Prince Hall Freemasonry in the Lone Star State

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.

Dr. Robert L. Uzzel was born on May 22, 1951, in Waco, Texas. He graduated from Waco High School in 1969. He received an Associate in Arts degree from McLennan Community College in 1971, a Bachelor of Arts degree from Baylor University in 1973, a Master of Arts degree from Baylor in 1976, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Baylor in 1995.
Uzzel has been a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church since 1975. He served as pastor of Emmanuel AME Church in Dallas from 1976 to 1979, of Macedonia AME Church in Kaufman from 1979 to 1987, of the Blooming Grove-Maypearl Circuit from 1996 to 1999, and of Forest Hill AME Church in Fort Worth from 1999 to 2002. He currently serves as pastor of Wayman Chapel AME Church in Ennis, Texas.
Uzzel worked as a social worker for the State of Texas from 1974 to 1986. He served as chairman of the Religion Department at Paul Quinn College from 1987 to 1997 and as associate director of Adult and Continuing Education at the same institution since 2002. He also has served as an adjunct instructor in Religion and History at Mountain View College, Cedar Valley College, Temple College, Navarro College, and Tarrant County College. Uzzel served as Master Councilor of Waco Chapter, Order of DeMolay, in 1970. He became a Freemason in 1972. Currently, he is a member of Goodwill Lodge No. 313, Free and Accepted Masons in Ferris, Texas; Dale Consistory No. 31, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in Dallas, Texas; and Zakat Temple No. 164, Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine in Dallas. In 1987 he was appointed as Grand Historian for the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas by Grand Master Thomas H. Routt. He holds the 1985 Certificate of Literature from Phylaxis Society and the 1999 Certificate of Literature from the Philalethes Society. He is a member of the DeMolay Alumni Association, the Scottish Rite Research Society, the Prince Hall Scottish Rite Research Institute, and the Lux e Tenebris Research Chapter. In February 2003, at the Washington Hotel in Washington, D. C., he was inducted into the Society of Blue Friars, an invitation-only organization of Masonic authors and editors. He was designated as Blue Friar No. 92 and delivered the Blue Friars Lecture entitled Thomas Riley Marshall: Country Lawyer, Hoosier Statesman, and Freemason.
Uzzel s articles on theological, historical, and Masonic subjects have appeared in a number of publications. His biography of a famous blues artist, Blind Lemon Jefferson: His Life, His Death, and His Legacy, was published by Eakin Press in 2002.
Uzzel is married to the former Debra Bass, a native of Fairfield, Texas. They have four children and seven grandchildren.