Warrant Article Title:
RESOLUTION/PRINCE HALL DAY

Warrant Article Text:
To see if the Town will vote to declare June 24 as Prince Hall Day; or take any action related thereto.

Requested by:
(Inserted at the request of Beth Melofchik and ten registered voters) 

Report Excerpt:

The Select Board is unanimous in its support for honoring one of America’s first civil rights leaders and a too often forgotten founding father – Prince Hall by commemorating June 24th each year as “Prince Hall Day” in Arlington. Hall was a contemporary of other celebrated Boston Revolutionary Era luminaries like John Adams, likely fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill, and as early as 1777 began petitioning the Massachusetts Legislature (or “General Court”) for emancipation and education of black Commonwealth citizens. 

 

Prince Hall advocated for civil rights informed by and through freemasonry, similar many other founding fathers. Denied admittance into white Freemason Lodges and other privileges, Prince Hall first secured the ability for black Freemasons to commemorate June 24th – “St. John’s Day” in the customs of masonic lodges of the time. Subsequently, in 1777, he established the first black Freemason lodge, “African Lodge No. 1” in Boston a formal charter granted in 1787, and served as its Grand Master. Ten years later on June 24th, 1797 Prince Hall offered “A Charge Delivered to the African Lodge at Menotomy” in what is now known as Arlington and Cambridge (a copy of which is attached for Town Meeting’s reference). After Prince Hall's death land was purchased in 1856 on Gardner Street and a cemetery dedicated in 1864 for the Prince Hall Lodge of Freemasons, furthering Arlington’s connection to his life and legacy.

 

On a technical note, the Select Board notes that Town Meeting action is not required to declare an honorary day, a function performed by the Board. The Board nonetheless very much welcomes the deserved attention for Prince Hall and Arlington history at Town Meeting, and your resolution to support such a worthy cause of celebration and commemoration.

 

In addition to the petitioner, the Select Board recognizes the long-standing work of the Arlington Historical Society, which joins with members of the Prince Hall Grand Lodge in a Memorial Day ceremony every year at the Prince Hall cemetery. 

Vote Language:

That Town Meeting hereby resolves as follows:

 

WHEREAS, Prince Hall was a Revolutionary War Era black leader, community leader and abolitionist in Boston, and believed to have fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill; and

 

WHEREAS, Prince Hall served as one of the United States first civil rights leaders, petitioning the General Court on January 13, 1777 for the abolition of slavery, and in so doing was the first American to publicly use the language of the Declaration of Independence for political purposes other than justifying war against Britain and advocating for education as an inalienable right central to the advancement of all peoples; and

 

WHEREAS, Prince Hall founded the first black Freemason Lodge in the United States, “African Lodge No. 1” in 1777 and served as its Grand Master, employing such position as a Freemason to advance civil rights interests of black people throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; and

 

WHEREAS, of the many rights and privileges Prince Hall endeavored to secure was the rights of black Freemasons prior to obtaining their charter was to “walk on St. John’s Day” – June 24th of each year; and

 

WHEREAS, twenty years after the founding of the African Lodge No. 1, Prince Hall offered “A Charge Delivered to the African Lodge at Menotomy” on June 24th, 1797, and “Menotomy” being the historic predecessor to the Town of Arlington and portions of the City of Cambridge; and

 

WHEREAS, in 1864 the Grand Master of the “Prince Hall Freemasons” deeded land on Gardner Street in Arlington for the establishment of the Prince Hall Cemetery for the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Boston, recognized in part through the historic preservation efforts of the Arlington Historical Society and the Town of Arlington on the National Register of Historic Places;

 

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED, that the Arlington Town Meeting urges and invites the Select Board to declare June 24th “Prince Hall Day” throughout the Town of Arlington, celebrating the life and legacy of this Founding Father and civil rights leader; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town of Arlington, Arlington Public Schools, and the broader Arlington Community is encouraged to develop programs and events to inform the public of the life, achievements, and contributions of Prince Hall.

 

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