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The Jason Russell House was the site of the bloodiest fighting during the first day of the Revolutionary War, April 19, 1775. Today it and the adjoining Smith Museum hold collections of the Arlington Historical Society.

Prince Hall Memorial

An effort has begun to place a memorial to Prince Hall on the historic Cambridge Common. A committee formed by Mayor E. Denise Simmons has gained preliminary approval from the Cambridge Historic Commission to design and place the memorial on the Common's rotunda near the George Washington Memorial.

The site of that proposed monument was dedicated on Saturday, September 13, 2008. More information is available on the Prince Hall Memorial Project web site.

Memorial Day Address

Every year since the 1990 rededication of the Prince Hall Cemetery, there has been a noontime ceremony on Memorial Day. The 2004 - 2011 addresses, given by the President of the Arlington Historical Society are here:
2004 Address
2005 Address
2008 Address
2009 Address
2010 Address
2011 Address

The Prince Hall Cemetery

The Prince Hall Cemetery on Gardner Street in Arlington is steeped in American history. The Masonic Lodge was founded by Prince Hall in Boston in 1776. In 1864, Grand Master William B. Kendall of the Prince Hall Grand Lodge deeded the Gardner Street parcel he had purchased in 1856 to his lodge's Masonic Order.

Black Americans needed a place to bury their loved ones. The property was to be put in trust to be used exclusively as a Masonic burial ground to be known as Prince Hall Cemetery. Records indicate it was in use until about 1897 when for unknown reasons, it fell into disuse and as time passed it was forgotten.

 Prince Hall Cemetery
Masond March to the Prince Hall Cemetery

In 1987, the Arlington Historical Society learned of the existence of the cemetery and immediately recognized its historical importance. The Prince Hall Grand Lodge located in Dorchester and the Arlington Historical Society subsequently formed an organization named the Prince Hall Mystic Arlington Cemetery Association which is responsible for its upkeep. The cemetery was restored through donations from the Prince Hall Grand Lodge and by the generosity of the town of Arlington through the town's sharing its Community Development Block Grant funds. In 1990 the cemetery was rededicated. In 1998, the cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Every year since the rededication, there has been a noontime ceremony on Memorial Day. Masons from the Prince Hall Grand Lodge march into the cemetery where there is held a brief ceremony which includes a benediction, presentation of flags, remarks about the history of the cemetery, an address by the president of the Arlington Historical Society, remarks by the Grand Matron, remarks by the Grand Master, taps, and a benediction.

Following the ceremony, members of the lodge proceed to the Copps Hill Burying Ground in Boston where Prince Hall is buried.

The 2011 address, given last year by the President of the of the Arlington Historical Society is here: Memorial Day Address - Monday, May 30, 2011.

Photos by Alan H. Jones.
Copyright Arlington Historical Society, 7 Jason Street, Arlington, MA 02476 | Phone: 781-648-4300
Questions or comments about the web site: webmaster@arlingtonhistorical.org