Prince Hall (c. 1735/8 – December 7, 1807) was an American abolitionist and leader in the free black community in Boston.

He founded Prince Hall Freemasonry and lobbied for education rights for African American children.

[1] Hall tried to gain a place for New York's enslaved and free blacks in Freemasonry, education, and the military, some of the most crucial spheres of society in his time.

Steve Gladstone, author of Freedom Trail Boston, states that Hall was "one of the most influential free black leaders in the late 1700s".

[8] Inside Prince Hall author and historian David L. Gray states that he was unable to find an official historical record of the manumission.

Intending to improve the lives of fellow African Americans, Hall collaborated with others to propose legislation for equal rights.

[11] Hall was interested in the Masonic fraternity because Freemasonry was founded on liberty, equality, and peaceful ideals.

Before the American Revolutionary War, Hall and fourteen other free black men petitioned for admittance to the all-white Boston St. John's Lodge.

He proposed a back-to-Africa movement, pressed for equal educational opportunities, and operated a school for African Americans in his home.

[29] Hall then started a school program for free black children out of his own home[29][1] with a focus on Liberal Arts and classical education.

In a speech given to the Boston African Masonic Lodge, Hall stated, "My brethren, let us not be cast down under these and many other abuses we at present labour under: for the darkest is before the break of day... Let us remember what a dark day it was with our African brethren, six years ago, in the French West Indies.

[30] His 1788 petition to the Massachusetts legislature protested the abuse and kidnapping of fellow Black Boston residents and called out many atrocities faced by the community.

Hall was one of several free blacks in Massachusetts who presented a petition to the legislature in 1788 protesting African-American seamen being sold into slavery.

[34] In a speech he presented in June 1797, Hall said: Patience, I say; for were we not possessed of a great measure of it, we could not bear up under the daily insults we meet with in the streets of Boston, much more on public days of recreation.

How, at such times, are we shamefully abused, and that to such a degree, that we may truly be said to carry our lives in our hands, and the arrows of death are flying about our heads.

[35][36] This plea, which included the contentions that African Americans are better suited to Africa's climate and lifestyle, failed.

When a group of freed black men had begun a trip to Africa, they were captured and held, which reignited Hall's interest in the movement.

[1][f] However, in his research, Gray found no record of the marriage or son, suggesting Primus Hall was from a different family.

[2][1][38] Thousands of other African Americans who lived in the "New Guinea" community at the base of Copp's Hill are buried alongside Snowhill Street in unmarked graves.