PRINCE HALL MASONS

Photo courtesy: National Museum of African American History and Culture

PRINCE HALL MASONS. Prince Hall, an artisan and abolitionist in Boston, is believed to have been born in 1735. A successful leather merchant, he owned property in Boston and was therefore on the city’s voting roll. He advocated for the Black community and was a vocal supporter of the abolition of slavery. Hall died in 1807 and is buried in Boston's historic Copp’s Hill Cemetery.

In 1775, Hall and other free Blacks tried unsuccessfully to join the city’s all-white Masonic lodge. They were, however, initiated into Lodge 441, which was attached to a British army regiment. In 1776 when the British retreated from Boston, Hall’s group received a permit to assemble as African Lodge No. 1. In 1784, the Grand Lodge of England officially chartered the group as African Lodge No. 459.

More than 4,500 lodges worldwide are descended from this original organization, now known as the Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. (1) Members of the organization have included United States Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and Booker T. Washington.

In Dubuque the Prince Hall Masons Lodge No. 29 met in a home on University Avenue. (2)

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Source:

1. "Prince Hall Masons," National Museum of African American History and Culture, Online: https://www.searchablemuseum.com/prince-hall-masons/

2. Nieland, Grace, "Arts Events to Spotlight Local Black History," Telegraph Herald, Jan. 31, 2024, p. 1A