Boom Bust: Prince Hall Masonry in Nebraska During the 1920S

Nebraska History posts materials online for your personal use. Please remember that the contents of Nebraska History are copyrighted by the Nebraska State Historical Society (except for materials credited to other institutions). The NSHS retains its copyrights even to materials it posts on the web. For permission to re-use materials or for photo ordering information, please see: http://www.nebraskahistory.org/magazine/permission.htm Nebraska State Historical Society members receive four issues of Nebraska History and four issues of Nebraska History News annually. For membership information, see: http://nebraskahistory.org/admin/members/index.htm Article Title: Boom Bust: Prince Hall Masonry in Nebraska During the 1920s Full Citation: Dennis N Mihelich, “Boom Bust: Prince Hall Masonry in Nebraska During the 1920s,” Nebraska History 79 (1998): 74-84. URL of article: http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NH1998Boom_Bust.pdf Date: 3/2/2011 Article Summary: Prince Hall Masonry is an African American fraternal organization that arose because blacks were excluded from white Masonic lodges. During the 1920s Prince Hall Masonry in Nebraska experienced a brief boom, but by the middle of the decade a bust ensued. The 1924-25 industrial slump combined with the downturn in the agricultural sector curbed the influx of African American Americans to the state. At the onset of the Great Depression, Prince Hall Masonry was a weakened but viable and vital institution among the limited number of African Americans in Nebraska. Cataloging Information: Names: Trago T McWilliams, Ed P Smith, Nathaniel Hunter, D M Ansberry, James C Dahlman, Joseph Koutsky, N A Kemmish, Ben J Sallows, M W Jenkins, Craig Morris, Arthur J Weaver, Christian A Sorenson, W R Colly, Luther Allen, John A Singleton, E W Killingsowrth, Warren G Harding, Richard H Young, Harry Buford, Tom Dennison, F L Barnett, E Y Clarke, F L Barnett, William Tucker, George Flippin, Nathaniel Hunter, C T Denton, Charles W Dickerson, Walter W Seals, Nathaniel Hunter, Alfred F Peoples, Charles C Dudley, R H Young, Edward Fletcher, W P Wade, Verne Hedge, John Andrew Singleton, James Finley Wilson, Scott Lewis Place Names: Omaha, Nebraska; Lincoln, Nebraska; Grand Island, Nebraska; Keywords: Prince Hall Masonry; Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Nebraska (PHGLN); Ku Klux Klan; The Whip [Omaha]; The Review [Lincoln]; The Monitor [Omaha]; The New Era [Omaha]; The Omaha Guide [Omaha]; Rough Ashler #1; Excelsior #2; Rescue #4; Marvin #5; Alliance #7, Platte Valley #8, Omaha #9; Arbor #11; Omaha Colored Commercial Club; Dyer anti-lynching bill; True American #6; Lebanon #3; St John’s #11; King Solomon Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted York Masons of Kansas and Jurisdiction; Grand Relief Secretary; Prince Hall Building Association; Grand Court of the Heroines of Jericho; Amaranthus Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star Photographs / Images: Dr John Andrew Singleton; Luther Allen and his wife, Ida; hall on North Twenty-sixth Street in Omaha which was purchased by the Prince Hall Grand Lodge in 1927; a Masonic banquet in the early 1930s; Grand Tyler William Tucker, 1923; Prince Hall Mason Blue Lodges, 1920s [chart] By Dennis N Mihelich During th e 19205 Prince Hall Masonry in and towns that had blue lodges. Befit tant copies exist on ly from 1932. With Nebraska experienced a brief boom in ting a proud new institution , it staged two notabl e excepti ons, infrequ ent , the wake of the Great Migration, but by grand public recepti ons prior to th e re terse stories in the white press about th e th e middle of the decade a bust ensued. stricted busi ness sessions of th e frater public reception associated with th e an Prosperity made the 19205 "roar," but nity. Also sign ifyin g the stature of th e so nual communica ti on augmen ted th e th e good times did not blanket th e ciety, slat e and local politicians at sparse coverage in the black press. co untry. Pockets of economic problems tend ed th e events and extended off icial In 1920 Mayor Ed P. Sm ith of Omaha mut ed the roar in some economic sec welcomes to th e delegates. A symbolic welcomed th e delegates to the second tors and locales. In one instance, the re gesture, noneth eless it conveyed an en ann ual communication at a public re covery of European agriculture from the co uragin g civil message in an age of de ception held at th e mee ting place of th e dislocations of World War I contributed te ri oratin g race relations and lllay indi Omaha lodges at Twenty-second and to hard times for staple farm ers on th e ca te the limits of influence of th e Ku Cuming. Th e evening also included an Great Plains. Agricultural suppliers, pro Klux Klan in Nebraska in th e 1920s. array of lit eral)' and musical perfor cesso rs, and shippers suffered immedi White politicians, especially outside of mances . Once th e formal session ate repercussions and mu ch of th e Ne Omaha, had little reason to court black opened, however, Grand Master braska economy stagnated well before voters who remained insignifican t in Nathan iel Hunter sou nd ed several dis th e onse t of th e industrial depress ion of number and held no balance of power co rd ant notes. His un harmonious re the 19305. Without the pull factor of eas position. Thus , it is difficult to envision marks indica ted that th e new institution ily obtainable jobs, large-sca le black mi a truly politi cally powerful Klan and suffered from grow in g pains. He reo gration to the state came to an abrupt wh ite politic ians who would court its ire ported having to deal with the transgres halt, significantly affecting insti tutions by publicly showi ng res pect for a black sions of th e worshipful masters of three created by th e Great Migration, such as social group. Omaha lodges and he berated "some th e Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Ne Newspaper coverage of Prince Hall Masons, even Masters and Pas t Masters" braska (PHGLN). Nonetheless, Prince activity expanded somewhat, but re who would "go th e full length of tlleir Hall Masonry survived the dislocations mained brief and infrequent. Four new tow cable to stab a brotller in the back." of th e decade, althou gh it lost many of black weeklies appeared durin g the Besides unbrotherly malice, Hunter and its blue-collar members. On the other 19205, but 110 copies exist for two of the Grand Lecturer both explai ned that hand, it continued to attract th e elite of th em that had brief runs-7iIe Whip in th ey refrained from making thei r annual black society, and thus, th e strong corre Omaha and The Review in Lincoln. In visits to all the lodges in the jurisdi ct ion lation between comm unity leadership Oc tober 1920 Trago T. McWilliams sold because those locate d in th e small and Prince Hall Masonry rema ined The Review to The Monitor (Omaha), towns with small memb ersh ips cou ld throughou t the decade. which subsequently included a full not afford the costs of subsidizing th e of Before the PHGLN purchased a build page of Lin coln news in its edition. Four ficial sojourn. Moreover, Hunter com ing in Omaha in 1927, it held its annual months late r, however, the "Lin co ln De plained that poor bookkee ping and com munications in th e va ri ous cities partment" disappeared and only inter business practices jeopardized th e fi mittently th erea fter the paper printed a nances of several lodges and made th e few parag raphs of news about th e Afri reporting 01 Grand Lodge finance and Dennis N. Mihelich is an associate professor of histOlY at Creighton University. In/wa previous ca n Ameri ca n community in th e state membership figures unreliable. These articles in Nebraska History, he has w tillen capi tal. Th e New Era published in co mplaints, along with constant criti aboullhe orig ins ofPrince Hall MasofJlY in Omaha be tween 1922 and 1926, but ca r cism of shoddy performance of ritual, Nebraska. and the creation of the Prince Hall ried little masonic news, and th e Omaha became the standard bill of fare of of Gmnd Lodge. Guide began operation in 1927, but ex ficer reports for ensuing decades. 74 Prince Hall Masonry in the 19208 On the other hand, masonic frater character, The Monitor ran a special edi lows of the Alliance newspaper for his nity radiated from the decision to loan tion prior to the annual communication coverage.6 money to a brother to hire an attorney that featured a full page of pictures of Positive news coverage of African to defend him in a criminal suit. Reflect the officers and news about the upcom Americans by the white press was a rare ing the mood of the times-within a ing event. While most of the white event and well appreciated by black year of the Omaha riot that contributed owned papers blared headlines of Ne community leaders. Thus, typically, to the Red Summer of 1919-Hunter de gro crime-much of it committed in back in Lincoln for the 1925 annual fended the decision explaining: "With other cities-The Lincoln Star disdained communication, again only The Lincoln the prejudice that exists in this country those stories in favor of daily coverage Star briefly covered the session that met today against the Negro, if he is sent to of the Prince Hall Mason meeting.3 at Mt.

Load more