Since 1935 African-Americans have enjoyed a rich cultural and culinary Heritage on the sand and shores of the historically blackowned and operated American Beach on Florida’s Amelia Island these are their stories and their recipes I didn’t know Al Lewis he died in 47 and
I was born in 44 but Al Lewis was it he was the equivalent of when you go to school you study about George Washington Carver well he was a George Washington Carver he was a Frederick Douglas and though I did not know him I’m here today
Because of how he laid this Beach out if he had like this is Al Lewis’s Beach this is my beach I will sell you this and sell you that or the insurance company own this beach we wouldn’t be here today because the beach was sold whatever pieces they had Al Lewis’s
Great grandson James sold 100 acres of the property and it’s now not in the American Beach track and if the afro had owned the whole 200 Acres we would not be here today but Lewis was the kind who you know couldn’t enjoy a steak by himself he could not enjoy a recreation
Facility at property at Jacksonville Beach but he couldn’t do that by himself and he was the kind who was a race man that’s what we call people like that who did well and looked out for their brothers and sisters and wanted them to do well too so though he didn’t go any
Further than sixth grade he was a teacher and he taught his employees and his friends and his church members how to invest how to have something and he just shared with people and then on top of that when you talk about that era the
30s and the 40s 50s it couldn’t go up to no burn in bank or Bank of America or chase bank and go up there and I want to build me a house I want to buy me a car uhuh that didn’t happen for us but with the afro and ls’s investment and forming
The pension Bureau he formed the pension Bureau in 1920 and so with the money is invested in that you needed a mortgage you needed a loan you needed a car sign up you know not everybody could get it but you certainly had more people becoming homeowners and owning cars
Because of his investment and his smartness he was yeah he was a hero and his name is alive today with us on page 35 author Mara Dean phelts writes far more than an entrepreneur Lewis has been credited as the leading force behind several historic building projects still standing in Jacksonville including Mount
Olive am the Lewis family AUM and the fivestory reinforced Concrete and brick Masonic temple the roots of the Masonic Brotherhood run deep into the dust tracks of africanamerican history and experience in his book The Secret teachings of all ages manly P hall writes the sanctum sanctorum of Freemasonry is ornamented
With the Gnostic jewels of a thousand ages its rituals ring with the divinely inspired words of seers and sages a hundred religions have brought their gifts of wisdom to its altar Arts and Sciences unnumbered have contributed to its symbolism Freemasonry is a worldwide University teaching the liberal arts and
Sciences of the soul to all who will hearken into its words its chairs are seats of learning and its pillars uphold an arch of universal education its trussle boards are inscribed with the Eternal varities of all ages and upon those who comprehend its sacred depths has dawned the realization that within
The freemasonic Mysteries lie hidden the long lost Arcana sought by All Peoples since the Gen genis of human reason the philosophic power of Freemasonry lies in its symbols its Priceless Heritage from the mystery schools of Antiquity completed in 1916 the Sonic Temple has served as the focal point for Jacksonville’s black communities commercial and fraternal activities for decades anchoring laila’s Broad Street so writes urban planner Andis Davis then valued at $12,000 the mixed use building featured retail at Street Lev office space on the second and third floors with the top floors being occupied by the Grand Lodge described as one of the finest buildings in the world owned by the black community throughout Jacksonville’s history the Masonic
Temple was instrumental in the development of the local black middleclass community civil rights and the chitlin circuit still owned and operated by the most worshipful Union Grand Lodge most ancient and honorable fraternity free and accepted masons Prince Hall affiliation Florida and Biz Central America jurisdiction Incorporated the building was designated
To the National register of historic places in 1980 in his book The Lost keys of Freemasonry Manley P hall writes about the Master Mason on the upper steps of spiritual unfoldment stands the Master Mason who spiritually represents the graduate from the school of esoteric learning in the ancient symbols he is
Represented as an old man leaning upon a staff his long white beard upon his chest and his deep piercing eyes sheltered by the Brows of a philosopher he is in truth old not in years but in wisdom and understanding which are the only true measurement of age
Through years and lives of Labor he has found the staff of life and Truth upon which he leans he no longer depends upon the words of others but upon the still voice that speaks from the heart of his own being there is no more glorious position that a man May hold than that
Of a master Builder who has risen by labor through the degrees of human consciousness in this picture manly Pall writes is concealed the allegory of the Lost word the Master Mason having completed his labors becomes a worker on a higher plane than the one in which the ordinary Builder is permitted to work
The Master Mason becomes the Capstone of the universal Temple dearly and well beloved Brethren of the African Lodge as through the goodness and mercy of God we are once more met together in order to celebrate the Festival of John the Baptist it is requisite that we should on these public
Days and when we appear in form give some reason as a foundation for our so dooing I shall at this time Endeavor to raise part of the super structure for howsoever good the foundation may be yet without this it will only prove a babble I shall therefore Endeavor to sh the
Duty of a Mason and the first thing is that he believes in one Supreme Being that he is the great architect of this visible world and that he governs all things here below by his Almighty power and his watchful eye is over all our works the next thing is love and
Benevolence to all the whole family of mankind as God’s make and creation therefore we ought to love them all For Love or hatred is of the whole kind for if I love a man for the sake of the image of God which is on him I must love
All for he made all and upholds all and we are dependent upon him for all we do enjoy and expect to enjoy in this world and that which is to come therefore he will help and assist all his fellow men in distress let them be of what color or
Nation they may yay even our very enemies much more a brother Mason another thing a Mason ought to observe is that he should lend his helping hand to a brother in distress and relieve him this we may do various ways for we may sometimes help him to a cup of water and
It may be better to him than a cup of wine good advice may be sometimes better than feeding his body helping him to some lawful employment better than giving him money so defending his case and standing by him when wrongfully accused may be better than clothing him
Better to save a brother’s house went on fire than to give him one thus much may suffice if thus we by the grace of God live up to this our profession we may cheerfully go the rounds of the compass of this life having lived according to the plum line of righteousness the
Square of Justice the level of Truth and sincerity and when we are come to the end of time we may then bid farewell to that delightful Sun sun and moon and the other planets that move so beautifully around her in their orbits and all things here below and Ascend to that New
Jerusalem where we shall not want these tapers for God is the light thereof where the wicked cease from troubling and where the weary are at rest those are the words of Prince Hall as delivered on June 25th 1792 Mr to Prince Hall is the father and founder of what
Is now called the most worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge free and accepted masons jurisdiction of Massachusetts the current Grandmaster of that Lodge says this our Legacy started on March 6th 1775 when Prince Hall and 14 men of color were made masons in lodge number 441 of the Irish registry attacked
Attached to the 38th British foot infantry at Castle William Island in Boston Harbor it marked the first time that men of color were made masons in America when the British army left Boston in 1776 lodge number 441 granted Prince Hall and his Brethren authority to meet as African lodge number one under
Dispensation finally on March 2nd 1784 Prince Hall petitioned the Grand Lodge of England through a worshipful master of a subordinate Lodge in London William Moody of Brotherly Love Lodge Number 55 for a warrant or Charter it was granted on September 29th 1784 Captain Scott brother-in-law of John Hancock delivered the warrant to
Prince Hall personally on April 29th 1787 Prince Hall died on December 4th 1807 and his remains are Ed at cops Hill Cemetery in Boston Massachusetts in 1847 out of respect for their founding father and first Grandmaster they changed their name to Prince Hall Grand Lodge the name it carries today
245 plus years later Prince Hall’s Legacy as a Freemason a Founding Father a leader and first black Grandmaster has survived there are now over 4500 lodges worldwide forming over 47 Sovereign jurisdictions with a membership of over 300,000 Masons who can trace their Origins to African Lodge 459 Boston Massachusetts Sunday afternoons at the beach were different were hundreds and hundreds of visitors from everywhere found the intersection of Lewis and Greg streets and the big parking lot an exciting place to be there you would find people wearing bathing suit Fashions of all kinds Automobiles of all
Kinds alcohol and food Aromas of all kinds and people just having a partying good time located at the dead end of Lewis Street and nearby were popular places and restaurants these businesses originated and accommodated the visitors there was a place near the beach walkover called Sweet Tooth where great smelling cotton
Candy was sold there was El Patio for food dancing soft drinks beer and a photo booth there was Reynolds sandwich shop next door to El Patio Williams Guest Lodge was located at the North End of Greg Street my late husband and I would go there often where we could
Reminisce and get a tasty seafood dinner with waitress style service personally served by the owners we knew so well Ducks Ocean View in on Lewis Street between Irvin and James streets was much like Williams Guest Lodge where you could take your special friends to a delicious sitdown dinner I remember
Going there with people like the president of Florida A&M University Dr and Mrs George wgore and eating there with my mother and other guests Dr Gore was my undergraduate alma mater president who was at that time vacationing at the famous Al Lewis Motel on Greg Street evans’s rendevu sometimes
Called the liquor store was known for mouthwatering barbecue and seafood drinks beer liquor and a patio out back facing the ocean the rendevu was quite a place where Social Clubs and other groups often scheduled special events during other days of the week excluding Sundays on Sunday afternoons there would
Be so many people you had to Edge your way to get through the sit down and standup crowds then there was Dad and chicks down the street south of the rendevu known for good food soft drinks and beer we also claimed the honey dripper out on A1A the beach was not the
Beach without the honey dripper because because this establishment had a bar and sold liquor just like the rendevu back in those times it was a big thing if you were a black business and could own a liquor license also no one looked at you funny for being at the honey dripper for
Good food fun and listening to the Jukebox blasting away the popular oldies of the 50s and 60s even those old sanctimonious folks would be popping in and out crowds that were not already at the honey dripper headed there when it got dark at the entertainment area around Lewis and Greg streets those were
The good old days and this was our land we were shut out of the white World by Jim Crow laws but we were at home and felt safe and protected in our own world from the book The shrinking Sands of an African-American Beach published in 2006 by Annette Mulla
Meyers on page 144 of the American Beach cookbook author Marsha Dean phelts writes Annette McCulla Myers former president of the American Beach Property Owners Association has been the owner of the historic Miss Martha Hideaway on American Beach since 1960 Annette was born on Amilia Island and comes from a seafaring family
Community and town she states that Seafood was their livelihood her father wend Mulla owned his Shrimp Boat Annette United with another seafaring family when she married Elmo Meyers of nearby St Mary’s Georgia Elmo was the captain of his own ship and sailed far and near following shrimp early on Annette
Experienced the preparation and eating of a wide variety of seafood she has cooked a varied range of seafood and enjoys the delicate Taste of squid when it comes to eel she draws the line she’s had many opportunities to try her hand at eating or preparing eel but never had
A desire to work with this snake like fish when asked for her favorite recipe Annette finally remembered this one she created for her husband’s shrimp oat crew though she hasn’t prepared prepared this recipe in years she recalls that it was a hit with the locals and that they
Served it during the cold wintry months or in drumfish season an net describes drumfish season as when gnats are biting gats are a nuisance during the summer months and that’s when large drumfish bite as well nowadays a net favors serving a seafood Creole using shrimp with a combination of fish crab s
Scallops squid or whatever else The Catch of the Day is seafood Creole a recipe by Annette Mulla Meyers St Heat the oil in a saucepan until hot but not Smoky so I take the bell Pepper onion Celery and garlic until Tender Add tomato paste water and Seasonings [Applause] [Applause] sh Simmer 15 minutes stirring Occasionally Yeah Add seafood and he Thre Yeah serve over hot seasoned brown rice or other rice of your Choice Ter
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