Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Aasland, Julius O.
2. Abadu-Bentsi, D. K.
3. Cooper, Aldradge B.
4. Davis, Harry E.
5. Lyons, Maritcha Rémond, 1848-1929
6. Parker, David W.
7. Schomburg, Arthur Alfonso, 1874-1938
8. Sherwood, Jose Henry
9. Tatsch, J. Hugo (Jacob Hugo), 1888-
10. Voorhis, Harold Van Buren, 1894-

Description

1. 16.2 lin. ft.

Summary

1. Personal and family papers including correspondence, biographical and genealogical documents, writings, and other material, relating to Williamson's family and life. Family members represented include George Lyons Sr., Albro Lyons Sr., Mary Lyons, Maritcha Remond Lyons, Mary Elizabeth Pauline (Lyons) Williamson, and Albro Lyons, Jr. Topics covered include the lives of blacks in New York City, Providence, R.I. and in California where Williamson grew up; his employment with the United States Postal service; and discrimination in various places, including the Brooklyn and Providence school systems in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
2. The bulk of the collection consists of extensive research material Williamson compiled on black Freemasonry, and his work determining its true origins and authenticity. Williamson's correspondence touches on every facet of black Freemasonry, its laws, philosophy and rituals. He sought to establish recognition of black Freemasons by the white lodges and to dissolve the barriers of racial discrimination within the brotherhood. Williamson corresponded with Masons across the United States and in numerous foreign countries. The research files include correspondence, writings by Williamson and others, legal papers, records including minutes, annual reports, and financial statements of various Masonic lodges, certificates, printed material about lodges throughout the United States and worldwide, scrapbooks, and other material relating particularly to Prince Hall Masonry and the Order of the Eastern Star, in which his wife, Blanche C. Atkins Williamson (d. 1960), was active.
3. The papers of Maritcha and Pauline Lyons illustrate the interests and activities of two 19th century middle class black women. Maritcha Remond Lyons (1848-1929) was a teacher in the Brooklyn school system for forty-eight years and was the second black woman to be appointed an assistant principal in that system. The collection includes her memoir, entitled "Memories of Yesterdays: All of Which I Saw and Part of Which I Was," in which she discusses the family's experiences during the 1863 draft riot in New York City and other aspects of family life in New York City and Providence, R. I. in the 19th century. Pauline Lyons Williamson's letters (1885-1887), written from California to her family in New Jersey, present a picture of the activities and concerns of a young widowed woman attempting to adjust to a new environment and raise her young son, Harry. A genealogy of the Lyons-Williamson family, which was researched and prepared by Harry Williamson, is also in the collection.

Subject

1. Freed persons > United States
2. Williamson, Blanche C. Atkins, -1960
3. Providence (R.I.) > Social life and customs
4. Parker, David W
5. African American women > New York (State) > Societies, etc
6. Freemasons > Prince Hall Grand Lodge (N.Y.)
7. African American teachers > New York (State) > New York
8. African Americans > California
9. Discrimination in education > Rhode Island > Providence
10. Williamson, Harry A (Harry Albro), 1875-1965
11. African Americans > Rhode Island > Providence
12. African American freemasons > New York (State)
13. African Americans > Families
14. Order of the Eastern Star
15. African American seamen
16. Providence (R.I.) > Social conditions
17. Lyons family
18. Cooper, Aldradge B
19. Schomburg, Arthur Alfonso, 1874-1938
20. African American freemasonry > New York (State)
21. African Americans > Civil rights
22. Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) > Social conditions
23. Abadu-Bentsi, D. K
24. Davis, Harry E
25. Williamson, Mary Elizabeth Pauline Lyons
26. African Americans > New York (State) > Societies, etc
27. African Americans > New York (State) > New York
28. Sherwood, Jose Henry
29. California > Social life and customs
30. Aasland, Julius O
31. Postal service > Employees
32. Lyons, George
33. Discrimination against African Americans
34. Lyons, Maritcha Rémond, 1848-1929
35. Williamson family
36. Voorhis, Harold Van Buren, 1894-
37. Discrimination in education > New York (State) > New York
38. Tatsch, J. Hugo (Jacob Hugo), 1888-
39. African Americans > Study and teaching

Call number

1. Sc Micro R-3984

Note

1. Sc MG 52
2. Plaques, Masonic apron and medals transferred to Art and Artifacts Division.
3. Photographs transferred to Photographs and Prints Division.

Access (note)

1. Researchers are restricted to microfilm copy.

Source (note)

1. Williamson, Harry A.

Biography (note)

1. Harry A. Williamson was a member of the M. W. Prince Hall Masons. During his lifetime, he held more elected and appointed positions in the Grand Lodge of New York (Prince Hall) than any other member in its history. He was deputy Grandmaster, Grand Lecturer, and Grand Historian, as well as the Grand Secretary for over thirty years. Williamson became a student of Masonry and its literature, and embarked on an intensive search for information to document the "legitimacy" and "subsequent progress" of African Americans in Freemasonry.
2. A prolific writer on the subject of Freemasonry, Williamson published several articles and monographs, among them, Negroes and Freemasonry (1920), the Negro in Masonic Literature (1922), and The Prince Hall Primer (1925). He was editor of Freemasonry published in Brooklyn, New York and was an associate editor of the Masonic Quarterly Review, which was the official publication of the Grand Lodge. He was also a contributing editor for The National Fraternal Review.
3. During his Masonic career, Williamson was an honorary member of numerous lodges, a member of six American and foreign societies and a frequent contributor to black and Caucasian periodicals.

Publications (note)

1. Luchetti, Cathy. "Women of the West," chapter entitled "Pauline Lyons Williamson," pp. 115-121. Orion Books, 1982.

Processing action (note)

1. Surveyed
2. Processed
3. Cataloging updated

Author

1. Williamson, Harry A. (Harry Albro), 1875-1965.

Title

1. Harry A. Williamson papers, 1831-1965.

Access

1. Researchers are restricted to microfilm copy.

Biography

1. Harry A. Williamson was a member of the M. W. Prince Hall Masons. During his lifetime, he held more elected and appointed positions in the Grand Lodge of New York (Prince Hall) than any other member in its history. He was deputy Grandmaster, Grand Lecturer, and Grand Historian, as well as the Grand Secretary for over thirty years. Williamson became a student of Masonry and its literature, and embarked on an intensive search for information to document the "legitimacy" and "subsequent progress" of African Americans in Freemasonry.
2. A prolific writer on the subject of Freemasonry, Williamson published several articles and monographs, among them, Negroes and Freemasonry (1920), the Negro in Masonic Literature (1922), and The Prince Hall Primer (1925). He was editor of Freemasonry published in Brooklyn, New York and was an associate editor of the Masonic Quarterly Review, which was the official publication of the Grand Lodge. He was also a contributing editor for The National Fraternal Review.
3. During his Masonic career, Williamson was an honorary member of numerous lodges, a member of six American and foreign societies and a frequent contributor to black and Caucasian periodicals.

Publications

1. Luchetti, Cathy. "Women of the West," chapter entitled "Pauline Lyons Williamson," pp. 115-121. Orion Books, 1982.

Connect to:

1. NYPL Digital Collections
2. Finding aid

Added author

1. Aasland, Julius O.
2. Abadu-Bentsi, D. K.
3. Cooper, Aldradge B.
4. Davis, Harry E.
5. Lyons, Maritcha Rémond, 1848-1929.
6. Parker, David W.
7. Schomburg, Arthur Alfonso, 1874-1938.
8. Sherwood, Jose Henry.
9. Tatsch, J. Hugo (Jacob Hugo), 1888-
10. Voorhis, Harold Van Buren, 1894-

LCCN

1. ms 82001365

Research call number

1. Sc Micro R-3984