The Father of Black Freemasonry - Prince Hall
Prince Hall was a Black Patriot who supported the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War but focused most of his life toward the abolition of slavery.
Hall is best known for creating African Lodge #1, the first Masonic Temple dedicated to providing black men the opportunity to become Freemasons.
Published 1/7/20 - Updated 10/10/21
Prince Hall
Prince Hall was a Revolutionary in Boston, Massachusetts during the prelude to the American War for Independence.
Hall’s revolution was a different one than that which he was surrounded by.
While most Patriots were clamoring for liberty from oppression from Britain, Prince was hoping for liberty from actual slavery.
Prince Hall was a free Black man and his revolution was based in manumission. He was one of the first true abolitionists in North America.
African Lodge #1
During the early 1770’s, Prince Hall attempted to join one of Boston’s Masonic Lodges.
This was denied, so he attempted to found his own Lodge.
Although the colonists were not much help, Hall was able to create a Lodge with the help of several Irish masons who were serving in the British Army while it was occupying Boston.
Prince was given the title of Grand Master for an organization which was styled African Lodge #1.
This institution has since grown to include dozens of Lodges and hundreds of thousands of people. It is currently both the oldest and largest fraternal organization for African Americans in the United States but has since changed its name…it now goes under the banner of Prince Hall Freemasonry.
Patriot
The granting of Hall’s title happened just a month before the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
Though he clearly had a working relationship with the Army in Boston, it seems that Hall quickly sided with the Patriots. He suggested to his fellow masons (and black residents of Boston) that they fight with the Americans in the hopes that it would lead to greater equality in the future.
He may even have served himself, though there are a half dozen men from Massachusetts who went by the name ‘Prince Hall’ in the records which muddles confirmation of that fact considerably.
The Back to Africa Movement
Prince Hall was a proponent of an idea that would later become known as the Back to Africa Movement.
He believed, for several reasons, that giving freed slaves the opportunity to return to Africa would be in their best interest.
Unfortunately, this plan seemed to be incorrect. Hall did not have support in his day and later, when the American Colonization Society began operating under President Monroe, there was not a desire among former slaves to go to a land to which many of them had never been.
Furthermore, those who did relocate met extremely hard times in Liberia.
Legacy
The most fascinating thing about Prince Hall is that, almost 200 years later, two separate divisions within the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 60’s could claim him as their inspiration.
The Back to Africa movement came back into vogue in many circles, inspired in part by Hall’s work.
Conversely, the Civil Rights leaders who wanted to work within the system to make corrections can look back to Hall’s development of the Masonic Lodge as an attempt to prove the capabilities of Black people by gaining access to the same institutions as their white counterparts.
In the end, all Black people, indeed all Americans, can remember Prince Hall as an American Founder who pushed the idea of liberty to all corners of society at a time of revolutionary change.
Want to learn about other BLACK PATRIOTS?
OK, here you go:
Salem Poor Rejoins a Desegregated Continental Army
James Armistead is Not Another Face in the Crowd
Prince Whipple Plants a Liberty Tree
Prince Hall Freemasonry has, unfortunately, fallen victim to many rumors and inaccuracies over the last two centuries.
‘Inside Prince Hall’ attempts to correct many general mistakes about this organization, as well as giving insight into the life of its Founder.
If you’d like a copy you can get one through the Amazon affiliate link below (you’ll support this site, but don’t worry, Amazon pays me while your price stays the same).
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