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THE UNITED SUPREME COUNCIL Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Prince Hall Affiliation Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A |
General InformationThe Scottish Rite is based upon Blue Lodge Masonry and in this country it does not confer the first three degrees. This is recognized as the unquestioned prerogative of the Grand Lodge. The Scottish Rite confers the degrees from the forth to the thirty-third inclusive. They are not truly higher or advanced Degrees in any sense other than their numbering. Rather they reach into Symbolic Lodge teachings to clarify and inspire. Many questions raised by the Blue Lodge Masons, but left unanswered, are answered in the Scottish Rite. At all times it recognizes the supreme authority in Masonry of the Grand Lodge and the Grand Master. It teaches that there is no rank higher than that of Master Mason, and no Masonic symbol more significant than the Master's Apron, but it elaborates and emphasizes the great principles enshrined in Craft Masonry.When a Master Mason advances to the degrees of the Scottish Rite, it does not detract but adds to his interest in everything for which the blue Lodge stands. It deepens his appreciation of it, and motivates him to more active participation in its affairs. The Scottish Rite aids, supplements and reinforces the Blue Lodge in every way. As organizations these bodies are mutually dependent and strengthen each other with reciprocity.The Scottish Rite is a rite of enlightenment. Its purpose is to spread the light of Masonic truth by revealing and explaining matters concealed or only hinted at in Craft Masonry. Knowledge is power and the Scottish Rite seeks to arm its votaries with moral and spiritual understanding.Our Supreme Council Statutes prescribe that every Scottish Rite member must maintain his good standing in his Symbolic Lodge or automatically forfeit his Scottish Rite membership.
The Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite Freemasonry challenges no man's political creed, leaving that to his country and himself; it does not interfere with any man's religious opinion, leaving that a matter between his God and his conscience, and yet it does seek to impress by most sublime and beautiful lessons, enforced by the most profound reasoning the almighty power of truth, appealing to the highest and purest sentiments of the human soul for the enforcement of its principles. Ignorance, tyranny and fanaticism are its foes. Liberty, equality, and fraternity are its watch words.What is Prince Hall Freemasonry?The term “Prince Hall Masonry” refers to Masonic Lodges descended from African Lodge No. 459 in Boston and whose members are predominantly African-American. On March 6, 1775, Sgt. John Batt, a member of Irish Lodge No. 441, attached to the 38th Regiment of Foot, British Army, initiated fifteen free African-American men, including Prince Hall. (“Prince” was his name, not his title.) The brothers formed a lodge and John Rowe, Provincial Grand Master for North America (Grand Lodge of Moderns), granted them “a Permet.” On June 30, 1784, one year after the Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary War, Bro. Hall wrote to the Modern Grand Lodge in London and requested a warrant, which eventually arrived on April 29, 1787, naming him the first Worshipful Master. At this time the Moderns’ Provincial Grand Lodge held few meetings, the Ancients’ Provincial Grand Lodge had transformed themselves into an independent Grand Lodge, and St. Andrews Lodge, home of John Hancock, Paul Revere, and Joseph Warren, remained loyal to the Grand Lodge of Scotland. By 1813, all lodges in Massachusetts had joined the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts except for African No. 459. When the Ancients’ and Moderns’ Grand Lodges merged that year to form the United Grand Lodge of England, all American lodges were stricken from their rolls on the incorrect assumption that they had affiliated with an American Grand Lodge. African Lodge found itself without a Grand Lodge. In 1827 it declared itself independent of any other Masonic authority and eventually formed the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, named in honor of its first Worshipful Master. Today there are 44 Prince Hall Affiliated (PHA) grand lodges in the U.S. with their own collateral bodies: Scottish Rite, York Rite, Shriners, Eastern Star, and more. (Some PHA grand lodges cover multiple states, such as Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah.) Prince Hall Masonry has been an important force in African-American communities, and its members include such notables as Richard Allen, Founder of the AME Church, Thurgood Marshall, Justice of the Supreme Court, Booker T. Washington, founder of Tuskegee Institute, and Nathaniel “Nat King” Cole, entertainer. Recognition between mainstream and PHA grand lodges began in 1989 in Connecticut, and today there is mutual recognition in 40 states, the most recent being Texas in December 2006.
Some Notable Prince Hall Masons
Bro. Robert Abbot - Founder of the Chicago Defender Bro. Benjamin E. Mays - Former President of Morehouse College |
