Revised Constitution and Code of the Most Worshipful United Grand Lodge of Iowa Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons
Des Moines: Iowa State Bystander, 1913. 123pp., with four calling cards and a manuscript oath laid in. Original blue cloth, gilt decorations and titles stamped on front cover. Moderate soiling to boards, some scuffing to edges. Hinges cracked but holding, ink ownership inscription on front pastedown, a few ink notations in text. Good plus. Item #3965
A revised constitution and code book for the Most Worshipful United Grand Lodge of Iowa (UGLI), an African American masonic organization based in Des Moines. UGLI was founded in July 1887 as a union between the two existing Ancient, Free and Accepted Masonic Grand Lodges of Iowa, formed in 1881 and 1884, respectively. As of 1950, the organization is known as the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Iowa, F & A.M. The present work, a revised constitution and code book, was published by the Iowa State Bystander, considered to be the oldest African American newspaper west of the Mississippi River. The Bystander was established in Des Moines in 1894 as a four-page weekly serving Iowa's Black community.
While the book is itself is already a rare survival, this copy is enhanced by a group of items laid in which document Black businesses and individuals in Iowa in the 1920s. This includes four business cards, one for the N.L. Black Printery of Washington, Iowa. Narris Lehigh Black was listed in the 1942 edition of "Who's Who in Colored America" as a longtime printer and fraternal officer. He owned and operated his eponymous print shop from 1911 to 1928 and was printer and part owner of two Washington newspapers.
This copy is further enhanced by its provenance, evidenced by the ownership inscription on the front pastedown, reading "A.W. Draine" with an address in Keokuk, Iowa. Alonzo W. Draine was the publicity officer for the Keokuk branch of the NAACP. He served in various leadership roles for UGLI as well as the Keokuk Union League from 1895 through at least 1946. According to one newspaper account, an event in 1920 brought together Draine, N.L. Black, and the owners of the three business cards found here. All of the men attended an UGLI meeting in Keokuk in July of 1920. The other men include Ottaway M. Green, who ran a large laundry business in Washington, Iowa; Harry W. Rose, who was the head waiter at a hotel in Dubuque; and A.O. Powell, who is regularly mentioned in newspapers accounts as an AME Church and UGLI leader, and who later in life helped to found a statewide Republican organization of African American voters. Also laid in is a manuscript template for an oath to be taken by a member of the Keokuk Union Lodge. No copies located in OCLC.
Price: $2,500.00