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PRINCE HALL MASONRY

 

Prince Hall (1735 - 1807) Fraternal Leader 
 

Prince Hall was the founder of the oldest social organization among Negroes in America. Today's Prince Hall Masonic Order goes back to the seedtime of the Republic. While almost all Negroes are acquainted with the Prince Hall Masons and their social and charitable activities, very little is known about Prince Hall. 


Prince Hall, the founder of the first Masonic Lodge came from Barbados, British West Indies. Born in 1735, he was the son of an English father and a free Negro woman. At the age of 12, he was apprenticed to a leather merchant. After a few years, Hall gave up his apprenticeship and after working at a variety of jobs, finally came to Boston, Massachusetts in 1765. Working in and around Boston, he saved enough money to buy property and to become a voter. During his spare time he educated himself. 


In 1774, Prince Hall joined the Methodist church and eventually became a minister and the leader of the small Negro community then in Boston. When the American Revolution reached the shooting stage, he petitioned John Hancock of the Committee of Safety for the colonies to allow him to join the Continental Army. George Washington himself approved this petition.

 

On March 6, 1775, Prince Hall and fourteen other Negroes were inducted into a British chartered Lodge of Free masons at Boston Harbor. After the Revolutionary War in 1787, Prince Hall and his fellow Masons were chartered as African Lodge No. 459. Four years later, an African Grand Lodge was formed and Prince Hall was elected Master. In 1797, Hall organized African Lodges in Philadelphia and Rhode Island. After Hall's death in 1807, Negro Masons decided to change the name of their organization from the African Grand Lodge to the Prince Hall Grand Lodge. 


Prince Hall's interests were not restricted to lodge activities. He took a deep interest in the general status of Negroes in Boston and elsewhere. As early as 1776 he urged the Massachusetts legislature to support the cause of emancipation. He successfully prodded the city of Boston to provide schools for free Negro children in 1797. The hundreds of Lodges throughout the country may be seen as a monument to Prince Hall who adopted America as his home.

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