning building and in peril of his life, saved the charter from complete destruction. Thus a Grand Master's devotion and heroism further consecrated this parchment to us, and added a further detail to its already interesting history.
The original Charter No. 459 has long since been made secure between heavy plate glass and is kept in a fire-proof vault in a downtown Boston bank.
Today, the Prince Hall fraternity has over 4,500 lodges worldwide, forming 45 independent jurisdictions with a membership of over 300,000 masons.
Many noteworthy individuals have also been Prince Hall Masons. They include:
Robert Sengstacke Abbott, founder/publisher CHICAGO DEFENDERRichard Allen, founder/first bishop AME ChurchJames Herbert "Eubie" Blake, composer/pianistWilliam "Count" Basie, orchestra leader/composerThomas Bradley, mayor of Los Angeles, CaliforniaNathaniel "Nat King" Cole, singerW.E.B. DuBois, educator/author/historianEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington, orchestra leader/composerMedger Wiley Evers, civil rights leaderJames Forten, abolitionist/manufacturerTimothy Thomas Fortune, journalistRichard D. Gidron, president, Dick Gidron CadillacAlex Haley, authorWilliam C. Handy, composerAugustus F. Hawkins. U.S. Congressman CaliforniaLionel Hampton, orchestra leader/composerMatthew Henson, explorerBenjamin L. Hooks, Former Executive Director NAACPDaniel "Chappie" James, general U.S. Air ForceJohn H. Johnson, publisher EBONY and Jet magazinesThurgood Marshall, Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme CourtBenjamin Mays, educator/former president Atlanta UniversityRalph H. Metcalfe, Olympic championA. Phillip Randolph, founder/ first president, Internat.
Brotherhood Sleeping Car Porters Charles B. Rangel, U.S. Congressman New YorkSugar Ray Robinson, mid/light heavy boxing championCarl B. Stokes, first Black elected mayor, Cleveland, OHLouis Stokes, U.S. Congressman OhioBooker T. Washington, educator/founder Tuskegee InstituteEgbert Austin "Bert" Williams, actor/ comedianHarry A. Williamson, author/Masonic historianAndrew Young, former mayor of Atlanta
This, of course, is by no means an exhaustive list. Around the United States are many prince Hall grand Lodge Organizations. For further information, please contact them at any of the addresses below:
MOST WORSHIPFUL PRINCE HALL GRAND LODGES
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge F&AM of Alabama
1630 4th Avenue North
Birmingham, AL
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Alaska
P.O. box 736
Anchorage, Alaska 99510
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Arizona and Jurisdiction
2032 Calle Campana De Plata
Tucson, Arizona 85705
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Arkansas
4th And State Street
Pine Bluff, Arkansas 71601
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the CommonWealth of the
Bahama Islands and Jurisdiction
P.O. Box F-3121
Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of California & Hawaii, Inc.
3132 Martin Luther King Way
Berkley, CA 94703
(510) 845-6977
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Colorado & Jurisdiction
1244 Euclid Avenue
Pueblo, Colorado 81004
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Connecticut
106 Goffe Street
New haven, Connecticut 06511
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge F&AM of Deleware
633 South Heald Street
Wilmington, Deleware 19801
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge F&AM, District of Columbia
1000 U Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20001
MW Union Grand Lodge Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity F&AM,
PHA, Florida & Belize, Central America Jurisdiction, INC.
410 Broad Street
Jacksonville, Florida 32202
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Georgia
330 Auburn AVE NE
Atlanta, GA 30335
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Illinois and Jurisdiction
809 East 42nd Place
Chicago, IL 60653
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana
653 Northwest Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46202
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Iowa and Jurisdiction
1340 Idaho Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50306
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Kansas and Jurisdiction
P.O. Box 1117
Kansas City, Kansas 66117
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Kentucky
215 East Walnut Street
Midway, Kentucky 40347
Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient Free & Accepted Masons
Republic of Liberia
West Benson Street
Po Box 10-0727
Monrovia, Liberia
West Africa
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Louisiana and Jurisdiction
1335-37 North Boulevard
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70821
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Maryland and Jurisdiction
1307 Eutaw Place
Baltimore, Maryland 21217
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts
24 Washington St.
P.O. Box 173
Dorchester, MA 02121
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Michigan
3200 McDougal Street
Detroit Michigan
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Minnesota and Jurisdiction
3832 4th Avenue, South
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55409
Most Worshipful Stringer Grand Lodge (PHA)
1072 John R. Lynch Street
Jackson, Mississippi 39203
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Missouri and Jurisdiction
4525 Olive Street
St. Louis, Missouri 63108
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Nebraska and Jurisdiction
2414 Ames Avenue
Omaha, Nebraska 68111
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Nevada
P.O. Box 44227
Las Vegas, NV 89116
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge F&AM State of New Jersey
188-190 Irvine Turner Boulevard
Newark, NJ 07108
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of New Mexico
P.O. Box 5358
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of New York
454 West 155th Street
New York, NY 10032
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of North Carolina
1405 East Washington Street
Greensboro, North carolina 27420
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Ohio F&AM
50 Hamilton Park
Columbus, Ohio 43203
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Oklahoma
5048 North Peoria Street
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74126
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Ontario & Jurisdiction
7141 Lancaster Avenue
Mississauga, Ontario L4T 2PZ
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Oregon
116-20 North East Russell Street
Portland, Oregon 97212
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania
Grand East Temple
4301 N. Broad St.
Philadelphia, PA 19140
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the State of Rhode Island
883 Eddy Street
Providence, Rhode Island 02905
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of South Carolina
2324 Gervais Street
Columbia, South Carolina 29204
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge F&AM of Tennessee
253 South Parkway West
Memphis, Tennessee 38109
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas and Jurisdiction
2851 Evans Street
Fort Worth, Texas 76101
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Virginia
1800 Monsview Place
Lynchburg, Virginia 24504
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Washington
306 24th Ave. South
Seattle, WA 98144
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of West Virginia
513 Elm Street
Institute, West Virginia 25112
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Wisconsin
600 West Walnut Street, Suite 30
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53209
I hope that you have found this information useful.
Sincerely,
Torence Evans Ake
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