The organization of Social Lodge No. 1, which incidentally marked the introduction of Prince Hall masonry in the district of Columbia, began with the efforts of 30 black American masons under the leadership of John W. Prout.
In 1825 these men, all Master Masons having been raised in Pennsylvania, petitioned the African Grand Lodge of North America in Philadelphia for a warrant setting apart a lodge in the District of Columbia. The prayers of their petition were granted and the lodge was duly chartered and constituted on June 6th 1825, under the title and denomination of Social Lodge No. 7 of Washington DC. The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania appointed the following men as the first officers of the lodge: John W. Proud, Worshipful Master; Francis Thatcher, Senior Warden; William Jackson, Junior Warden; Moses Liverpool, Treasurer; William C. Austin, Secretary; William Wormy, Senior Deacon, and Lloyd Nichols, Junior Deacon.
The lodge’s growth was slow due to the suspicions of the slaveholders, which was not entirely unfounded, since much of the lodge’s time was spent assisting the slaves to escape into “free states.” During these early days, these brethren met in a large room located in Clarks Row on 13th Street, between G and H Streets, Northwest, and later on 14th Street between C and D Streets.
By 1946 two other Masonic lodges had been established in the district of Columbia, Universal Lodge No. 10 of Alexandria, Virginia and Felix Lodge No. 17 of Washington, DC. In 1848, five members of each of these three Masonic lodges: Social, Universal, and Felix, met in a convention for the purpose of organizing a Grand Lodge for the District of Columbia. As a result of their deliberations, the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia was organized on Sunday, March 27th, 1848. Two members of Social Lodge were elected as officers of the new Grand Lodge, namely: Charles Thatcher as the first Grand Master and Francis Thatcher as the first junior Grand Warden. The three lodges previously mentioned surrendered their old warrants and took out warrants under the new Grand Lodge. Thus, Social became number one; Universal number 2; and Felix number 3. Subsequently, Universal withdrew to assist in forming the Grand Lodge of Virginia and became the number one lodge of that jurisdiction.
Through the years, Social Lodge has endeavored to remain foremost in advancing the cause of Prince Hall masonry in the District of Columbia. The lodge provided the DC jurisdiction with 12 Grandmasters!