Black Masons on record from 1775: Prince Hall and African Lodge No. 459
Record: the document says itLens: our readingOpen: not yet proven
Year: 1775 · Places: Northeast, Europe, Africa
SUMMARYBlack Masons on record from 1775: Prince Hall and African Lodge No. 459 (Nov 8, 2026)
RECORD (Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, "African Lodge #459")on March 6, 1775, Prince Hall and 14 other men of color were "made masons in Lodge #441 of the Irish Registry attached to the 38th British Foot Infantry," at Castle William in Boston Harbor; when the regiment left, its master gave them a "permit" to meet and bury their dead but not to do "masonic work"; African Lodge was organized July 3, 1776, with Prince Hall as Worshipful Master; they petitioned the Grand Lodge of England on March 2, 1784, and received a charter on September 29, 1784, creating African Lodge #459
OPENwhether white Boston lodges refused them (this source doesn't say; don't claim it until a record does); the 1784 charter image
LENS (WW9)Black Masonry is as old as the Republic, which puts "Indian and Negro" figures inside the Lodge's own story from the start. Connects: P856, P857.