Purpose:

The original National Grand Lodge was formed to give legitimate Negro Masons a single national home where they could meet, recognize one another, and regularize their work. Delegates from several Grand Lodges gathered in Boston in 1847 to create a National Compact that would bring order to overlapping lodges and unclear jurisdictions. That early effort to build harmony through a common national body laid the groundwork for the later evolution from the National Grand Lodge to the National Masonic Congress, and finally to the General Grand Masonic Congress (G.G.M.C.), which preserves the same desire for unity while honoring sovereign Grand Lodges.

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Mission:

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    The National Grand Lodge declared a mission “to support a way of life that promotes friendship, fellowship, and Brotherly Love… dispense charity, make good men better, and lead by example.” Yet even during the 1847 convention in Boston, sharp debates arose over how that mission should be carried out and who would hold ultimate authority. Those early struggles over dates, jurisdiction, and control helped shape a new understanding of Masonic leadership—one that the G.G.M.C. would later embody by promoting Brotherly Love and charity without demanding that Grand Lodges surrender their independence.

The Independents:

From within the National Grand Lodge there emerged a body of “Independents,” composed of Master Masons from Washington, D.C., New York, Maryland, Delaware, Ohio, and beyond. These brethren believed that all worthy Masons—whether A.F. & A.M., P.H.O., or P.H.A.—should be able to labor together without being forced under a single compact. They claimed jurisdiction over universal, symbolic Independent Masonry across the United States and Canada and welcomed good men from many traditions. Their broad, inclusive vision of independent yet cooperative Masonry would later find a permanent home in the General Grand Masonic Congress.

The National Compact Groups:

Those who remained loyal to the original National Compact accepted a centralized model. They surrendered their earlier warrants and charters to be “healed” and re‑warranted by the National Grand Lodge under leaders such as Hon. John T. Hilton. Constitutions and by‑laws were drafted to govern this York Rite body and to define which lodges would be considered “legal” under its authority. This compact system preserved one path of legitimacy, but it also sharpened the contrast with those who believed that true Masonic regularity could exist in sovereign Grand Lodges cooperating together—an idea that would later be championed by the G.G.M.C.

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States Rites Masons:

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As tensions grew, some Grand Lodges chose to separate from the National Grand Lodge and secure their own charters under state authority. These bodies, later known as Prince Hall Affiliation (P.H.A.) or “State Rites” Masons, developed their own path of recognition and governance. At the same time, the United Supreme Council, Southern and Western Jurisdiction (A.A.S.R.), was organized in Washington, D.C., under Ill. Edward H. Thomas, 33°. This Supreme Council, with which the present G.G.M.C. remains affiliated, became a key link between independent A.F. & A.M. Grand Lodges and the wider Scottish Rite world.

Declarations of Independence:

By 1869, many Grand Lodges under the National Compact began to withdraw and style themselves as independent State Rites Grand Lodges. The M.W. Grand Lodge of Washington, D.C. was among them. Leaders such as William T. Boyd gathered and studied thousands of documents from Grand Lodges, Grand Orients, and Supreme Councils in Europe and America, revealing a broad network of correspondence and concern over race, recognition, and regularity. These declarations of independence, reorganizations, and mergers showed that many Colored Masons sought a structure that respected both their sovereignty and their international connections—a balance later realized in the General Grand Masonic Congress.

       

Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine / Romanian Warrant and the G.G.M.C.

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Following the landmark 1910 legal ruling in Washington, D.C., Ill. John G. Jones affirmed the authority and identity of the General Grand Masonic Congress. The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Washington, D.C., A.F. & A.M., became recognized as the mother Grand Lodge for predominantly African‑descent A.F. & A.M. Masonry in the United States, properly formed from four warranted lodges—Joppa No. 1, Jerusalem No. 2, Hiram Abiff No. 3, and King Solomon No. 4—chartered by the National Grand Lodge of Romania (1880). That Romanian warrant was issued by a National Romanian Grand Lodge that at the time was recognized by the Grand Lodge of England before World War in 1914, before the hostile take over of the country by Germany and the Central Powers , provided an international foundation for the G.G.M.C. and its network of independent Grand Lodges.

The original National Grand Lodge of 1847 was reorganized and renamed the General Grand Masonic Congress on August 9, 1889, in Cleveland, Ohio, under Ill. John G. Jones, 33°. It was later incorporated in Washington, D.C., on April 27, 1896, with a new warrant and constitution from the Romanian National Grand Lodge, and re‑incorporated in 1927 and 1946 to strengthen its legal standing. Today, the G.G.M.C. is a national Masonic body of independent A.F. & A.M. Grand Lodges in the United States, working under the charter of the M.W. Grand Lodge of Washington, D.C., and in affiliation with the United Supreme Council, Southern and Western Jurisdiction (A.A.S.R.), with Washington, D.C. as its Holy See

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The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Washington D.C. is the mother grand lodge for all Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of predominantly African Descent in the United States.  The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Washington D.C. is the first predominantly African American Grand Lodge in the U.S. to form correctly by abiding by the old regulation of 3 or more warranted lodges chartered by competent Grand body or bodies of Masons.  The Most Worshipful Grand lodge of Washington D.C. A.F.&A.M. was incorporated in Washington D.C. in August of 1896 and its founding lodges were Joppa Lodge #1, Jerusalem Lodge #2, Hiram Abiff Lodge #3, and King Solomon Lodge #4 all being originally warranted by the Romanian National Grand Lodge of 1880 with General Bartolomeu Constantin Savoiu as their Sovereign Grand Commander Grand Master, a grand lodge that was and is recognized by the Grand Lodge of England. 

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The Original name of our August organization was The National Grand Lodge (N.G.L.) organized June 27. 1847  in Boston, MA, it was reorganized and renamed  "The National Masonic Congress", Aug. 9th, 1889, by the Ill. John G. Jones, 33rd in Cleveland, OH which was later Inc. under John G. Jones,

April 27, 1896, in Washington, D.C. as the General Grand Masonic Congress (G.G.M.C.) with a New Warrent & Constitution to operater and Work in the United States & Canada from the 1880 National Grand Lodge of Romania. It was later Re-Inc. under Ill. G.C. William, Nov. 3, 1927, in Washington, D.C., 

to be finally Re-Inc. under Ill. J. C. Parker, Aug. 26, 1946, Washington, D.C. …

The G.G.M.C. is a National Masonic Body composed of independent Member States A.F. & A.M. Grand Lodges within the U.S.A. Working under the Charter of The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M. in Washington, D.C. These lodges are also affiliated with the United Supreme Council (U.S.C.) Southern & Western Jurisdiction  (A.A.S.R.) where Washington, D.C, is our Holy See.

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