PRESERVING OUR LEGACY! JANURARY 12, 2022
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n November 20, 2021, at Morgan State University, in Baltimore, Maryland, the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge F.& A.M. of Maryland & It’s Jurisdiction, Inc., made history by signing a memorandum of understanding with the University to house its artifacts in the Beulah M. Davis Special Collections Department at the Earl S. Richardson Library. This event was the culmination of a three year collaboration between the Grand Lodge’s Committee on Archives, Chaired by R.W. Lewis Williams, Jr. and the University Archivist, Dr. Ida Jones. The Committee consisted of R.W. David Johnson (photographer at the event), R.W. Lawrence N. Gray, R.W. Albert Queen, R.W. Nathaniel McFadden, PWM Gloria Porter, and R.W. Seymour E. Chambers. After a brief program, M.W.G.M. Stanley signed the formal memorandum and presented the Grand Lodge’s original charter, along with the charters of Friendship Lodge No.1, St. James Lodge No. 2 and Enterprise Lodge No. 3, to Dr. Jones to deposit in the University’s archives. By providing these documents and other artifacts to Maryland’s flagship HBCU, future generations and researchers will be able to review and learn about the history, contributions and significance of Prince Hall masonry in the state of Maryland. A guided tour was provided for the attendees to review some of the items that will be deposited, to include the book Maryland Men of Masonry: The Most Worshipful United Grand Lodge 1825-1925, which celebrates the Grand Lodge’s first 100 years. On loan from Baltimore’s Great Black in Wax Museum were wax figures of M.W.P.G.M. Willard W. Allen and M.W.P.G.M. Samuel Daniels (Pictured below). We gathered on that day not only to recognize and deposit artifacts from our Grand Lodge, but to commemorate a relationship between two institutions that have long served as a guiding light in the lives of Black Marylanders for close to 200 years. The historical relationship between Maryland Prince Hall masons, and Morgan State
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