Freemasonry is one of the world's oldest fraternal organizations. It is a society of men concerned with moral and spiritual values. Members are taught its precepts by a series of ritual dramas that follow ancient forms and employ the symbolism of stonemasonry. Assuming its present form in England during the 18th century, Freemasonry came to America with the colonists, and Freemasons have played many roles in American history. When the author first inquired about the admission of African Americans to Masonic lodges, he was told: They have their own lodges. He later learned that white Masons viewed black Masons not as separate but equal but as irregular and clandestine. Nevertheless, he also learned that members of the predominantly black Prince Hall Masonic Grand Lodges have held their heads high and practiced the ancient mysteries for over two hundred years. There is now light at the end of the tunnel. Since 1989, thirty-seven mainstream (white) Grand Lodges have extended fraternal recognition to their Prince Hall counterparts. It is our hope that we will eventually see the end of the contradiction of a color line in an organization dedicated to the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man.

Between 1926 and his untimely death in 1929, Blind Lemon Jefferson was the largest-selling African-American blues singer in the United States. Blind from birth, Lemon wandered the streets of Wortham, Groesbeck, Marlin and Kosse in Central Texas, playing his guitar and soliciting contributions with his tin cup. In 1912 he caught a train to Dallas, where he performed in the famous Deep Ellum district. He was discovered by a talent scout for Paramount Records and taken to Chicago in 1925. Between 1926 and 1929, Lemon recorded more than a hundred titles and traveled extensively. His musical influence was widespread, affecting white and African-American musicians alike and extending to musical forms other than the blues. Robert L. Uzzel, was born in Waco, Texas, holds a doctor of philosophy degree from Baylor University. He has been a miister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church since 1975 and currently serves as pastor of Forest Hill AME Church in Fort Worth. His articles on theological and historical subjects have appeared in a number of publicatioons.