African American freemasonry

Abstract This collection includes correspondence sent to Jacob Norton, and a small number of letters that were sent by Norton. The correspondence provide insight into the lives of American Masons all over the United States in various positions of importance in Masonry. The collection also reveals the nature of relationships between American Masons and, especially, between these Masons and Norton himself. Norton’s collecting of research into American Masonic practices and early American Masonic...

Content Description

In this letter from Sovereign Grand Commander Peter W. Ray to the Supreme Council, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, Ray provides a history of his Supreme Council back to its establishment by August Hugo De Bulow, an active member of the Supreme Council of France and its Dependencies, on November 30, 1864. Ray petitions that his organization and its authority be recognized by Supreme Council, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction.

Content Description

The collection of Peter B. C. Brown, Jr., spans the years 1963-1989, with the bulk of material dating from 1963 to 1968. The collection features approximately 105 items collected by Brown in his role at the Trinity Lodge, No. 18, and includes minutes of meetings, lodge records and correspondence, certificate, personal original writings and notes, personal finance papers, photographs, newspaper clippings, and Masonic pamphlets and ritual books.

Abstract Leon Martin Abbott (1867-1932) was a prominent and influential Freemason, lawyer, and philanthropist. He was born on August 28, 1867, to Joseph Brown Abbott (1835-1892) and Lydia Cole Martin (1838-1893). Educated in Keene, New Hampshire, he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1891. Abbott practiced law in Boston, turning down offers of judgeships and political office to remain a private citizen. He became Sovereign Grand Commander of...