Prince Hall Masonry
Main article: Prince Hall Freemasonry
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Hall_Freemasonry>
In 1775 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1775> , an African American named
Prince Hall <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Hall> was initiated into
an Irish Constitution Military Lodge, along with fourteen other African
Americans, all of whom were free by birth. When the Military Lodge left the
area, the African Americans were given the authority to meet as a Lodge,
form Processions on the days of the Saints John, and conduct Masonic
funerals, but not to confer degrees nor to do other Masonic Work. These
individuals applied for, and obtained, a Warrant for Charter from the Grand
Lodge of England in 1784 and formed African Lodge #459. Despite being
stricken from the rolls (like all American Grand Lodges after the 1813 >
merger of the Antients and the Moderns) the Lodge restyled itself as the
African Lodge #1 (not to be confused with the various Grand Lodges on the
Continent of Africa ), and separated itself from UGLE-recognised Masonry.
This led to a tradition of separate, predominantly African American
jurisdictions in North America, known collectively as Prince Hall
Freemasonry. Widespread racism and segregation in North America made it
impossible for African Americans to join many so-called "mainstream" Lodges,
and many mainstream Grand Lodges in North America refused to recognize as
legitimate the Prince Hall Lodges and Prince Hall Masons in their territory.
Presently, Prince Hall Masonry is recognized by some UGLE-recognized Grand
Lodges and not by others, and appears to be working its way toward full
recognition (see [1] <http://www.mindspring.com/~johnsonx/whoisph.htm> ). It
is also no longer unusual for traditional lodges to have significant numbers
of African-American members.
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