Policy Order O-28

WHEREAS: Generation after generation of Americans have looked at our founding fathers as role models that all children and our community can be proud of; and

WHEREAS: So many persons especially our children do not know who Prince Hall (1738-1807) was or properly consider him as one of our founding fathers; and

WHEREAS: Prince Hall met with Commander George Washington in Cambridge, July 2, 1775,  to plead for blacks to be allowed to join the Revolutionary Army; and

WHEREAS: He was the first Black community and civil rights leader in America; and

WHEREAS: Prince Hall created the first school organized by Black citizens for Black children; and

WHEREAS: Prince Hall petitioned the Great and General Court of Massachusetts to end slavery and the slave trade; and

WHEREAS: Prince Hall is primarily known as the first Black man made a mason in America and as the organizer and founder of African Lodge in Boston on July 3, 1775, now known as the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts F&AM with many Cambridge citizens as members and a rich history of contributions to our city; and

WHEREAS: An address Prince Hall gave to African Lodge at Menotomy, (Cambridge) June 24, 1797 told of the relationships between blacks and whites at that time, and

WHEREAS: A cemetery for Black masons in Cambridge, now a part of Arlington, is the burial site of eight Black masons; now therefore be it

ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to convene and work with a committee, including representatives from the Cambridge Historical Commission, the African American Heritage Trail Committee and interested and informed citizens, to select a suitable site on or around the Cambridge Common to honor Prince Hall and his contribution to the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts and the country.