What is the difference between a Prince Hall Mason and a Free Mason?

Answer 1

Prince Hall Masonry has been traditionally worked solely by Black males in the United States. Until 1996, Prince Hall Masonry was not recognized by the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) but since that time it has been accorded recognition as a vallid and regular body of Masons.

Unfortunately, in some areas of the United States, persons of races other than White and religions other than Christian have not been accepted for initiation. I understand that those customs are changing. I am glad.

My rather esoteric Order, American Co-Masonry admits women and men of all races, as long as they are of good character, over the age of 21 and believe in a Supreme Being. As such, American Co-Masonry is somewhat scorned as "not real Masonry." Nevertheless, I have sat in Lodge with many different Brothers, different races, national origin, and religions. Still we are Brothers.

Personally, I would love to attend a Prince Hall Lodge.

Master Mason
American Co-Masonry

Hiram Lodge (Santa Cruz, CA)
Amon Ra Lodge (Los Angeles, CA)
Sapientia Lodge of Research (Larkspur, CO)

Answer 2

Prince Hall is recognized as the Father of Black Masonry in the United States. Historically, he made it possible for Negroes to be recognized and enjoy all privileges of free and accepted masonry.

Many rumors of the birth of Prince Hall have arisen. A few records and papers have been found of him in Barbados where it was rumored that he was born in 1748, but no record of birth by church or by state, has been found there, and none in Boston. All 11 countries were searched and churches with baptismal records were examined without finding the name of Prince Hall.

One widely circulated rumor states that "Prince Hall was free born in British West Indies. His father, Thomas Prince Hall, was an Englishman and his mother a free colored woman of French extraction. In 1765 he worked his passage on a ship to Boston, where he worked as a leather worker, a trade learned from his father. During this time he married Sarah Ritchery. Shortly after their marriage, she died at the age of 24. Eight years later he had acquired real estate and was qualified to vote. Prince Hall also pressed John Hancock to be allowed to join the Continental Army and was one of a few blacks who fought at the battle of Bunker Hill. Religiously inclined, he later became a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church with a charge in Cambridge and fought for the abolition of slavery." Some accounts are paraphrased from the generally discredited Grimshaw book of 1903.

Free Masonry among Black men began during the War of Independence, when Prince Hall and fourteen other free black men were initiated into Lodge # 441, Irish Constitution, attached to the 38th Regiment of Foot, British Army Garrisoned at Castle Williams (now Fort Independence) Boston Harbor on March 6, 1775. The Master of the Lodge was Sergeant John Batt. Along with Prince Hall, the other newly made masons were Cyrus Johnson, Bueston Slinger, Prince Rees, John Canton, Peter Freeman, Benjamin Tiler, Duff Ruform, Thomas Santerson, Prince Rayden, Cato Spain, Boston Smith, Peter Best, Forten Howard and Richard Titley.


Freemasonry is a fraternal organization whose membership is held together by shared moral and metaphysical ideals and—in most of its branches—by a constitutional declaration of belief in a Supreme Being.[1]

The fraternity of Freemasonry uses the allegorical metaphors of operative stonemasons' tools and implements, to convey what is most generally defined as: A peculiar (some say particular or beautiful) system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.[2] This is illustrated in the 1991 English Emulation Ritual.[3]

The Freemasons refer to those who are not Freemasons as "cowans" because in architecture a cowan is someone apprenticed to bricklaying but not licenced to the trade of masonry.

It is an esoteric society only in that certain aspects are private;[4] Freemasons have stated that Freemasonry has, in the 21st century, become less a secret society and more of a "society with secrets."[5][6][7] Dr. Dieter Anton Binder,[8] a historian (and not a Freemason) who is a professor at the University of Graz (Austria) describes Freemasonry as a "confidential" society in contrast to a secret society in his book Die diskrete Gesellschaft.[9] Most modern Freemasons regard the traditional concern over secrecy as a demonstration of their ability to keep a promise[10] and a concern over the privacy of their own affairs.[11] "Lodge meetings, like meetings of many other social and professional associations, are private occasions open only to members."[12][13] The private aspects of modern Freemasonry deal with the modes of recognition amongst members and elements within the ritual.[3][7]

While there have been many disclosures and exposés dating as far back as the eighteenth century, Freemasons caution that they often lack the proper context for true understanding, may be outdated for various reasons,[14] or could be outright hoaxes on the part of the author.[12] In reality, Freemasons are proud of their true heritage and happy to share it, offering spokesmen, briefings for the media, and providing talks to interested groups upon request.[