year of 1934. Growing up as a country boy, picking beans and other stuff that country boys were doing at that time. As far as my siblings, there are only three of us left out of 11, I have one sister and one brother still with us. My educational background. I attended Laurel High School in Donaldsonville, LA and graduated in 1954. I joined the Navy the following year, in August of 1955. My enlistment ended in August 1959, and I came to New Orleans and went to Union Baptist Theological Seminary. I earned my bachelor ’ s degree in 1972 and my master ’ s in 1975. I supported regional WH history [sic] preaching conventions and did a lot of trade work. I joined the local union, NOLA #689 [known as Laborers Local Union No. 689 AFL - CIO], where I spent 35 years in the construction business. I worked on all the high rise [buildings] you see downtown in New Orleans, LA from the Superdome to the Benson Towers. Now, politically wise, I was involved in politics because my first cousin you might know is Justice Bernette Joshua - Johnson, who was the first black Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. We ant to be able to record (video/audio) those interviews so that we can did a lot of campaigning on her behalf while she was running for various offices. And from those pursuits, I learned to be punctual, because her daddy always stressed being on time. So as far as political life goes, that was a great experience for me. Okay, I met my wife in 1960 at a picnic. So, I saw this young lady and my auntie said, “ look at that young lady over there, she has to have a wig on her head. ” So, I de- cided to investigate and in 1961 we got married. I have three sons, Craig, Derek, and BJ. All the boys are doing well, and I am proud of my sons. My second son is one of my associate ministers here at the church. Okay, what else we need? I have been a Prince Hall Mason for 53 years. In our Lodges we always hope that they will contain great men, young men. We need young men to come into the order and keep it going. We pray that the Lord will keep the older men here to teach the younger brothers how to conduct themselves as men. [Response to “ Who was the Worshipful Master of your first Lodge? ”] The Lodge [Worshipful] Master where I was initiated 53 years ago was Bro. Perryman. And the reason I came into Masonry was because a lot of my preaching friends, even in the country, (even my old preacher in the country) were Prince Hall Masons. Then when I came to New Orleans, I remember Frederick
Dunn, John Francis, and the older preacher I spoke of ear- lier were all Prince Hall Masons. And they took me under their wing, after that I was determined to become a Prince Hall Mason. [Response to “ Who was the Grand Master at that time?] Jno G. Lewis was a Grand Master! 53 years ago, Bro. Jno G. Lewis was the Grand Master. [Response to “ Did you hold any offices in the local lodge?] I served as the Chaplain in St. Luke #4 at my local Masonic Lodge and also the Grand Chaplain in the MWPHGL of Louisiana. [Response to “ Okay, so what inspired you to become a Prince Hall Mason, and what was your most memorable experience?] A few weeks ago, I had the privilege to preach at the Grand Lodge [Grand Session] memorial ser- vice. Great, great experience, and such a wonderful privi- lege to be selected for such a great honor. And when you think about all the preachers in the Order, and they [MWPHGL of Louisiana and the MWGM Ralph Slaugh- ter] select you to do the honor of preaching, that was a very glorious and exciting experience for me. And when you think about it, you know, where I came from and where I am today. And as I look back over my 53 years in
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