A Cornerstone

The cornerstone reads:

ERECTED P.P. XLIX BY WHEELING PYTHIAN ASSOCIATION N.A., S.A., E., A., A. AND A. JUNE 17, 1928

The initials mean:

• P.P. XLIX — “Pythian Period 49.” The Colored Knights of Pythias dated their Pythian calendar from March 26, 1880. Consequently, June 17, 1928, fell during the order’s forty-ninth Pythian year. The order’s explanation of its Pythian calendar

• N.A., S.A., E., A., A. and A. — North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.

Together, the expanded name is:

Knights of Pythias of North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia

This was the formal name used by the African American—or historically “Colored”—Knights of Pythias, an organization established separately after Black men were excluded from the predominantly white Pythian order. Background on the Knights of Pythias

In plain English, the stone declares:

This building was erected by the Wheeling Pythian Association during the forty-ninth year of the Colored Knights of Pythias and was dedicated or marked on June 17, 1928.

Most importantly for our research, the long sequence of initials is practically an organizational signature: it identifies this cornerstone specifically with Wheeling’s Black Pythian tradition, rather than merely with the Knights of Pythias in a general sense.

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