Tintype photograph of a man identified as James Turner, with two women

H.G. Pearce, American, active 1860s-1870s · ca. 1873

This tintype photograph of a man in Grand United Order of Odd Fellows regalia came into the collection identified as a photograph of James Turner and accompanied by a membership certificate for Turner in the Prince Hall Freemasons Celestial Lodge No. 2 of Rhode Island. It is possible Turner was a member of both the G.U.O.O. F. and the freemasons, or the identification of Turner in the photograph may be a misattribution. The embroidery on the collar “P.N.F.” likely means “Past Noble Father,” the highest degree of Odd Fellowship in the order’s structure. The two unidentified women may have been members of the Household of Ruth, the G.U.O.O.F. women’s auxiliary organization.