N.C. white, black Masonic groups reconcile

After years ignoring each other, 'we're brothers again'

By Richard Stradling
richard.stradling@newsobserver.com

Posted: Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008

JASON ARTHERS – (RALEIGH) NEWS & OBSERVER PHOTO

Jason Arthurs

RALEIGH Members of the state's two Masonic organizations ended 138 years of official disregard Friday by signing a resolution recognizing each other as brother Masons.

The resolution, signed near the end of a two-hour ceremony full of formality and speeches, ended a vestige of the segregation era, during which the two groups – one white, the other black – spent decades following the ancient tenets and teachings of freemasonry while each pretended the other didn't exist.

“Today's a historic day, because we're here to say we're brothers again,” said David Cash, a Methodist minister from Kannapolis and grand master of the white group, the Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina.

Cash and his counterpart, Milton “Toby” Fitch Jr. of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina and Its Jurisdictions, signed the document in the old House chambers of the State Capitol. They sat at a table where North Carolina's resolution to secede from the Union was signed 148 years ago.

Both Prince Hall and AF&AM Masonic groups carry on the traditions of a fraternity founded by building craftsmen in medieval Europe. The state's AF&AM organization was founded in 1787, though some of the individual lodges date back earlier. The state's Prince Hall group was founded in 1870.

Despite shared roots and goals, their members did not officially recognize each other as Masons until Friday.

“We are of the same family,” said Dan Blue, a Prince Hall Mason and state legislator from Raleigh. “This is an opportunity to complete a circle.”

The ceremony, which had the feel of a peace treaty signing, was years in the making.

Members of the Prince Hall Masons unanimously passed a resolution recognizing their white counterparts as true Masons at their annual meeting in 2004. But a similar resolution failed several years in a row at AF&AM meetings, despite impassioned pleas from the group's leaders. This year, in September, it passed 642-328, leading to Friday's gathering, which filled not only the old House chamber but also the old Senate, where the overflow watched on a big-screen TV.

Membership in the larger, white lodge has fallen from 73,000 at its peak in 1981 to less than 50,000, even as the state's population has soared. But Friday's ceremony was a reminder of the devotion of many Masons to the organization and the influential people it attracts.

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge led the pledge of allegiance, and former state Supreme Court justices Henry Frye and James Exum Jr. also spoke.

The resolution signed Friday does not merge the groups in any way.

But it should lead to cooperation between the two Masonic organizations.

Cash, the AF&AM grand master, said representatives of the two groups are meeting to work out visitation issues and protocol. For example, he noted, Prince Hall Masons have a dress code, while the AF&AM does not.

“They are a little bit more formal,” he said.

That formality was on display Friday, as Prince Hall members in particular wore colorful aprons around their waists and medallions around their necks. A color guard of Prince Hall Masons with epaulets on their shoulders, two rows of buttons down their chests and hats covered with white feathers lined the aisle of the old House chamber with raised swords as officers from the two organizations filed in.

Earlier this fall, Fitch and the Prince Hall Masons made Cash an honorary member. Friday, Cash returned the gesture, reading a framed resolution with a preacher's shout before the two men embraced before a shower of flashbulbs and a standing ovation

George Washington’s 256th Masonic Anniversary

George Washington’s 256^th Masonic Anniversary

On November 4^th, 1752, George Washington was initiated into the mysteries of masonry in Fredericksburg Lodge No. 4, Virginia.

According to the lodge records, on March 3^rd, 1753, “Geo. Washington” was “Pass’d Fellowcraft.”

On August 4^th, 1753, he was “rais’d Master Mason”

(Interesting note: George Washington was the Worshipful Master of his lodge, Alexandria Lodge No. 22, the same year he was elected and inaugurated President of the United States)

Lodge #45 Honors 'Andrew Jackson'

On Thursday October 30, 2008, General Andrew Jackson, PMWGM of Tennessee visited Jackson, Tennessee to open an historical exhibit and attend a book signing about his years in the White House. Newsweek editor and author Jon Meacham could have chosen any historical figure to write about. He chose Andrew Jackson because of what he calls "the perfect embodiment of competing influences" in the country's seventh president.

Meacham was in Jackson on Thursday to present a lecture on his book "American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House." The lecture helped kick off the Three Stars of Tennessee exhibition, which opens at The Carnegie on Saturday. This historic Exhibit includes a display of of the replica Grand Master's Apron worn by MWGM Jackson and the original Charter of Jackson Lodge #45 from 1823.

A preview celebration was held Thursday night and included a re-enactment of the evening of Sept. 18, 1825, when Jackson and his wife were wined and dined by the city's residents. The exhibition is a salute to honor the hero of the Battle of New Orleans.

Part of the celebration was the recreation of the Masonic escort that greeted General Jackson when he and his wife Rachael visited Jackson for the first time in 1825. Members of Jackson Lodge #45 provided the honor guard then and now. Jackson Lodge #45 was chartered Oct. 6th, 1823 during the administration of Andrew Jackson as Most Worshipful Grand Master of the State of Tennessee. As it turned out, the actor who portrayed General Jackson is also a Mason from Old Hickory Lodge in Old Hickory, Tennessee and was delighted to don an Apron for the ceremony. As result, the peculiar badge of the Mason was seen by all and will be on CBS Sunday Morning. A great "unintended consequence" of our activities of that evening. Throughout the evening, due to the high profile of Masonry during the opening ceremonies, many questions about Masons and Masonry were asked and answers given by members of Lodge #45 to members of the large crowd in attendance.

Many thanks to all who participated that evening and helped present Masonry and Lodge #45 in a great light. A special thanks to Life Member Brother Tom Lewis by getting this projected started with an email to the event organizer, Libby Murphy and to Brother Jimmy Owen for photographing this historic event for the Lodge.

Lodge #45 members in attendance:

Honor Guard: Bobby Henderson, PMWGM; Marty Amick, PM; Alan Turner, PM; Tera Spencer, PM; Robert Warmath, PM; Derek White, PM; Jeffery McClemore, SW; G. Michael Winslow, Sec; Mike Stanton, JW; and Terry Blackburn.