Prince Hall Women: Power Beyond the Kitchen
Prince Hall Women: Power Beyond the Kitchen
By: Darneasha C. Pickett
Below is my personal opinion and in no way reflects the views of any organization in which I hold membership:
A popular masonic podcast aired an episode entitled Femalecraft Freemasonry on July 2, 2020, across nearly all social media platforms. The name of the podcast episode is not what I will be focusing on. I would rather like to direct the attention to the comment made by the special guest during the episode. As I continue let me say that I have not formally met the special guest who made the comment, but I will consider her a friend in advance.
In this podcast episode one of the panelists asked the question at 23:10 “Considering that Freemasonry is a predominantly male organization why pursue membership in freemasonry as opposed to going to something different or creating something that is exclusively female…?
The response to said question was given at 25:02 as follows: “I was asked why I don’t want to be an Eastern Star because I can cook at home for my husband. I don’t need to sit in the back and eavesdrop on you guys making your green beans and pancakes or whatever you have going on.. Spaghetti dinners. I can do all that stuff at home.”
While the statement above holds true to the fact that members of the order in some cases assist the brothers in preparing meals for events held to fund-raise for the lodge in which the members of the order meet as well. It seems that the statement offers the notion that the Order of the Eastern Star offers nothing more than cooks. That is where my friend and I disagree. The body is composed of males and females. While every jurisdiction is sovereign within Prince Hall Affiliation we most commonly practice bloodline which means the wives, mothers, widows, sisters, or daughters of a master mason in good standing are eligible for membership with that said this differs depending on the jurisdiction. I am certain that there are some wives cooking for their husbands within the chapter.
Although, I consider my friend’s statement extreme. It’s not her fault that the Order of the Eastern Star, Prince Hall Affiliation has not done the best job in keeping track of records, and the comings, and goings, but my good friend is of the melanin complexion. This is why I was even more compelled to offer my opinion. Being that in this episode my honorable friend stated that she majored in History for her undergraduate. She is aware that enslaved cooks helped shape American cuisine. The power of the kitchen is etched in works like The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks and Bound to the Fire: How Virginia’s Enslaved Cooks Helped Invent American Cuisine.
I repeat the guest states at one point in her answer “I don’t need to sit in the back and eavesdrop on you guys…”
The notion that members of the Order of the Eastern sit back and eavesdrop on the mason’s doings is a broad statement and while my friend directs this to the collective body of the Order and not an individual. It gives a false impression of practice. The Order of the Eastern Star has its own ritual to practice, By-Laws, and Constitution. Most members focus solely on its practices and may explore the connection to masonry, but care not to invade masonry.
Again, members of the order may work in the kitchen, but their labors don’t stop there. Prince Hall Grand Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, Michigan Jurisdiction, Prince Hall Affiliation sent a letter to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. It was enclosed with a donation. I will include the letter and content in the article for historical purposes.
I also think of Sister Charlotta Bass who wasn’t fixing spaghetti when the Ku Klux Klan was pulling on the door of her newspaper business attempting to attack her and I am certain Sister Rosa Parks wasn’t plating green beans while displaying courage the day she was arrested on a segregated bus. Now, I long to know what has the entity of my good friend done to push the equality needle.
I believe these women among others joined the Order of the Eastern Star because their vision of the past was clear enough to know that this was an organization that had members representing from reconstruction, to the civil rights movement, on to present day. Where was the organization that is being championed in this podcast episode in 1913, when Sister Mrs. M. E. Hamilton of Knoxville, Tennessee who served as Grand Worthy Matron for Excelsior Grand Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, Tennessee Jurisdiction, Prince Hall Affiliation headed the board for the first “colored” Medical and Surgical Institution in the city. The content published by the Knoxville Sentinel on January 17, 1913 will be included in this work in full for historical purposes.
The headline reads “Plan Charity Ward For Poor of Colored Race, Knoxville Medical and Surgical Society, Colored, to open Institution” it continues as follows:
“A charity ward with six free beds for the treatment of worthy poor among the colored race will be opened in the Knoxville college hospital if plans on foot by the Knoxville Medical and Surgical Society, materialize. Permission has been granted by Dr. R. W. McGranshall, president of the Knoxville college, colored, under the auspices of which the hospital is operated, to establish the charity wards. An executive board, consisting of members of the leading colored churches, both men and women have been appointed, and this board will begin immediately a vigorous campaign for funds to carry out the plans for the ward. An attempt will be made to raise $600 within the next sixty days. It is announced that already $50 has been secured, that amount has come from one contributor, with the assurance that it will be duplicated each year. It is also planned to conduct at a later date a tag day to help raise the necessary funds. This plan which is the first of its kind among the colored race in this city is the outcome of a suggestion made five months ago by Mrs. M. E. Hamilton and submitted to the society for consideration. Its endorsement at the recent meeting was followed immediately by the appointment of the executive board to carry it out. This board is as follows: Mrs. M. E. Hamilton, Mrs. Lillison, Mrs. Black, Rev. William F. Kennedy, Rev. William H. Moses-Mason, Mrs. Hollands, Mrs. Dantzler, and Mrs. Moore. The ward, which will be established as soon as the necessary funds are secured, will be conducted under the supervision of the Knoxville Medical and Surgical Society.”
Again, I say, where was the organization that was championed in this podcast episode in 1942, when the Ethel Beck Home was fully operational founded by Sister Ethel Beck, Past Grand Worthy Matron. It was published May 3, 1942 that “Good care and training is reflected in the health and behavior of children at the Ethel beck Home, Negro orphanage at 1835 Brandau Avenue. The home has big grounds space for flower and vegetable gardens, plenty of room for the child to play, chicken yards, pens for hogs. There are three cows to supply all the milk needed for the children. This is home for 26 children ranging from four to 15 years of age.”
Yet again, I long to know what the organization being championed in this podcast was doing at these times. Were their hands busy laboring for equality for future generations of melanin complexion skinned children like my dear friend and I? Was it in March of 1925 when Sister S. Joe Brown published The History of The Order of the Eastern Star Among Colored People illustrating orphanages representing: Marian, Ind., Americus, GA, Ft. Worth, TX, Rockland, Ill., Nashville, TN? The members of the Order of the Eastern Star have offered support throughout the African Diaspora from its inception until the present day.
While as a woman beholding the title of Freemason may seem superior to being a member of the order. I beg to differ and find no indication of such. Sisters and Brothers of the Order of the Eastern Star have etched their missions in history. They challenged racial injustice and systematic racism that rid our melanin complexions. I say with certainty that the members fighting the good fight weren’t only thinking of those who think like me, they considered those who think like my dear friend as well. It was God and those strong ancestral souls whose footsteps I follow and thought of during this piece. Their fortitude, passion, and persistence powered them and so shall it power me.
