Freemasonry and the Solomon Lodge of Jefferson County

Denise Vickers-Leon ECB Publishing, Inc. The establishment of what has become considered as America's first civil rights organization goes back to March 6, 1775, when Prince Hall, who was an abolitionist and civil rights activist, was initiated into freemasonry along with 14 other free black men. In 1775 they organized African Lodge #1. They then petitioned and were granted a charter in 1784 for African Lodge #459 in Boston, Mass. With well over 300,000 members and initially based on the pri