Daniel and Ida Coates and the Prince Hall Masonic Lodge and the Order of the Eastern Star
The 1950s was called the "joining decade" as Americans joined all sorts of civic organizations: the Kiwanis Club, Lions Club, Shriners Club. The Prince Hall Masonic Lodge and Order of the Eastern Star were no different, offering comraderie, connection, and community service for African American men and women in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and beyond.
The address of 810 N. Mable Avenue in Sioux Falls was home to Daniel and Ida Coates, who were integral in the formation of the local chapters of the Prince Hall Masonic Lodge and Order of the Eastern Star. Daniel and Ida worked together with various members of the Black community to help promote an environment of inclusivity across the city. With a rich history in civic organizations, Daniel and Ida Coates quickly became important members of the Masons and Eastern Stars, connecting themselves with many racially focused programs and helped invigorate an atmosphere for change. By awarding outstanding African American citizens, the local Sioux Falls chapters of the Prince Hall Masonic Lodge and Order of the Eastern Star uplifted voices historically ignored.
Daniel Coates was born in Missouri in 1912, and moved to Sioux Falls at the age of twenty-five, starting his plastering and stucco business shortly after arriving in South Dakota in the late 1930s. Ida Moxley moved to Sioux Falls with her family from Illinois when she was young, around nine years old, where she grew up and decided to stay. She trained as a beautician at Louisa Mitchell’s California School of Beauty. Daniel and Ida were married on November 14, 1940, at St. John’s Baptist Church and lived with Ida’s parents during the early part of their marriage before moving to 810 N. Mable Avenue in town.
As Daniel became more established in town, he saw a lack of ways for socializing and giving back to the community which is where his interest in the Masons started. The Prince Hall Masonic Lodge was an all-male African American fraternal organization founded by Prince Hall in 1784 during the Revolutionary Era. With the idea of collecting the working man to help enter the social fabric of the new nation, the organization continued throughout the next two centuries. Daniel Coates helped bring the Prince Hall Masons to Sioux Falls during the early 1940s. The Order of the Eastern Star was an all-female African American civic club founded in 1867, with the same goals and ideas in mind to that of the Prince Hall Masonic Lodge. Acting as a sister chapter to the Lodge in Sioux Falls, Ida was a key member of their organization. Sioux Falls’s chapter helped promote and bolster Black families by providing an outlet to be prominent and prolific members of their community. They held meetings with members within the city, but often partnered with chapters outside of Sioux Falls as well. In late 1956, the local Prince Hall and OES chapters invited members of both the Minneapolis and Winnipeg chapters of the same organizations, and held meetings at the Cataract Hotel downtown.
The local chapters worked in various ways with the Black population in Sioux Falls to help promote its values, and work to better the city for minority populations. Gov. Frank Farrar held a speech during his tenure (1969-1971), addressing the Masons and the Stars as a driving force in their community to promote social equality. Both the Masons and the Stars also nominated and awarded families in the community annually with an “Outstanding Citizen” award. Georgia Lee, a beautician and service worker, was awarded in 1957 for her sincerity and commitment to civic and social duties. Apart from the award, the local chapters also hosted public coffee meetings, luncheons, and banquets for anyone to attend, and used those as a vessel to connect themselves with their community.
The Masons and Stars often worked in tandem with the NAACP chapter in Sioux Falls, with Daniel becoming the president of the latter organization in the early 1960s. Daniel and Ida have left a lasting mark on both organizations that were pivotal in promoting a racial uplift in the city of Sioux Falls and still stand up when it comes to bringing equality into the city. Their connections with the NAACP, as well as their awards given to those who also helped shape the community, they had a reach that was enticing to any who hoped to also aid the people of Sioux Falls in becoming a better place for all. The historic spot focuses on the place where it all started, Daniel and Ida’s home they had together during their time spent with the chapters.
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