Manuscript Collections

The following personal papers and organizational records may be useful as you conduct research on the activities of Prince Hall Masons who provided leadership, funding, and other forms of support for the freedom struggle, and especially for the Civil Rights Movement. Records also document collaborative projects initiated by Prince Hall Masonic organizations and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Each title below links to fuller bibliographic information about the item in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. In some cases, links to Finding Aids for the manuscript collections will be included.

Thurgood Marshall papers, 1949-1991 (bulk 1961-1991).
Call Number: Manuscript Division: 03251
Summary: Thurgood Marshall was a 33ᵒ Mason and chaired the Prince Hall Legal Defense Fund. Correspondence, memoranda, case files, legal papers, and subject files relating to Marshall's career as a federal judge, solicitor general, and associate justice of the Supreme Court.
Box 24 contains five (5) folders: Masons, 1961-1965 (5 folders). A link to the "Thurgood Marshall Papers: A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress" is available on the record.
Robert H. Terrell papers, 1870-1954 (bulk 1884-1925).
Call Number: Manuscript Division: 0327N
Summary: From 1899 to 1902 Terrell served as Grand Master of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge, District of Columbia. Teacher, lawyer, and judge. Correspondence, speeches and writings, newspaper clippings, printed matter, and other papers relating to Terrell's interest in African-American education and welfare, courts and schools in Washington, D.C., Republican politics, and the Washington Board of Trade.
Henry Albro Williamson Collection.
Call Number: Microfilm 2009/176
Summary: Bulk of the collection consists of extensive research material Williamson compiled on black Freemasonry. Includes also personal and family papers.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People records, 1842-1999 (bulk 1919-1991).
Call Number: Manuscript Division: 0307A
Summary: The following selected records document the relations between the Prince Hall Freemasons and the NAACP:
Box II. D132: Part II: Financial File, 1938-1959: Income and Expense Records, 1940-1955. Prince Hall Masons, 1955.
Box III: Part III: Financial File, 1953-1965. General Operational File, 1956-1965. Prince Hall Masons Legal Research Department, 1956.
Part VIII: Administrative File, 1867-1999. General Office File, 1867-1999. Daughters of Isis, 1973, 1983-1986.
Part VIII: Administrative File, 1867-1999. General Office File, 1867-1999. Prince Hall Grand Lodges, 1974-1985, undated.

Prince Hall Freemasonry: A Resource Guide

History, Humanities & Social Sciences: Ask a Librarian

Manuscript Collections