| East Gate Chapter No. 94 O.E.S., P.H.A. |
Prince Hall was the founder of the oldest fraternal organization among African-Americans. Today's Prince
Hall Masonic order goes back to the seedtime of the Republic of the United States. 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 African-American woman. At the age of twelve, he was apprenticed to a leather
merchant. After a few years, Hall gave up his apprenticeship and, after working a variety of jobs settled in
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 a small
African-American community 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. This petition was approved by George Washington himself.
On March 6, 1775, at Hall's initiative, he and fourteen other African-Americans were inducted into a
British Chartered Lodge of Freemasons 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, African-American masons decided to change the name of their
organization from the African Grand Lodge to the Prince Hall Grand Lodge.
Hall's interests were not restricted to Lodge activities. He took a deep interest in the general status of
African-Americans 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
African-American children in 1797.
Source: Harold van Voorhis, Negro Masonry in the United States (New York, 1940), pp. 7-13; and Harry E.
Davis, "Documents Relating to Negro Masonry in America," JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY, XXI
(October 1936), pp. 411-432.and http://bessel.org/masrec/pha.htm
Hall Masonic order goes back to the seedtime of the Republic of the United States. 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 African-American woman. At the age of twelve, he was apprenticed to a leather
merchant. After a few years, Hall gave up his apprenticeship and, after working a variety of jobs settled in
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 a small
African-American community 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. This petition was approved by George Washington himself.
On March 6, 1775, at Hall's initiative, he and fourteen other African-Americans were inducted into a
British Chartered Lodge of Freemasons 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, African-American masons decided to change the name of their
organization from the African Grand Lodge to the Prince Hall Grand Lodge.
Hall's interests were not restricted to Lodge activities. He took a deep interest in the general status of
African-Americans 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
African-American children in 1797.
Source: Harold van Voorhis, Negro Masonry in the United States (New York, 1940), pp. 7-13; and Harry E.
Davis, "Documents Relating to Negro Masonry in America," JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY, XXI
(October 1936), pp. 411-432.and http://bessel.org/masrec/pha.htm
The Father of African American Freemasonry
and its Jurisdictions
and its Jurisdictions
