(by WECT Staff, West News 6, March 8, 2023)
Giblem Lodge No. 2, the first African American Masonic Lodge, is set to be reviewed by the Wilmington Historic Preservation Commission on Thursday for a recommendation to give it a local landmark designation.
Three stories high and located on 19 N. 8th Street, the lodge was first built in 1871. Isabelle Shepherd with the Historic Wilmington Foundation says the lodge was a symbol of Black culture before the 1898 massacre.
She says after the coup, it lost members and funding, and it later was used as the city’s Black library during Jim Crow. It fell into disrepair in the mid-1900s, but efforts are ongoing to rehabilitate the building. Masons still hold meetings at the historic building.
“Giblem Lodge stands today as a symbol of…
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She says after the coup, it lost members and funding, and it later was used as the city’s Black library during Jim Crow. It fell into disrepair in the mid-1900s, but efforts are ongoing to rehabilitate the building. Masons still hold meetings at the historic building.
“Giblem Lodge stands today as a symbol of…
read more: