MYTH: Prince Hall was born in Bridgetown, Barbados, B.W.I. His father Thomas Prince Hall, was an English leather worker, and his mother, a free colored woman of French extraction.
FACT: To date there has never been any proof of the birth place, or who the parents of Prince Hall where. To date there has only been speculation.
MYTH: The Initiation of Prince Hall and fourteen other men of color was illegal.
FACT: What constituted a legal Mason prior to the formation of the Grand Lodge system in USA? There were none before 1778 when the Grand Lodge of Virginia was instituted. Before then there were Provincial Grand Lodges–several of them. In Massachusetts there were two such bodies. One held allegiance to the “Modern” Grand Lodge of England; the other, the Grand Lodge of Scotland. Studying the works of Henry Wilson Coil, Melvin Maynard Johnson, J. Hugo Tatsch, Harry Carr and many others we find there were hundreds of “illegal” Masons in the early days of Freemasonry in America. For example, where were the members of the lodge that met in Philadelphia in 1731 (and perhaps earlier) made Masons? Was Benjamin Franklin, who was made a Mason in this lodge, illegal? No of course not.
MYTH: African Lodge was illegally formed.
FACT: Freemason’s proudly proclaim the supremacy of the Grand Lodge of England. It was the Grand Lodge of England that granted a warrant on September 29, 1784 for African Lodge No. 459, and this warrant is still in existence.
MYTH: African Lodge had no right to warrant other lodges and form a Grand Lodge.
FACT: Let us look at the Lodge at Fredericksburgh VA. It warranted two lodges: Falmouth and Botetourt. Those Lodges helped form the Grand Lodge of Virginia, and both are still in existence. What did the only lodge in Massachusetts do after 1733? Did it not form a Provincial Grand Lodge and then warrant other lodges, and not only in Massachusetts? Why should African Lodge be refused the same privilege?
MYTH: African Lodge’s Warrant did not give them the right to Make Masons.
FACT: Africa Lodge No. 459′s Warrant was no different from any other Warrant issued by the Grand Lodge of England.
A cope of the original Charter be found here:
http://www.masonsoftexas.com/showthread.php?17692-The-Original-Prince-Hall-Charter&p=93926#post93926
MYTH: African Lodge was erased by the United Grand Lodge of England.
FACT: So was every lodge in America still on the roles of either of the rival Grand Lodges. This included about half of the lodges in Massachusetts! Has any critic dared claim all other American lodges erased from the roster of the United Grand Lodge of England are clandestine?
MYTH: African Lodge was dormant for a number of years and therefore is illegal.
FACT: So were numerous other lodges. Research the anti-Masonic craze beginning in 1826. Check out the vast number of lodges giving up their charters. Hundreds of them came back into the fold with no condemnation. Why should they be privileged and African Lodge not?
MYTH: Prince Hall Grand Lodges only accept men of color, and “Mainstream” Grand Lodges only accept Caucasian men.
I. John Pine, a black Freemason, who in 1769 designed the frontispiece for Anderson’s Constitutions.
II. Canadian Grand Master by the name of Charles Lightfoot Roman, Grand Lodge of Quebec, was a black Freemason.
III. The proceedings of The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of New York, 1871 provide us a record of a Lodge of German Jews working under the authority of this Prince Hall Grand Lodge.
IV. Alpha Lodge No. 116, F. & A. M. Grand Lodge of New Jersey [Mainstream] is comprised of Black Masons.
V. The United Grand Lodge of England, The Grand Lodge of Scotland, and The Grand Lodge of Ireland have had Provincial Grand Lodges through out the world, and their membership is not restricted by color.
MYTH: Prince Hall Grand Lodges only accept men who are Christians.
FACT: This is a question of Regularity. Since it has already been determined that Prince Hall Lodges are Regular, for us to practice or teach this would be against the Ancient Landmarks of our order. In 1787, Prince Hall forwarded a copy of “The General Regulations of the African Lodge to D.G.M. Roland Holt in London, with the very first item declaring, “. yet at the same time allow every man to join his own religion so that they be men of Honour and Freeborn.”
MYTH: Prince Hall Grand Lodges have chartered Lodges in other Grand Lodges’ Jurisdictions.
FACT: Prince Hall Grand Lodges have chartered military Lodges in Germany, Italy, Turkey, and Korea to name a few. The traditional act of chartering a Lodge to service members traveling abroad is well recorded in Masonic history. This has been a practice in Freemasonry since the very beginning of the rebirth in 1717. United Grand Lodge of England, The Grand Lodge of Scotland, The Grand Lodge of Ireland, and many other “mainstream” Grand Lodges have Charted Lodges though out the world in other Grand Lodges’ Jurisdictions.
MYTH: The Prince Hall Conference of Grand Masters has never or only recently embraced its Caucasian counterparts.
FACT: Even before recognitions, Prince Hall Grand Masters have met, worked with, and received their Caucasian counterparts in informal as well as formal and public Masonic events. There is documentation going back to 1970 stating the Prince Hall Conference of Grand Masters received such prominent members as the Grand Master of Mass. AF&AM, and the Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council, N.J. at it’s meeting.
Source: Bro. Frederic L. Milliken (Masons of Texas member Squire Bentley)
Compiled By: Aubrey Brown, MPS, Kevin Gembarosky MPS, David Gray, MPS, Nelson King, FPS.
More Info: http://www.freemasoninformation.com/2009/11/prince-hall-myths-legends-and-facts/
