Prince Hall
1738 – 1807 American Abolitionist, founder of Black Freemasonry
Founder of the African American masonic tradition.
- Religion
- Methodist
- Affiliations
- Founder of Prince Hall Freemasonry, initiated in 1775.
Prince Hall was among fifteen free Black men initiated in a British army lodge in Boston in 1775. He led African Lodge, which won a charter from England in 1784 and became the root of Prince Hall Freemasonry. His birthplace is uncertain, with Boston and the Caribbean both suggested.
In the timeline
- 1775 Prince Hall initiated into Freemasonry central figure
- 1775 Prince Hall and the first Black Masonic lodge central figure
- 1775 Prince Hall and companions initiated into Freemasonry central figure
- 1775 Founding of African Lodge No. 1 mentioned
- 1784 Charter of African Lodge No. 459 mentioned
- 1784 Prince Hall and African Lodge founded central figure
- 1784 African Lodge receives an official warrant mentioned
- 1784 African Lodge chartered by Grand Lodge of England mentioned
- 1784 Prince Hall and the African Lodge charter central figure
- 1791 Prince Hall becomes Provincial Grand Master central figure
- 1808 Prince Hall Freemasonry grows and seeks recognition central figure
- 1808 Prince Hall Grand Lodge formally organized central figure
- 1898 Black Americans build their own fraternal orders mentioned
- 1940 Kwame Nkrumah is initiated into Prince Hall Freemasonry central figure
- 1977 Prince Hall Freemasons initiated at De Goede Hoop Temple central figure
- 1989 First mainstream recognition of Prince Hall Freemasonry central figure
- 1990 Nebraska, Washington, and Wisconsin recognize Prince Hall lodges central figure
- 1995 California Grand Lodges exchange recognition mentioned
- 1997 Grand Lodge of Utah recognizes Prince Hall Grand Lodge central figure
- 2013 The claim that Nelson Mandela was a Freemason circulates and is denied mentioned
- 2018 Florida Grand Lodge votes to recognize Prince Hall counterpart central figure