Masons GatheringUtica, N.Y. – Deep in the Oneida County History Center’s archives is a remarkable photo from the mid-1920s of a party at Hiram Lodge No. 18 Free & Accepted Masons. Fifty-three people from Utica’s African American community are dressed in their finest. In celebration of Black History Month, Deirdre Sinnott, writer, researcher, and author of The Third Mrs. Galway, will present the facts about the lives of those partygoers and their families. This program takes place at the Oneida County History Center on Saturday, February 24, at 2:00 p.m.

Several individuals in the photo were unnamed, and Sinnott requests the audience's assistance in identifying them. Rev. Sharon Baugh, the pastor at Hope Chapel, the oldest Black church in the Mohawk Valley, will discuss the significance of examining Black history.

Oneida County History Center is a private 501(c) (3) not-for-profit educational institution dedicated to preserving the history, heritage, and culture of the Greater Mohawk Valley for present and future generations; please contact the History Center at 315-735-3642 or visit oneidacountyhistory.org for additional information.

***END***

Photo Caption: Party of Black Masons

For further information:

Patrick Reynolds

preynolds@oneidacountyhistory.org