*On this date in 1874, the Order of the Eastern Star was created. This is the oldest Black sorority-based women’s organization in America.
Queen Esther Chapter No. 1, Order of the Eastern Star, was established at 708 O St. NW, Washington, DC, in the home of Mrs. Georgiana Thomas. And so it was one hundred years after the founding of the first Black Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, Queen Esther Chapter No. 1, Order of the Eastern Star, was officially instituted. The first Worthy Matron was Sister Martha Welch, and the first Worthy Patron was Brother Thornton A. Jackson.
On August 10, 1874, Thornton Andrew Jackson received several degrees of the Rite of Adoption of the Order of the Eastern Star from Brother C.B. Case, a Deputy, and agent of Illustrious Robert McCoy 33, Supreme Patron of the Rite of Adoption of the World. In addition, Thornton Jackson also received a letter from Brother Case granting him the authority to establish chapters of the Eastern Star among eligible Black women.
In obedience to the authority granted by William H. Myers, Grand Master, Union Grand Lodge, Jurisdiction of the District of Columbia, Brother Jackson established the first Eastern Star Chapter among Black women in the United States. In December 1874, Grand Master William H. Myers and Deputy Grand Master William A. Taliaferro, Union Grand Lodge, Jurisdiction of the District of Columbia, were invited to receive the androgynous degrees. They both accepted, thus further cementing the ties that bind the Masonic family together.
Upon the occasion of Grand Master Myers' initiation into the Adoptive Rite, he made the following statement to the sisters of Queen Esther Chapter No. 1-- extolling them to greatness: "May the dove of peace hover over you. May the All-Seeing Eye, whom the Sun, Moon, and Stars obey, ever watch over you. May he keep and protect you in your every effort to promote interests in the general good of this chapter." In 1890, Queen of Sheba Chapter No. 3 and Gethsemane Chapter No. 4, Order of the Eastern Star, were established.
Thornton A. Jackson, within the Jurisdiction of the District of Columbia, formed them too. He helped establish one chapter in Alexandria, Virginia, three in Maryland, and three in Pennsylvania. A regularly constituted Masonic Lodge adopted it in each instance when a chapter was organized and established. Thus, Brother Jackson brought about more unity within the Masonic Family.
In 1875, Pythagoras Lodge No. 9 presented the Queen Esther Chapter NO. 1 officers with their first badges, known as Rosettes. Worthy Patron Thornton A. Jackson, who wished the chapter success and prosperity in the work they were entering, made this presentation. He admonished the officers to wear the Rosettes with dignity, keeping the memory of the five Heroines: Adah, Ruth, Esther, Marth, and Electa.
In closing, Brother Jackson stated, "To you, Queen Esther Chapter and Associates, the representatives of the rays of the beautiful star and from whom comes the most charming, prophetic, and instructive lessons of the Old and New Testaments. May you always bring thousands to worship Him through the air of beauty and solemnity around all." This has been the charge as bona fide Order of Eastern Stars members since 1875.
