On April 17, 1887, under Past Eminent Grand Patron James Walker Hood who at the time was serving as the presiding Bishop of the New York Conference of the AME Zion church, and Bro. Joseph Stills Curtis a resident of New York and a Past Master of Celestial Lodge No. 3, who was also a member of the Most Eminent Grand Chapter, Order of the Eastern Stars of the State of North Carolina,(now the Prince Hall Grand Chapter, Order of the Eastern Stars for the State of North Carolina), established Alpha Chapter in the City of New York. This was the first Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star that was established in what is now the Prince Hall Fraternity in the State of New York. The first Worthy Matron of Alpha Chapter was Sis. Annie E. Johnson and the first Worthy Patron was Bro. William Lawrence.
The Order of Eastern Star is an adoptive rite of Freemasonry with teachings based on the Bible and whose objectives are charitable and benevolent. The acknowledged founder of Order of the Eastern Star was Dr. Robert Morris, a lawyer and educator from Boston, Massachusetts, who was a Master Mason and Past Grand Master of the Jurisdiction of Kentucky. Dr. Morris originally intended his creation to become a female branch of Freemasonry, but he failed to overcome the great opposition this idea engendered. After publishing his ritual in 1849-50, he became associated with Robert Macoy. In 1867 Macoy wrote and published a ritual based on the ritual first published by Morris.