This photograph (according to James R. Morgan III, a historian of African American Freemasonry) is of the United Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, Prince Hall Affiliation. The occasion for the meeting was the 25th Annual Session being held in New Bern, North Carolina, on October 20 - 22, 1912. Included in the photograph are Sovereign Grand Commander Robert Pendleton and Sovereign Grand Commander James F. Rickards.
The first Scottish Rite organization for Black members was the African Grand Council of 1820 in Philadelphia. In 1864, two Supreme Councils were established in New York, one which was made up of members from the National Compact Grand Lodge. This caused the Southern Jurisdiction to split from Headquarters in Washington DC and was part of the 33rd Degree Southern Jurisdiction. Their goal is to serve as the College of Freemasonry for aspiring Master Masons.
This collection contains a single photograph of the United Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, Prince Hall Affiliation.
Purchased from Battleground Antiques
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