Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

A Celebration of the Role of DeMolay International in the Lives of Young Men

In celebration of DeMolay International’s one hundredth anniversary, the staff of the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library would like to congratulate the Order and recognize its commitment to shape young men of all nationalities into “leaders of character.” In this week’s post, we highlight this festive 1937 Halloween costume dance invitation addressed to Robert G. Milliken of Denver, Colorado.

Denver Chapter Halloween costume dance invitation (obverse).

Denver Chapter Halloween costume dance invitation (reverse).

While little information has been discovered regarding the costume dance held at Denver’s Scottish Rite Temple, Milliken’s 2011 obituary details a life that exemplifies the seven cardinal virtues or the "basis of good character" taught by the Order.

If you happen to be in the metro Boston area over the summer, please consult our website for more information regarding the museum's current exhibitions, including the Library’s new exhibit that celebrates DeMolay’s storied history.

 

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Captions

Denver Chapter Halloween costume dance invitation, 1937 October 29. Collection of the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum and Library, MA 014.

The DeMolay Centennial Anniversary

Crown of Youth, 1953. Mac & Jack, Saugus, Massachusetts. Gift of Middlesex Chapter, Order of DeMolay, Reading, Massachusetts, 2000.034.3.

One hundred years ago, Freemason Frank S. Land (1890-1959) founded the Order of DeMolay in 1919 in Kansas City, Missouri, at the age of 28. After the initial formation of the youth club, Land and other early members named the group after Jacques DeMolay (1243-1314) and met regularly at the Kansas City Masonic Temple. The Order was open to young men aged 16 to 21.The success and popularity of the original DeMolay group spurred members to set up chapters across the country.

When Land died in 1959, there were 135,000 DeMolay members and 2,097 chapters in 14 countries. Local chapters were and still are sponsored by a Masonic organization. Several objects related to DeMolay history will be on display at the Museum & Library through December 2019 as the organization celebrates its centennial anniversary in more than 15 countries worldwide.

One object on view includes a “Crown of Youth” from Middlesex Chapter in Reading, Massachusetts (at left). In 1953, the Mother’s Club for the Middlesex Chapter in Reading presented the crown to the chapter to commemorate their 30th anniversary. A plaque was later added in memory of “Dad” Herbert K. Miller.

Another object in the collection, a recently donated 1964 panoramic photograph, shows over one hundred DeMolay members and advisers at a Colorado DeMolay leadership camp outside Estes Park, Colorado. The first DeMolay National Leader's Training Camp was held at Bear Lake Lodge, Colorado, in 1924. 

DeMolay Leadership Camp, 1964. Larson Photography Studio, Estes Park, Colorado. Gift of of David A. Glattly, 2017.021.1.

1964 New Jersey Past State Master Councilor Thomas C. Richard gave this photograph to current Sovereign Grand Commander, David Glattly, who then donated it to the Museum.

Visit the Museum & Library to see more DeMolay items from the collection! Do you or a family member have photographs or items related to DeMolay? We want to hear from you. Leave a comment in the section below. 

 

A Distinctive Style of Past Master’s Jewel

Past Master’s Jewel Made for Henry Fowle, 1825. Boston, Massachusetts. Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, GL2004.5241. Photograph by David Bohl.

From the late 1700s through the present day, many American Masonic lodges have followed the tradition of acknowledging the contributions of a lodge master by presenting him with a personalized jewel to mark the conclusion of his term.  Over time and place these jewels, called Past Master’s jewels, have been made of different metals and have come in many sizes and shapes, depending on the jurisdiction, local taste and the issuing lodge’s budget.  Historically, the lodge commissioned an engraver to inscribe Past Master’s jewels with the recipient’s name, lodge and the dates of his term. 

Past Master jewels presented in America in the early 1800s often featured the Masonic symbols of a sun within compasses with a quadrant connecting the legs of the compasses. These jewels, usually made of silver, were often cut from a flat sheet of metal. We have previously we posted about an example crafted in this manner in 1812 that was owned by a Boston Mason.  Other Past Master jewels were cast or included cast parts, sometimes the central symbol of the sun.  Researchers have observed that this style of Past Master jewel design was likely inspired by jewels used by Scottish Freemasons in the 1700s.

In the 1820s some Boston lodges occasionally issued a different—and distinctive—style of Past Master jewel.  This design (illustrated at left and below) featured the symbols of a compasses and a quadrant at the center and was made as a plaque.  Leafy curves in relief decorate the edges of the plaque.  The plaque was cast, then its surface was textured with different tools. An engraver noted the recipient’s name and other information on cartouche at the center of the jewel.  The contrast between the polished, shiny surface at the center and the darker, mostly matte background and borders of the plaque add to this style of jewel’s visual appeal. St. Andrew’s Lodge presented Henry Fowle (1766-1837)—an active Mason in Boston in the early 1800s—this Past Master's jewel in 1825 (above at left).  Fowle served as Master of the lodge in 1793, from 1810 to 1817 and again from 1818 to 1820.  His brethren honored him with this jewel in 1825. Two years before members of St. Andrews presented a Past Master jewel of the same style as Fowle’s to Henry Purkitt (1755-1846), who held the role of Master from 1804-1805. This jewel is now in the collection of the Bostonian Society.

Past Master’s Jewel Made for George Girdler Smith, 1828. Boston, Massachusetts. Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, GL2004.3781. Photograph by David Bohl.

Brethren at Columbian Lodge in Boston honored George Girdler Smith (1795-1878) with a similar Past Master’s jewel in 1828 (at right). Later, after he had served several more terms, the lodge had the back of the 1828 jewel engraved with a message (below) thanking Smith for “the faithful and distinguished services he has rendered the Lodge as Master, during the Years 1828, and 1841 to 1844…..”  The brothers of Union Lodge in Dorchester, Massachusetts, gave Past Master Isaac W. Follansbee (d. 1882) a jewel like Fowle’s and Smith’s, more than a decade later, in 1858.  It is now part of the collection of the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library.  Although many examples of these distinct-to-Boston style jewels survive, there is a lot more to learn about them, such as who made them and what originally inspired their shape and decoration. If you know of more examples of this kind of Past Master jewel or have other observations about them, please let us know in the comments section below.

 

References:

John Hamilton, Material Culture of the American Freemason (Lexington, Massachusetts: Museum of Our National Heritage), 1994, 124-125, 137-138.

Aimee E. Newell, Hilary Anderson Stelling and Catherine Compton Swanson, Curiosities of the Craft: Treasures from the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts Collection (Boston and Lexington, Massachusetts: Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts and the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum and Library), 2013, 47, 244-5, 151, 195.

Back of Past Master’s Jewel Made for George Girdler Smith, 1828, engraving added 1844. Boston, Massachusetts. Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, GL2004.3781. Photograph by David Bohl.

"Bogus Mason Was Locked Up": Masonic Impostor Duncan C. Turner

Long-time readers of our blog will know that every May we return to the topic of our very first blog post: Masonic impostors. This year we focus on a man named Duncan C. Turner (born ca. 1847), who was featured in the 1903 booklet, Album of Masonic Impostors. He was previously published in the Masonic Relief Association's Official Warning Circular No. 147. The Album of Masonic Impostors' description of Turner is brief and to the point:

"Alias McNeill. Acacian Lodge No. 705, Ogdensburg, N.Y. Served time in prison."

An article published in the Buffalo Courier newspaper on November 14, 1897 makes it clear that the circulars published by the Masonic Relief Association worked. The newspaper recounts how Turner's profile was published in recent issues of the monthly Official Warning Circular - first showing up in the July 1897 issue. The article continues, noting that a "more recent letter announced that he [i.e. Turner] had been arrested in Cleveland and sentenced to the workhouse for sixty days, for working his swindle in that city. He recently regained his liberty and a still later [note in the Association's] circular stated that he was on his way East, all Relief Boards being instructed to keep a sharp lookout for him."

The article also reports how it was that Turner was apprehended in Buffalo by a Mason who had, indeed, kept a sharp lookout for him. After having met a local Mason, Henry Cutting, in town, Turner claimed that he had just arrived in Buffalo and had "fallen into a little ill luck." Cutting gave him the business address of Charles F. Sturm, who ran a furniture store in Buffalo and was the secretary of Buffalo's Masonic Board of Relief, which coordinated Masonic charity in the city. Turner made his way to Sturm's furniture store and "told Mr. Sturm a pitiful tale, which he concluded with an appeal for enough money to take him to New York." The article continues, noting Sturm's reaction to having a known impostor present himself to him: "On hearing the man's name, Mr. Sturm almost leaped from his seat in surprise." The article notes that Sturm called the police, who arrested Turner, "who was charged with being a tramp."

The Buffalo Courier reported about Turner's appearance in court on November 14. At that hearing, it was revealed that Turner had defrauded Masons in Briar Hill, NJ, Toronto, and Cleveland. The judge noted that Turner had already served sixty days in the Cleveland Workhouse for "obtaining money from Masons in that city by fraudulent pretense. The judge in the Buffalo courtroom sentenced Turner to sixty days in the penitentiary. At the sentencing, the judge declared that Turner "was the greatest liar with whom he had come in contact during his career as a dispenser of justice."

Want to read more about Masonic impostors? Be sure to check out all of our previous posts on the topic.

 

Emil Cruz: From the Philippines to Michigan

Emil Cruz, 1965-1980. Probably Michigan. Gift of Patricia Fé Andrews, 2016.070.19.

Emil Cruz (1904-1983), born in Camilng, Tarlac, Philippines, as Emiliano Cruz Quindiaga, emigrated to the United States in 1924 at the age of 19. He settled in San Francisco in 1925 before moving to the Detroit, Michigan, area sometime in the 1930s. It was in Michigan that Cruz started a family and begin his Masonic career. Cruz was a member of Schiller Lodge No. 263 and Damascus Commandery No. 42, both located in Detroit. 

In 1912, twelve years before Cruz set off for the United States, representatives of the three American lodges in the Philippines—Manila 342, Cavite 350 and Corregidor 386—met to organize a Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands. Today there are more than 300 lodges in the Philppine Islands. It is presently unclear if Cruz had any familial relationship with Freemasonry before becoming a Mason in Michigan.

Cruz's daughter recently donated a group of items to the Museum & Library that relate to Cruz's Masonic affiliations. The objects date from the mid 1950s to the late 1970s and include photographs, aprons, ribbons, and certificates. One object in particular, a wooden gavel made in the Philippines, and pictured to the right, illustrated Cruz's pride in both his Filipino heritage and Masonic accomplishments. On the gavel, it reads "Emil Cruz / Schiller Lodge No. 263-F & A.M. 1970 / Made in the Philippines /

Gavel, 1970. Phillipines. Gift of Patricia Fé Andrews, 2016.070.11.

"Philippines Acacia."

Philippine acacia, also known as Formosa acacia, is a perennial tree native to Southeast Asia and is commonly used in boats, furniture, carvings, and jewelry.

Do you have any information or items related to Filipino Americans and Freemasonry? Let us know in the comments section below.

 

References:

Philippine Center for Masonic Studies, "History of Masonry in the Philippines," http://www.philippinemasonry.org/, Accessed April 2019.

Emil Cruz,1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA Year: 1940; Census Place: Detroit, Wayne, Michigan; Roll: m-t0627-01881; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 84-1384. Ancestry.com, Accessed April 2019.

 

New to the Collection: Native American Shriner Blankets

Blanket with Shrine Symbol, 1921. Pendleton Woolen Mills, Pendleton, Oregon. Museum Purchase, 2018.001. Photograph by David Bohl.

In 2018, the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library added to its collection two 1920s wool blankets with Native American-inspired patterns and Shriner emblems as their featured central design. One of these, pictured at left (and the reverse, below), was manufactured by Oregon’s Pendleton Woolen Mills. It bears a label reading “Copyright 1921.” At that time, in fact, blankets of this style enjoyed popularity in American culture.

From the late 1800s to the early 1900s—ending right around the Great Crash of 1929—a vogue for Native American goods held sway in the U.S., for art collectors and fashionable types all the way down to Americans of more modest means. Popular magazines touted domestic displays that ranged from just a few items, to entire rooms arrayed with Native American baskets, bowls, and blankets. Known as "Indian corners," these displays became a common feature in home design, with many of the goods used in them created specifically for the market by Native artists. Merchants and makers sold these goods in department stores, “Indian stores,” and other commercial outlets.

Blankets like this one—called trade blankets, since they were originally exchanged between Native Americans and European settlers—were among the most popular collectors’ items. Pendleton Woolen Mills was the first American company established solely for their manufacture. Although there were other mills that also produced this kind of blanket, Pendleton took the craft to a new level. This was thanks in part to its employment of loom artisan Joe Rawnsley (d. 1929). Rawnsley toured the West to work with Native populations in creating specific designs and color schemes inspired by different tribes’ traditions. He used the Jacquard process in which punched cards guided automatic looms to produce blankets of much greater variety and detail than previously possible.

But what about that Shriner emblem, with its familiar crescent and scimitar? Around the time of this blanket’s design copyright, the Shriners—and Freemasons in general—were growing in strength and number throughout the country. National membership in the Shrine had grown to approximately 500,000 by 1921. Possibly this blanket was created to attract the purchasing dollars of this Masonic group. Regardless of what prompted its creation, this blanket reflects the popular interest in both Native American objects and Freemasonry in the 1920s.

Reverse, Blanket with Shrine Symbol, 1921. Pendleton Woolen Mills, Pendleton, Oregon. Museum Purchase, 2018.001. Photograph by David Bohl.

 

 

References:

Crazy Crow Trading Post, “American Indian Trade Blankets: The Rise of Pendleton Woolen Mills as the Primary Trade Blanket of Contemporary Native Americans,” https://www.crazycrow.com/site/rise-of-pendleton-native-american-trade-blankets/, (accessed Feb. 14, 2019).

The Henry Ford, “Sparking Innovation: The Jacquard Loom,” https://www.thehenryford.org/explore/blog/sparking-innovation-the-jacquard-loom/, (accessed Apr. 16, 2019).

Elizabeth Hutchinson, The Indian Craze: Primitivism, Modernism, and Transculturation in American Art, 1890-1915 (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2009). 3, 11-13.

William D. Moore, Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2006). 106-7.

Pendleton, “Indian Trading Blanket History,” https://www.pendleton-usa.com/indian-trading-blanket-history.html, (accessed Feb. 14, 2019).

 

Rare Temperance Letter Provides Insights into the Lives of Women

Research into this unsigned letter attributed to Mary E. Elliot (1851-1942) in the collection of the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library provides an intimate look into the life of this nineteenth-century reformer and sheds light into the personal motives that led many American women to champion the crusade against alcohol. In the letter, which may be read in full by clicking the image below, Elliot, the Grand Worthy Secretary for the Grand Lodge Massachusetts of the Independent Order of Good Templars, offers her support and praise to an anonymous female Temperance reformer whose relative suffered from alcoholism.

Temperance letter attributed to Mary E. Elliot, August 3, 1876.

"I wish I could fly to you – if only for a moment—to tell you how deeply I sympathize with you and how I would gladly lighten your burden of sorrow if I could. It seems cruel that one who has saved so many as you have and caused so much happiness should be permitted to see one so dear to her suffer from temptation. If you succeed in this same period in saving him what a glorious triumph it will be, I have for him feelings of the tenderest sympathy and trust that the prospect now looks brighter, knowing as I do your fidelity and devotion I feel confident that the victory will be yours. You have my earnest prayers that this may be the result; that he who is so kind and generous and capable of accomplishing so much good in the world may yet conquer his appetite."

While more research needs to be conducted to verify the identity of Elliot’s female recipient, readers may conclude from Elliot’s letter that she was most likely a leader or potential leader in the Temperance movement, a charismatic speaker and advocate of the cause who inspired both men and women alike through her lectures throughout the state of Massachusetts.

In addition to being an advocate for Temperance reform, Mary E. Elliot was a passionate supporter of the Grand Army of the Republic, a Civil War veterans association. In 1878, Elliot helped form an auxiliary relief corps to Willard C. Kinsley Post, No. 139, G.A.R., in Somerville, Massachusetts, and for fifty years, served as the Secretary for the Department of Massachusetts Women’s Relief Corps, the state’s auxiliary to the G.A.R.  Elliot also served as a regular contributor to the military department of the Boston Globe for nearly 20 years, where she wrote extensively upon the efforts of women to support the Relief Corps.

Do you have any information regarding the history of this document or the people behind its creation? Or would you like to learn more about the Temperance movement in America? Feel free to contact us or to comment about this topic in the comments section below.

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Captions

Temperance letter attributed to Mary E. Elliot to unknown recipient, August 3, 1876. Collection of the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum and Library, MA 300.010.

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References

Anonymous. 1901. Charles Darwin Elliot, Mary Elvira Elliot, from the Massachusetts Edition of the American Series of Popular Biographies. [Boston?]: [publisher not identified]. Accessed: 25 March 2019. https://archive.org/stream/charlesdarwinell00np/charlesdarwinell00np_djvu.txt

Cambridge Chronicle. 1879. “Temperance Reminiscences. Some Recollections of Twenty Years.” August 23, 1879. Accessed: 25 March 2019. https://cambridge.dlconsulting.com/?a=d&d=Chronicle18790823-01.2.2

Daily Boston Globe. 1942. “Mary E. Elliot is Dead at 91.” November 8, 1942.

Digital Public Library of America. n.d. “Women and the Temperance Movement.” Accessed 25 March 2019. https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/women-and-the-temperance-movement

Howe, Julia Ward, ed. “Mary Elvira Elliot” In Representative Women of New England, 305-307. Boston: New England Historical Publishing Company. Accessed: 25 March 2019. https://books.google.com/books/about/Representative_Women_of_New_England.html?id=BY0EAAAAYAAJ

IOGT International. n.d. “The History.” Accessed 25 March 2019. https://iogt.org/about-iogt/the-iogt-way/who-we-are/the-history/

Library of Congress. n.d. “The Grand Army of the Republic and Kindred Societies.” Accessed 25 March 2019. https://www.loc.gov/rr/main/gar/garintro.html

National Woman’s Relief Corps. n.d. “Women’s Relief Corps.” Accessed 25 March 2019. http://womansreliefcorps.org/

Woman's Relief Corps (U.S.), Department of Massachusetts. 1895. History of the Department of Massachusetts, Woman’s Relief Corps, Auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic. Boston: E. B. Stillings & Co. Accessed 25 March 2019. https://archive.org/details/historyofdepartm01woma/page/n7

"Paul Revere’s Ride Revisited": A Conversation with Fred Lynch

Fred Lynch. Photograph by Troy Paff.

The exhibition "Paul Revere’s Ride Revisited: Drawings by Fred Lynch" is on view at the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library through March 7, 2020.

What inspired you to select Paul Revere’s route as the subject of this project?

FL: An interest in American history started at a young age. Growing up, my family would walk the Freedom Trail, visit the Mayflower and wander through old cemeteries. My father was a high school history teacher. Now I’m an educator in the illustration department at Rhode Island School of Design and among the courses I teach is Visual Journalism—the creation of non-fiction artwork of investigation and research. With my own work, I practice what I preach. Preceding this project, I created a large series of drawings from and about faraway Central Italy, where I teach each July. I drew in a state of wonder, like we all experience when we travel. Following that experience, I wanted to turn my attention to a subject closer to my home and heart. I live in Winchester, only five miles from where Paul Revere's route passes by. I wanted to draw attention to the rich history and specific character of the place I live and where so much has happened.

How do you make your drawings?

FL: Drawing on site is an experience as well as an art. It’s extra-sensory. As I sit and draw for hours on the streets, I soak up every inch of the scene, along with its sounds, smells, and local characters. It is quite different from the monastic life of the studio. My goal is to translate and communicate that rich experience through my drawings. Each drawing is the result of hours spent driving along Paul Revere’s route, followed by walking around, and then finally drawing from observation. When I leave in the morning, I rarely know what I’ll draw that day. Something has to catch my interest or catch my eye. I guess I’m seeking serendipity. Much depends upon being at the right place at the right time. There are lots of obstacles to working onsite—such as traffic, weather, lighting, or even pests.

I start with a light interpretive pencil drawing, followed by many washes of ink. Drawing with exaggeration and character is welcome as long as the drawing is still faithful to the subject. After all, drawings are personal translations. My use of monochrome not only reduces the number of pictorial elements I need to worry about in the time I have, it also makes a historic link to documentary drawings and illustrations of the past. I want my pictures to be seen as informative as well as decorative, and timeless as well as contemporary.
After the work on location, comes the work in the studio. There I examine photographs I’ve taken to be sure I did not miss essential details. Often at this stage, I will add more contrast to the drawing and detail to some of the more precise elements. Research and writing is done last.

What did you learn over the course of this project?

FL: My stated goal at the start of the project was "to draw landmarks of the past and present, in order to form a visual essay that explores, documents, and reveals history, preservation, and change in America." In doing so, I soon found that it would take a lifetime to draw everything I found interesting. Between Boston and Concord, the landscape forms an extraordinary quilt of historic places and periods, rich with visual interest and stories. This route holds the story of America in many ways. For example, I’ve drawn everything from Colonial era slave quarters to Barack Obama’s apartment building when he attended Harvard Law School. Revolution, industry, religion, immigration, culture, entertainment—all can be examined in one short ride. In the short time since I’ve created these works, some places have changed, thus making my drawings…history themselves.

 

 

 

New Exhibition: “Paul Revere’s Ride Revisited: Drawings by Fred Lynch"

Royal Pizza & Subs, Somerville, 2012. Fred Lynch. Ink on paper. Loaned by the artist.

“Paul Revere’s Ride Revisited: Drawings by Fred Lynch," a new exhibition now on view at the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, provides a fresh perspective on Paul Revere’s famous ride. This exhibition features 19 drawings by artist Fred Lynch, accompanied by his written impressions. Fred Lynch’s drawings of landmarks—both celebrated and lesser known—show how much has changed since Revere’s time, even as echoes of his era remain. The exhibition is currently on view through March 7, 2020.

Americans recognize Revere’s now-famous warnings: “The British are coming” or “The Regulars are out.” The story of Revere’s ride is over 200 years old, and its place in the early days of the American Revolution is well understood. For many, however, the details of Revere’s ride are left to their imagination. Fred Lynch’s drawings fill some of the gaps. His visual and written impressions provide viewers with an opportunity to consider how the scenes and buildings along Revere’s path have changed. Fred Lynch resides in the Boston area and is an artist, illustrator, and professor of Illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design.

“Paul Revere’s Ride Revisited” illustrates this evolution within a modernizing metropolis. In one of the more harrowing experiences of his journey, Revere was forced to divert course to narrowly avoid capture by British officers. Today, the location sits across from a pizza shop, represented in Lynch’s drawing “Royal Pizza & Subs” in Somerville, MA. The site of a perilous moment in Revere’s story is now shown as a peaceful suburb, far removed from the urgency of Revere’s ride. 

While time has changed much along Revere’s route, some landmarks have been preserved. The drawing, “Munroe Tavern,” shows a well-maintained building in snowy Lexington, MA. The building has long been seen as an important landmark and a reminder of the events that took place on April 19, 1775. The tavern currently operates as a museum, on the day of the battles in Lexington and Concord it served as a makeshift field hospital and, in 1789, hosted George Washington when he came to pay visit to the battlefield.

The starting point of Revere’s ride was, of course, his own home. In his drawing, “The Paul Revere House,” Lynch captures the oldest house in downtown Boston—constructed in 1680—behind a modern car, representing the past and present. The building changed hands for years until 1902, when Paul Revere’s great-grandson purchased it. The house was restored with the purpose of turning it into a museum, as it is today.

The Paul Revere House, Boston, 2017. Fred Lynch. Ink on paper. Loaned by the artist.

“Paul Revere’s Ride Revisited” traverses Paul Revere’s famous route, underscoring some of what has been preserved, as well as a lot that would be unrecognizable to colonists. Lynch explores this dynamic in a visual essay that talks about Revere’s journey from Boston to Lincoln in a new way.

A DeMolay Certificate Signed by Two Presidents

On October 14, 1922, a special ceremony took place in Washington, D.C. at the Scottish Rite’s Southern Jurisdiction’s headquarters building, known as the House of the Temple. Although Scottish Rite members attended, the gathering was, in fact, a DeMolay event. A uniformed degree team of twenty-eight boys from Kansas City Chapter—the original DeMolay chapter—had traveled from Missouri in order to institute Robert LeBruce Chapter of DeMolay, Washington D.C.’s second DeMolay chapter. The Kansas City contingent also included a number of adults, among them DeMolay’s founder Frank S. Land (1890-1959). Those present in the room included 107 boys chosen to receive the degrees, as well as the boys’ fathers. Members of the Southern Jurisdiction’s Supreme Council, who were already in town for their own meeting, also attended.

Among those receiving the two DeMolay degrees that evening was nineteen-year-old Robert Emmet Doyle, Jr. (1903-1988). His DeMolay certificate is pictured here. In anticipation of the institution of the chapter, members had unanimously elected Doyle as the first Master Councilor of the Robert LeBruce Chapter. The founding of the Robert LeBruce Chapter in 1921 was part of a larger trend. DeMolay experienced tremendous growth in its first few years. Although originally located only in Missouri, where it began, by 1922, after only three years in existence, DeMolay boasted chapters in nearly every U.S. state.

Doyle followed the tradition of many Masons, by having his certificate autographed by nearly thirty Masons hailing from California, Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Texas, Wyoming, and Washington, D.C. Among these signatures, those of two U.S. presidents, Warren G. Harding (1865-1923) and William H. Taft (1857-1930), stand out. Harding autographed and dated the certificate on April 24, 1922, while he was president. Because he was a Scottish Rite Mason, he added a “32°” after his name. Taft did not date his signature, but did include the name of his lodge, Kilwinning Lodge No. 356. All of the dated autographs are from 1922 and 1923, so it seems likely that Taft’s is also from around this time. In the early 1920s, the former president served as Chief Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Based in Washington, D.C., Doyle also collected signatures from various Scottish Rite Masons from the Southern Jurisdiction, including the long-serving Sovereign Grand Commander, John Cowles (1863-1954).

Just a few years after joining DeMolay, Doyle was raised a Master Mason in his father’s lodge, Lafayette Lodge No. 19. Doyle became a Scottish Rite Mason in the Southern Jurisdiction as part of a fifty-five member class upon which the 14th degree was conferred on October 28, 1924, at the Washington D.C.-based Mithras Lodge of Perfection No. 1. By the 1940s, Doyle had moved from Washington D.C. to California, where he lived until his death in 1988. His certificate, now in our collection, helps illustrate the deep connection between DeMolay and Scottish Rite Freemasonry.

Caption:
DeMolay certificate issued to Robert Emmet Doyle, Jr., 1922. Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, Lexington, Massachusetts, Museum Purchase, A2017/024/001.