SUMMARYThe holdouts: Southern grand lodges' recognition of Prince Hall, state by state, to 2026 (US South, 2017–2026) [Connections: Masonic color line, asylums, castles, wight, Nov 5, 2026]
RECORDThe dates below come from news reports on Masonic blogs. They are not Grand Lodge proceedings. - Alabama: 14 November 2017 (Wikipedia). - Florida: May 2019, a treaty with four terms, including "there shall be no transferring of membership from one Grand Jurisdiction to the other." The same post listed seven holdouts: Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and West Virginia. - Tennessee: March 2021, "joint recognition... but without immediate visitation." Six holdouts remained: Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and West Virginia. - Georgia: 26 October 2021. Per the report, the terms bar visits between subordinate lodges and freeze amendments for ten years. - Arkansas: 5 February 2026, vote "79% Yay / 21% Nay." - Mississippi: 25 February 2026, rejected, "200 in favor, 617 against." After the Mississippi vote, the same source says the grand lodges of Mississippi and South Carolina are "the last two U.S. Masonic jurisdictions that have not voted in favor of some form of Prince Hall recognition." Louisiana and West Virginia recognized an out-of-state Prince Hall grand lodge, not their own state's. Wikipedia (2026) gives "47 out of the 51 mainstream U.S. Grand Lodges" and names Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina and West Virginia
PATTERNEven the treaties that were signed often bar transfers or lodge visits, so the two systems stay separate after recognition
LENS (WW9)The color line in the lodge room is not a 19th-century relic. Two state grand lodges were still holding it in 2026
OPENConfirm each date in that Grand Lodge's printed Proceedings. Check the Louisiana and West Virginia arrangements, which the sources describe differently (West Virginia with the Prince Hall grand lodge of Kentucky in one report, of Tennessee in another)
SOURCEFreemasons for Dummies: Mississippi rejects (25 Feb 2026); Arkansas recognizes (5 Feb 2026); Georgia (26 Oct 2021); Tennessee (24 Mar 2021); Florida (11 May 2019); Wikipedia: Prince Hall Freemasonry.