The 1917 FBI Files of Bishop Charles Harrison Mason

Bishop Charles Harrison Mason was the first denominational leader investigated by the FBI in 1917. Charles Mason a 20th Century icon and an African American religious organization s change leader in the beginning 20th Century Pentecostal Movement as it relates to his First Amendment rights of the Freedom of Religion in the Constitution of the United States. He approached the United States government during World War I s 1917 Selective Service (Draft) law to negotiate his organization s civil liberties as Christians to uphold their religious freedom as conscientious objectors to World War I s military draft laws. The purpose of this historical narrative is to describe how during the Jim Crow system in America, this small newly-formulated African American denomination and their national leader Bishop Charles Harrison Mason, faced seemingly insurmountable governmental harassment, persecution, and criminal prosecution from 1917-1920 for requesting religious liberties exemption and succeeded in court during World War I s Selective Service military draft laws.