Published Monthly by The
Phylaxis Society Public Affairs Office
and Masonic Information Center
February 2000
Bro. Lionel Hampton, the legendary Jazz vibraphonist and
band leader of Boyer Lodge No. I New York, age 9 1, received the first Central Exchange Legacy Award as part of Kansas City, Missouri's Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, as he performed recently in the midwest. Gateway Chapter of the Phylaxis Society, President Bro. Howard Harvey MPS, Phylaxis 2nd Vice President, Bro. Robert Campbell FPS, Grand Master M.W. William H. Graham MPS, President Charles A. Taylor FPS, Phylaxis Society Council of Representatives, and SGIG Charles Alexander MPS, United Supreme Council, A.A.S.R., Southern Jurisdiction were all present at the Prince Hall Family Support Center, St. Louis, Missouri to witness the arrival of artifacts on Prince Hall from the Joseph A. Walkes, Jr. collection. The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Missouri had received a request two years ago for assistance in coming up with documents supporting the relevance of Prince Hall. A Masonic member of the State Legislature had pushed a Bill through to have this state facility named after our founder. 27 items were donated, and will be shown to the Missouri Historical Society to advise the, center how to display and care for the documents. A copy of the original charter given to Prince Hall by the Grand Lodge of England was among the historic items submitted. Other documents are as follows:
January 14, 1787 Petition of Prince Hall.
February 27, 1787 Petition of Prince Hall.
June 24, 1787, Charge to African Lodge.
June 25, 1792, Charge to African Lodge.
Anti-slavery petition signed by Prince Hall dated January 13, 1777.
Records in three columns for Apprentice, Craft and Master degree conferred on Prince Hall and others by John Batt.
A Chronology of events in the life of Prince Hall.
Signatures of Prince Hall of Medford and Prince Hall of Boston.
War rolls, receipts signed by Priam Han of $60 bounty from the Town of Medford June 1, 1778.
Receipt by Prince Hall of 42 pounds bounty from the Town of Medford, June 5, 1778.
War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records, record Group 93, Roster dated January 15, 1778 showing Prince Hall in Capt. Allen's Company, CoL Bailey's Regiment enlisted April 7, 1777.
Records showing Prince Hall in Capt. Allen's Company, Col. Dailey's Regiment, April 7, 1777 and his "death" on December 19, 1778, dearly showing that this was not the Masonic Prince Hall.
Another reference to the Prince Hall above.
Another reference to the Prince Hall above.
Records showing various soldiers, Medford Group having a Prince Hall in Capt Brooks Company, Col Thatcher Regiment.
Bill for one pound, nineteen shillings, eight pence for five leather drum heads dated April 24, 1777.
Deposition and petition of John Vinall, Timothy Pease and Prince Hall re land title in Boston, February 9, 1804.
Deposition of Prince Hall, leather dresser and laborer as to land in Boston, August 31, 1807.
Estate of Boston Smith deceased (member of African Lodge) in probate for Prince: Hall administrator.
Estate of Prince Hall, August 8, 1808.
Sylvia Hall widow of Prince Hall administrator of his estate, August 18, 1808.
Select pages Early History of Boston Marriages 1752-1809, showing various Prince Hall's.
Prince Hall's obituary from the Daily Atlas Newspaper of Boston for March 25, 1842, page 2, column 7.
Prince Hall and Flora his wife filed a writ for damages.
Letter concerning manumission of Prince Hall.
"Grave" of Sylvia Hall widow of Prince Hall, with an engravement stating here lies Prince Hall and monument put up by the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts in Cobbs Hill Burial Ground.
Prince Hall's Letter Book by William H. Upton of Washington State.
The Center has offered to let the Archway Chapter of the Phylaxis Society meet in its facility, will teach the Chapter members about computers, and will assist them in establishing a Scholarship and Training Fund. The Archway Chapter is one of a number new Chapters set up by the Phylaxis Society.
Chapters of the Phylaxis Society will be rotating a three part video films "Tools of the Craft" as well as the "Handbook for Candidate Instructions!' received from the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. These instructional videos are being forwarded to each Symbolic Lodge in the white jurisdiction of Pennsylvania to be used after each of the three degrees to be used also in conjunction with the newly developed Handbook. The Handbook and Instructional. Videos were developed from information obtained from a survey of 5,000 newly raised Masons over a period of two (2) years, so that each new Mason will know who they are, what they do and what they stand for. The information contained in Video Two pertains to the issues of Religion and Secrecy, and is not intended to represent a debate or confrontation with any religious group. The Grand Lodge sent these video's to the Phylaxis Society for its review, and each Chapter is asked to provide in writing their constructive comments of the films.
(Editors Note: The following taken from The Arizona Reublic Salutary, February 5, 2 000 page A 5)
Oxnard, Calif. A (Masonic) ring found in floating wreckage from Alaska Airlines
Flight 261 was headed to its owner's family in Washington State Friday after an attempt
by local authorities to seize it as evidence in the investigation. A crewman from the
fishing boat Meridan was being flown by the airline to deliver the Masonic ring to the
daughter of Bob and Patty Williams, a Poulsbo, Wash., couple killed Monday when the MD-83 plunged into the Santa Barbara Channel. The ring's return was in doubt earlier Friday when Ventura County sheriffs deputies arrived at the home of boat captain Scott Jarvis and told his wife, Mary, that she had to turn it in rather then try to send it to the Williams family. "My wife called me and said they were going to arrest her if she didn't give them the ring," Jarvis said, "She wasn't giving it up; she was that strong in her convictions." Jarvis said that, as he drove back home, he phoned the Sheriff's Department, and some one there called off the detectives. The department decided to allow the ring to be returned. "We are not pressing charges against Mr. Jarvis," Sheriff's spokesman Eric Nishimoto said, "However, we want to emphasize that he did break the law." Sheriff's Sgt. Steve Bourke said deputies learned of the ring through news stories on Jarvis' plan to give the ring to the Williamsons' daughter, Tracy Knizek of Suquamish, Wash. Until she learned of its recovery, Knizek said, she had struggled to accept her parents' deaths.
(Editors Note: The following is form Bro. Derrick W. Ward MPS. submitted for membership into Doric Chapter of the Phylaxis Society, Baltimore, Maryland. Those seeking membership into a Phylaxis Chapter are required to submit a paper)
It is hard to believe that after many many years of education (secondary and post) the following fads about
the Statue of Liberty were never taught. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people including
myself have visited the Statue of Liberty over the years but yet I'm unable to find one person who knows the true
history behind the Statue - amazing Yes, amazing that so much important Black history (such as
this) is hidden from us (Black and White). What makes this even worse is the fad that the current twist of
history perpetuates and promotes white supremacy at the expense of Black pride. During my visit to
France I saw the original Statue of Liberty However, there was a difference the statue in France is Black
Did you know this??? The Statue of Liberty was originally a Black woman, but, as memory
serves, it was because the model was Black. According to a book called "The Journey of The Songhai People, written
by Dr. Jim Haskins, it points out what stimulated the original idea for the 151 foot statue in
the harbor. Dr. Haskins is a member of the National Education Advisory Committee of the Liberty-Ellis Island
Committee, professor of English at the University of Florida, and a prolific Black author. He says
that what stimulated the idea for the creation of the statue initially was the pan that Black soldiers played in
the ending of Black African Bondage in the United States. It was created in the mind of the French
historian Edourd de Laboulaye chairman of the French Antislavery Society who together with sculptor
Frederick Auguste Bartholomew proposed to the French government that the people of France present to
the people of the United States through the American Abolitionist Society, the gift of a Statue of Liberty in
recognition of the fact that Black soldiers won the Civil War in the United States. It was Widely known
then that it was Black soldiers who played the role in winning the war, and this gift would be a
tribute to their prowess. Suzanne Nakasian director of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island Foundations
National Ethnic Campaign said that the Black Americans' direct connection to Lady Liberty is unknown
to the majority of Americans, Black or White. When the statue was presented to the U.S. Minister to
France in 1884, it is said that he remonstrated that the dominant view of the broken
shackles would-be offensive to a U.S. South, because since the statue was a reminder of Blacks wining their freedom. It was
a reminder to a beaten South of the ones who caused their defeat, their despised former
captives: Documents of Proof. (1) You may go and see the original model of the Statue of Liberty, with the broken
chains at her feet and in her left hand. Go to the Museum of the City of N.Y., fifth Avenue and
103rd Street (212 - 534-1672 or call the same number and dial ext. 208 and speak to Peter Simmons and he can
send you some .(2) Check with the N.Y. Times magazine, part II May 18, 1986. Read
the article by Laboulaye. (3) The dark original face of the Statue of Liberty can be seen in the N.Y. Post, June 17, 1986, also the Post stated the reason for the broken chains at her feet. (4) Finally, you may check with the French Mission or the French Embassy at the U.N. or in Washington, D.C. and ask for some original French material on the Statue of Liberty, including the Bartholdi original model. (202) 944-6060 or 6400. (Editor note: The Statue of Liberty was designed by French sculptor Frederick Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904) born April 2, 1834 at Colmar, Alsace, France. He was one of the early members of Lodge Alsace-Lorraine Paris (Oct 14, 1875) which was composed of prominent intellectuals, writers and government representatives. When his famous statue Liberty Enlightening the World was achieved, Bartholdi convened his lodge to review it, even before the statue was shown to the U.S. committee. On June 19, 1884, the lodge as if it were a pilgrimage, went in a body to review his masterpiece that was to be the gift of the French people to the United States. On Nov. 13, 1984 Bartholdi delivered a lecture and gave the lodge a report on the history and various methods used in the execution of his statue. Again the lodge witnessed his emotion when be came back from his visit to U.S. in 1887, and he told them of the ardent welcome he had received and of the wide enthusiasm created by
his work.)
Lady Liberty a monument to slaves?
Statue's history under investigation
(Editors Note: The following was published in a February 1999 issue of the Kansas City Star from the Associated Press). BOSTON - The Statue of Liberty has long stood as a beacon of
hope to immigrants. But National Park Service researchers are looking into the possibility that Lady Liberty may have been intended, as least in part, as a monument to freed slaves. And if that's true, it could lead to a change in how the park service portrays the 114-year old monument's history. An unsorted text began appearing on the Internet several years ago and quickly spread the theory that the widely accepted history of the Statue of Liberty is not true, said Rebecca M. Joseph, a Boston-based park service anthropologist. lie internet report said that the statue "was intended as a monument to the abolition of slavery in the United States and that the original model was a black women," according to Joseph. The park service's official history of the Statue of Liberty holds it was proposed by French historian Edouard Laboulaye in 1865 to commemorate the friendship between France and the United States born during the Revolutionary War But Laboulaye was also a leader of the French abolitionist movement with a commitment to fighting slavery, said Diane H. Dayson, the statue's superintendent. Our history states that he was an abolitionist, but we still don't know whether or not it was relative to the Statue of Liberty." Joseph is now combining archives and libraries in Boston and in France to find out whether Laboulaye also wanted the statue to honor the recently freed slaves. Dayson said he may have conceived the statue with both the slaves and Franco-American friendship in mind. Richard Newman, a research officer at Harvard University's W.E.B. Du Bois institute for Afro-American Research, says it is widely behaved in academic circles that Laboulaye meant for the statue to honor the slaves, as well as mark the recent Union victory in the Civil war and the life of Abraham Lincoln. However, by the time sculptor Frederick Auguste Bartholdi's 151 foot statue was erected in New York Harbor in 1886, European immigration had begun to rise dramatically and the statue took on a whole new symbolism, he says. "It was entirely related to slavery, and not about immigration at all." Newman says. "The liberty" was the freedom of the slaves. Joseph also is checking into the possibility a 21-inch model of Lady Liberty completed by Bartholdi, in 1870 may have been based on the likeness of a black women. The model now in the Museum of the City of New York, has a broken chain around its hand, the statue in the harbor has a more discreet broken shackle on its foot.