The Prince Hall Masons are the oldest and largest group of Masons of African origin in the world. Today there are forty Grand Lodges of Prince Hall Freemasonry in the United States, Canada, the Bahamas, and Liberia. These Grand Lodges preside over more than 5,000 lodges. All of them claim descent from the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts which is traced back to the African Lodge No. 459. Many facts about the early life of Prince Hall is disputed such as in this video referenced Boston as

In 1775, a man born into slavery became America’s first Black Mason. His name was Prince Hall, and the lodge he founded in Boston, Massachusetts, is still operating today. Founding the lodge was a step that he, along with 14 other men of color, saw as a step toward the political clout and financial success they had seen from other prominent Masons at the time — including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Paul Revere. The 250-year-old organization, generally considered to be the longest-ru