Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

Masonic Prince Hall James W. Telfair Lodge No. 510 Master Mason Apron
1915
Maker not marked
USA
Leather, cotton
overall: 11-3/4"h x 14"w
Museum Purchase
99.044.7

Masonic Prince Hall apron with square body and triangular flap; white leather with faded cloth trim, with white backing, two long cloth cords that end in tassels; under flap stamped in blue ink with Masonic emblem and all-seeing eye, within scroll reads "James W. Tellfair / Lodge No. 510 F & A.A.M. / Wilmington, N.C."; on left at angle is line for Master, written in ink "L.J. Davenport"; on right at angle is line for Secretary, written in ink "W.B. Jennings"; center has lines for Mason's name and dates when "Initiated," "Passed" and "Raised"; written across lines in ink "March / 31 - 1915."

A plain white leather apron, like this one, marks a man’s initiation into Freemasonry. This apron belonged to an unknown member of James W. Telfair Lodge No. 510 in Wilmington, North Carolina, a lodge for African American men, or Prince Hall lodge. Prince Hall Freemasonry is named after Prince Hall (1738-1807), a leader in the African American community who established a Masonic lodge after being denied membership in a Boston lodge in the early 1770s. For further information, see Newell, Aimee E., "The Badge of a Freemason," 2015, p. 222; and blog post, June 9, 2015 http://nationalheritagemuseum.typepad.com/library_and_archives/2015/06/juneteenth-and-african-american-freemasonry.html