BLACK PRINCE HALL FREEMASONS and WOMEN’S ORDER of the EASTERN STAR Two Original Panoramic Photographs

Item Details

Portland, Oregon, 1951, Panoramic Photograph

Two Original Panoramic Photographs. BLACK PRINCE HALL FREEMASONS and WOMEN’S ORDER of the EASTERN STAR. Original silver gelatin photographs, Portland Oregon, 1951. Photographed by Theodore Mentzer, Portland Oregon, with his ink stamp on the verso’s. Both photographs are in VERY GOOD Condition: light edge wear, a few bumps in the margins, and light toning to the verso, overall excellent tonality and detail. A stunning photographic record. Scarce.

“48th Annual Communication, Prince Hall Grand Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, State of Washington and Jurisdiction, Portland, Oreg. July 8th, 1951.” Sized 28.5” x 7” inches. Featuring 73 Black men, all exquisitely dressed and festooned with freemason regalia.

“38th Annual Communication, Prince Hall Grand Chapter, Order of Eastern Star, State of Washington and Jurisdiction, Portland, Oregon, July 8-11, 1951.” Sized 36” x 7” inches. Featuring 86 Black women and 23 Black men, all exquisitely dressed and festooned with freemason regalia.

Prince Hall Free Masonry is an historically African American fraternal organization founded by Prince Hall, a free Black man in 1775. Prince Hall formed in the Northwest in the 1880s and 1890s. The Prince Hall chapter in Portland was organized in 1891. At the turn of the 20th century, many African Americans were less than 40 years removed from slavery. Many were poor, illiterate and had no political power. Several community institutions were established at this time including fraternal lodges, civic organizations, benevolent societies and social clubs which provided Portland’s Black citizens with political, social, and economic stability and a platform for Black activism. Because of red-lining and segregation, Albina was the only Black neighborhood in Portland. By the 1950s, the Prince Hall Masons were a pillar of Portland’s Black community, headquartered at the Masonic Temple at N. Rodney Street and N. Russell Street.

The midcentury represented the fraternity’s zenith and Portland’s African American women established a Women’s auxiliary, the Order of the Eastern Star. Black women were able to exercise power, influence, and independence apart from their families or husbands and become leaders in their communities in their own right. Prince Hall members worked alongside the NAACP and local civil rights leaders to push for legislative milestones, such as the Oregon Public Accommodations Act (1953) and the Fair Housing Act (1957). The Prince Hall Grand Lodge in Portland oversaw scholarship programs, youth initiatives, and mutual aid networks, which were documented in grand lodge souvenir programs throughout the 1950s.

Theodore Mentzer (1892-1953) was a prominent early 20th century commercial photographer based in Portland, Oregon. Operating out of 1608 NE Halsey St, he specialized in large format, sweeping panoramic photos of various subjects throughout the Pacific Northwest.