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Prince Hall
clergyman, abolitionist
Born: 1735
Birthplace: Barbados
Hall established the African Lodge of the Honorable Society of Free and
Accepted Masons of Boston in 1775. It was the first lodge of black
Freemasons in the world. The lodge received a permanent charter from the
Grand Lodge of England in 1784. The secret fraternity, which still
exists, promoted brotherly love and social, political, and economic
improvement for its members.
Hall arrived in Boston in 1765 and was a slave for William Hall. He was
freed in 1770, shortly after the Boston Massacre, and worked at a variety
of jobs, including as a leather worker for the Boston Regiment of
Artillery. He was one of a few black men who fought at the Battle of
Bunker Hill.
Hall became a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and
advocated black rights and the abolition of slavery. He opened a school
for black children in his home.
Died: 1807
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