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Prince Hall Masons of Louisiana founded in N.O. in 1849 [1]

['Tammy C. Barney', 'More Tammy C. Barney', 'Verite News']

Date: 2024-02-23  

Illustration from a Prince Hall Masonic convention in 1920. Credit: Knights Templar (Masonic order). International Conference (7th : 1920 : Cincinnati, Ohio), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Masons, also known as freemasons, are the oldest fraternal organization in the world. Some scholars say Masonry came from the guilds of stonemasons who built the castles and cathedrals of the middle ages. Others say its heritage comes from the Knights Templar.

In any case, Black men could not join the organizations.

In 1784, Black abolitionist Prince Hall successfully petitioned the Premier Grand Lodge of England to establish the Africa Lodge #459 in Boston. The Prince Hall order is the oldest Black fraternal organization in America, and currently the largest with 300,000 members.

The Prince Hall Masons of Louisiana were founded in New Orleans in 1849 after members of St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church petitioned to organize Richmond Lodge No. 4, according to the Amistad Research Center. By 1863, the organization had established two more lodges, Stringer No. 11 and Parsons No. 18, which created the Eureka Grand Lodge.

“Eureka was used to differentiate between the White and Colored Lodges of Symbolic Masons in Louisiana,” the Grand Lodge’s website says. “In order that our Grand Lodge may properly honor the memory of the founder of Masonry among Negroes in America, and also that there may be no doubt as to who the legitimate descendants of Prince Hall Masonry in Louisiana are, our act of incorporation was amended in 1944 causing our title to be ‘Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons of Louisiana.’ ”

John Parsons, a Black politician in New Orleans, was the first grand master. In 1917, the organization moved its headquarters to Baton Rouge. According to the Amistad Research Center, the Grand Lodge focused on education, youth and social justice. It financially supported the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the National Urban League, conducted voter registration drives, and created Camp Chicota for underprivileged children.

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