African Lodge No. 459 Explained

African Lodge, No. 459 was the founding lodge of Prince Hall Freemasonry. It is the lodge from which all modern Prince Hall Lodges trace their descent.

History

Prior to the American Revolutionary War, Prince Hall and fourteen other free black men petitioned for admittance to the (at that time all white) Boston St. John’s Lodge. They were turned down.^{[1] [2] [3]} Having been rejected by colonial Freemasonry, they petitioned to join a Masonic lodge attached to the 38th British Foot Infantry (then meeting at Castle William Island in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts) which operated under a charter from the Grand Lodge of Ireland.^{[4] [5]}

They were accepted, becoming the first black men to be initiated into a Masonic Lodge in America.^[4] The regiment left Boston shortly after the start of the American Revolution, taking its lodge with it. Prince Hall and his associates received a "permit" from the Grand Lodge of Ireland to meet for the purpose of Masonic funeral services and processions. Under this permit, African Lodge was organized on July 3, 1776. Prince Hall was elected Worshipful Master. This permit, however, was limited. It did not allow them to do any "masonic work" or to take in any new members.^[6]

Hall then applied to the Grand Lodge of England for a more complete warrant (or charter). This request was granted on September 29, 1784, when H. R. H. The Duke of Cumberland, the Grand Master of the Premier Grand Lodge of England, issued a charter for "The African Lodge No. 1" (later renamed African Lodge No. 459.^[7]

From Lodge to Grand Lodge

With a charter, African Lodge #459 could initiate more men from the free black community in Boston. In 1797 Prince Hall organized subsidiary lodges in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Providence, Rhode Island. These operated under the charter of African Lodge (and initially were also given the name "African Lodge" and the number 459. The Lodge in Providence soon changed its name to Hiram Lodge #3). In December 1808, these three lodges met and formed the African Grand Lodge (sometime referred to as African Grand Lodge #1) and elected Prince Hall as Grand Master. In 1847, the African Grand Lodge changed its name to the Prince Hall Grand Lodge, in honor of their founding Grand Master. Other Prince Hall Grand Lodges were formed in other states, and today there are 47 Prince Hall Grand Lodges who trace their lineage to the original African Lodge.^{[8] [9]}

Notes and References

1. Book: What a Mighty Power We Can be: African American Fraternal Groups and the Struggle for Racial Equality. 25 April 2013. 2006. Princeton University Press. 978-0-691-12299-1. 233.
2. Maurice Wallace, “Are We Men?: Prince Hall, Martin Delany, and the Masculine Ideal in Black Freemasonry,” American Literary History, Vol. 9, No. 3.
3. Web site: Prince Hall. freemasonry.bcy.ca.
4. Book: James Sidbury Professor of History University of Texas at Austin. Becoming African in America : Race and Nation in the Early Black Atlantic: Race and Nation in the Early Black Atlantic. 25 April 2013. 29 August 2007. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-804322-5. 78, 119.
5. http://www.princehall.org/history.html princehall.org A Brief History of Prince Hall Freemasonry in Massachusetts
6. http://www.princehall.org/459/main.html History of African Lodge No. 459, Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts website
7. Sidney Kaplan and Emma Nogrady Kaplan, The Black Presence in the Era of the American Revolution (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1989;), p. 203.
8. Web site: Masonic Papers . W.Bro. Tony . Pope . PS Review of Freemasonry . 26 March 2004 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231111030030/http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/pope_PHrevisited_1.html . Nov 11, 2023 .
9. Web site: Most Worshipful African Lodges 459 . Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170218174120/http://www.princehall.org/459/main.html . 2017-02-18.