A Historic Feat: Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library’s First Public Archives Catalog

In celebration of our 50^th anniversary year, the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library is pleased to announce the launch of the Van Gorden-Williams Library & Archives’ first publicly available archives catalog. The Van Gorden-Williams Library & Archives is one of the premiere repositories in the United States for the study of American Freemasonry and fraternalism.

Although the Library has had an online catalog since 2001, the Archives only had an internal database which required users to contact the archivist to discover relevant archival material. For the past two years, our team, including Sarah H. Shepherd, Archivist; Linda Woodland, Assistant Archivist; and Jeff Croteau, Director of Library & Archives, has been hard at work merging two internal legacy databases. Utilizing ArchivesSpace, hosted by LibraryHost, the Archives’ new online catalog will increase both the accessibility and discoverability of our collections. The catalog currently contains records for approximately one-third of our collection, with new records being added daily. Now, users will be able to search our archival collection, view our digital collections more easily, and discover the entirety of our collection for the first time.

We encourage potential researchers to search our catalogs, read more about the Library & Archives collections, or contact Library & Archives staff to see whether we have material relevant to their research. Library & Archives staff can suggest approaches, sources, and can often answer basic reference questions. In-depth questions often require an on-site visit. 

“I give and bequeath unto the Church of Christ in Lexington:” Rachel Butterfield’s Silver Tankard

In April of 1778, a Massachusetts woman named Rachel Butterfield (1697-1779) made out her will. Born in Lexington in 1697, Butterfield later moved to Arlington, then Bridgewater. In her will, completed when she was eighty-one years old, she left 13 pounds 6 shillings 8 pence to the “church of Christ in Lexington” to purchase a silver tankard. This object is on loan to the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library from Lexington’s First Parish, the successor to the church named in Butterfield’s will. The tankard is now on view in the museum’s newest exhibition, “Protest & Promise: The American Revolution in Lexington.”

Tankard, 1779. William Homes (1716/1717-1785). Boston, Massachusetts. Loaned by First Parish in Lexington, Unitarian Universalist, Massachusetts, EL99.001.4. Photograph by Michael Cardinali.

After Butterfield’s death in May 1779, thirteen months after writing her will, her executor Simeon Leonard paid the money intended for this tankard to church administrators in Lexington. They then commissioned silversmith William Homes (1716/1717-1785) of Boston to create this object, the only  piece from the 1700s in First Parish’s collection given by a woman.

This collection came to the museum in 1999 and contains beakers from earlier in the 1700s than Butterfield’s. Some of these objects were in Lexington on April 19, 1775, when British troops swept through the town. Thanks to the forethought and preparation of women like Lydia Loring (1745-ca. 1845), the daughter of the church deacon in whose home the silver was stored, the valuable components of this collection were saved from potential theft or destruction. Four of these silver pieces are also on view in “Protest & Promise.”

In addition to the money for this tankard, Butterfield gave the church £50 in unrestricted funds and an additional £50 to the town of Lexington for the use of the school. In total, she bequeathed more than $25,000 in current value to her hometown. Between 1775 and 1783, Lexington’s taxpayers had to shoulder the extraordinary expenses of the Revolutionary War on top of regular operating expenses. Rachel Butterfield’s will, completed three years after the events that made her hometown famous, provided not only this lovely tankard, but also sustained support for the community where she used to live.

The Lexington Alarm Letter - on view for the 250th anniversary!

Each year during the celebration of Patriots’ Day, a Massachusetts state holiday, the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library proudly displays an original copy of the Lexington Alarm letter—one of several letters created by the colonists to inform other colonies about the Battle of Lexington and the outbreak of war with England. It gives contemporary viewers a close-up look at the beginning of the American Revolution. This year is special, as it is the 250^th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington.

The original alarm letter was written by Joseph Palmer just hours after the Battle of Lexington, which took place around daybreak on April 19, 1775. Palmer, a member of the Committee of Safety in Watertown, Massachusetts, near Lexington, had his letter copied by recipients along the Committee of Safety's network. Using this system, the message was distributed far and wide. While the original alarm letter written by Palmer is thought to be lost, the Museum & Library has in its collection this version of his famous description of what happened, which was copied the day after the Battle of Lexington by Daniel Tyler, Jr., of Connecticut.

The letter will be on view at the Museum from April 7-11 and from April 14-26.

In addition to seeing the letter in person, you can also view our online exhibition, “'To all the Friends of American Liberty': The 1775 Lexington Alarm Letter,” which is available on the Van Gorden-Williams Library & Archives Digital Collections website. This exhibition takes a close look at the Lexington Alarm letter that is in the Museum & Library's collection.

Caption:
Lexington Alarm Letter, [April 20, 1775], Daniel Tyler, Jr. (about 1750–1832), copyist, Brooklyn, Connecticut, Museum Purchase, A1995/011/001. 

Now on View: Remembering the Battle of Bunker Hill

This year marks the 250^th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill and the 200^th anniversary of the laying of the Bunker Hill Monument’s cornerstone. To commemorate this event, the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library’s Van Gorden-Williams Library & Archives is featuring a small exhibition in its reading room, with objects related to memorializing the Battle of Bunker Hill.

The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775. Despite the name of the battle, most of the action took place on nearby Breed’s Hill. Combatants fought the battle to solidify which side controlled Boston Harbor. To this end, the hills in and around Boston were tactically important to both British and colonial forces. The American’s newly formed Continental Army sought to limit the supplies that the British army could bring into Boston via the harbor.

The two sides clashed on June 17, each seeking to control Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill. By the end of the day, the British had won the fight, at the high cost of 226 dead and 828 wounded. On the opposing side, 140 American combatants had been killed; over 300 suffered injuries.

Objects on view in “Remembering the Battle of Bunker Hill” include a nineteenth-century scale model of the original 1794 monument erected by King Solomon’s Lodge of Charlestown, Massachusetts. Lodge members dedicated the monument to the memory of Revolutionary War hero and organizer Joseph Warren, who was killed in the battle. Other objects on view include two pieces of sheet music related to dedicatory events surrounding the Bunker Hill Monument, including a “Masonic Ode” composed in 1845, as well as seeds used in the Masonic cornerstone laying ceremony for the Bunker Hill Monument in 1825.

While still a memorial to the battle, the Bunker Hill Monument also functioned and continues to do so today--as a tourist attraction. A climb up its 294 steps affords visitors expansive views of Boston, Charlestown, Cambridge, Malden, Chelsea, and Lynn. Two nineteenth-century booklets, both intended for tourists visiting the monument, are also on view in the exhibition.

“Remembering the Battle of Bunker Hill” will be on view in the Van Gorden-Williams Library & Archives’ reading room through October 3, 2025.

Captions:

Masonic Ode, 1845. Museum Purchase, 85-126.

Guide to Views from the Top of Bunker Hill Monument, 1892. Gift of Nelson M. Hopkins, F62.3 .B9 1892.

A Look Back: Ancient United Knights and Daughters of Africa

In celebration of Black History Month, the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library explores a pair of Library & Archives collection items acquired over twenty years ago. The two items, issued by the Ancient United Knights and Daughters of Africa, shed light on a relatively unknown African American fraternal organization in the United States.

This older acquisition recently came to our attention during our ongoing data migration project in preparation for the May launch of a new archives catalog. As part of the launch, the Library & Archives staff have been reviewing and migrating legacy data into the new catalog.

The Ancient United Knights and Daughters of Africa was an African American fraternal organization, founded in 1908 by William Herbert Fields (1856-1929). Membership was limited to African Americans between the age of twelve and fifty-five and all members were provided with a death benefit certificate worth between $75 to $125 (around $1,400 to $2,300 today) that their family would receive after their death.  This benefit reflects their motto—"prompt payment of sick and death claims”—printed clearly on the Official Program for the 22nd Annual Grand Council Session in 1929 in our collection. This practical motto is listed below a loftier description stating that the organization “educates boys to be men, girls to be women and both to be moral and pure. It satisfies the conscience, eases the mind, banishes the burden of manhood, and gives old age a chair of comfort and contentment.” According to the 1927 proceedings, the three cardinal principles of the order were “Racial Unity, Uprightness, and Reciprocity.” The National Grand Council’s headquarters was in St. Louis, Missouri. The organization also had district branches in Chicago, New York, and Ohio. Although the top national leadership was mixed with both men and women, women held all the positions at the state level, with the chief office called State Grand Queen.

The 1929 Annual Grand Council program showcases a thriving organization with a membership spread over 22 states. Their national convention took place over six days in Kansas City, Missouri. The 1929 program lists over fifteen committees including the Committee on Military Affairs, Committee on Memorial Services, Committee on Law and Supervision, and more. Again, showcasing the prominent role of women in the organization, the committees were largely filled with women, called Daughters, with only one or two male Knights in each committee.

The Insurance Commissioner's report of 1928, the other item in the collection, gives a clear financial picture of the organization. During the previous year they fulfilled $22,650 worth of death claims. The majority of their income came from burial assessments and the Grand Fund Tax rather than membership fees. The organization was also expanding, with the Grand Council completing a new building for their offices in 1928. At the end of the report, the commissioners wrote that the organization’s finances were being managed efficiently.

Fraternal organizations flourished in 1920s America, during a period known as the Golden Age of Fraternalism. The Ancient United Knights and Daughters of Africa prospered in this time under the leadership of the National Grand Master and founder, William Herbert Fields. However, the Great Depression sent economic shockwaves throughout American society and many fraternal organizations struggled to survive. The Ancient United Knights and Daughters of Africa lost many members who could no longer afford membership fees, and their membership dropped from 16,000 to 4,000 in 1933. The organization gradually disappeared and no longer exists today.

This collection and many others will soon be more accessible with the launch of the new archives catalog in May 2025. As part of our upcoming 50^th anniversary celebration, the archival collection will be searchable for the first time in our institutional history.

Photo captions

Official Program for the 22nd Annual Grand Council Session, 1929, Ancient United Knights and Daughters of Africa collection, 1928-1929, Museum purchase, A2000/020/001.

References

“A.U.K. & D. of A. holds Hot Election,” The Black Dispatch, August 17, 1933, page 1.

National Grand Council, Official Minutes of the Twentieth Annual Session of the National Grand Council U.S.A. of the Ancient and United Knights and Daughters of Africa, Museum purchase, HS1511 .K25 1927.

“W. H. Fields, Founder of Negro Order, Dies,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, February 8, 1929, page 9.

“Chicago News,” The Dallas Express, August 20, 191, page 5.

Insurance Commissioner's report, 1928 December 31, Ancient United Knights and Daughters of Africa collection, 1928-1929, Museum purchase, A2000/020/002.

A Jolly Masonic Mug

Mug, 1807-1820. J. Phillips & Company Sunderland Pottery. Sunderland, England. Special Acquisitions Fund, 87.28. Photograph by Michael Cardinali.

Over two hundred years ago, potters at the Sunderland Pottery, a firm owned by John Phillips, created this transfer print-decorated mug with the Masonic consumer in mind. Part of the collection of the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library since the late 1980s, this drinking vessel is on view in “Looking Back, Moving Forward: 50 Years of Collecting.”

Starting in the mid-1700s and through the 1800s, English ceramics manufacturers produced mugs, plates, and pitchers decorated with transfer-printed images specifically designed to appeal to Freemasons. Sold in Great Britain and around the world, these goods were also popular in the United States. On this mug, enclosed by a border ornamented with swags of flowers, is an image of a monumental building, King Solomon’s Temple. Two columns topped with globes and figures personifying justice (holding scales) and prudence (with mirror in hand) flank the temple, along with depictions of Masonic symbols. Fundamental to Freemasonry, the story of building King Solomon's Temple is central to ritual of the first three Masonic degrees. The objects depicted on this mug, such as a square, compasses, a ladder, and beehive, are symbols used in Freemasonry.

An oval between the columns contains a verse of “The Entered Apprentice’s Song,” a well-known Masonic song. London-based actor and Freemason Matthew Birkhead (d. 1723) wrote the lyrics, probably in the late 1710s. Initially published in the 1720s, the song soon achieved widespread popularity and continued to be printed well into the 1800s. Instructions that accompanied the first published versions of Birkhead’s lyrics dictated that brethren could sing the song, with permission of the lodge’s Master, only once the thoughtful work of a meeting was complete.

To add to its appeal, the maker of this cup added a surprise—a lifelike green ceramic frog attached to one of the mug’s interior walls. This unexpected feature was intended to trick the unwary, and—with luck—prompt a hilarious reaction.  Just as singing “The Entered Apprentice’s Song” signaled the end of serious lodge business, the frog within this mug indicated it was intended for the most social--and jolly--kinds of Masonic gatherings.

 

 

Interior, Mug, 1805-1820. Special Acquisitions Fund, 87.28. Photograph by Michael Cardinali.

References:

John Hamilton, The Material Culture of the American Freemason (Lexington, Massachusetts: Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, Inc., 1994), 217-218.

The 1723 Constitutions, Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076, "The Endpiece--Masonic Songs."

Official (and Unofficial) Music for the 32° in the Early 20th Century

In September 1916, at its Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Supreme Council, 33°, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction’s Committee on Rituals approved a major revision to the 32°. Chiefly written by John Lloyd Thomas, 33°, of New York, the new ritual introduced the character of Constans into the degree. Just a few months later, in January 1917, the Philadelphia Consistory enacted the revised degree for the first time.

The musical director for the Philadelphia Consistory, Gilbert Raynolds Combs, 33°, observed that “The Supreme Council having provided no music for the Ritual, it became the duty as well as the pleasure of the Musical Director [i.e., Combs] to prepare appropriate music.” Combs was well-suited for the task, having been born into a musical family – his father was a well-known musician and his mother a singer – and founding his own music school, Combs Broad Street Conservatory of Music, in Philadelphia in 1885. Because Combs’s pieces appealed to the Philadelphia Consistory, it officially adopted his compositions as the music it would use for the 32°. In 1918 the Philadelphia Consistory published his music.

The Van Gorden-Williams Library & Archives holds a copy of Combs’s music for the 32^nd degree. Our copy contains various notations and an ownership stamp in it. The copy we have indicates that it was used by the organist for the Rhode Island Consistory and owned by Scottish Rite bodies in Providence, Rhode Island. The markings in our copy show that Combs’s music was used outside of Philadelphia. As you can see printed at the top left of the page shown here, some of the verses of certain compositions were keyed to specific pages in the newly revised ritual text. Also visible on this page, the Providence organist made pencil notations about this particular work.

Despite evidence of the music having been played as part of the 32° in at least two states, however, it does not appear that Combs’ work ever received a stamp of approval from the Supreme Council’s Committee on Rituals. It is possible that this is because the Committee had already engaged the services of another Scottish Rite Mason who, like Combs, was a professional composer. Before Combs’s work had been published, Daniel Protheroe, 32°, had written and arranged music for the 4° through the 25°. His compositions appeared in a series of three books, published by the Supreme Council in 1909 and 1910. In 1918, the Supreme Council issued the fourth volume of Protheroe’s compositions and arrangements, written for the 26° to the 32°. The Supreme Council’s 1919 Proceedings make it clear that Protheroe’s compositions for the 32° were tied to the newly revised degree with this note: “We recommend the sum of $200.00 be paid to Dr. Daniel Protheroe as compensation for his services in the preparation of the music for the new 32^nd Degree.”

While it is unclear what impact Combs’s music had beyond Philadelphia and Providence, it is apparent that Protheroe’s music persisted as part of the Scottish Rite degrees well into the twentieth century. In the 1960s, the Committee on Rituals published a “Study of Music” report in the 1963 and 1967 Supreme Council Proceedings. In the 1967 report, the committee noted not only that Protheroe’s music was still being used in many Valleys half a century later, but that Protheroe’s arrangements and compositions were “the only official music published by the Supreme Council [and] should not be discarded because they are old.” The Supreme Council continued to encourage the use of Protheroe’s music. In a series of booklets published in the 1960s and 1970s, Protheroe’s works are among those that the Supreme Council recommended to accompany various degrees. Combs’s name, on the other hand, is not mentioned at all.

Protheroe and Combs both died in 1934. Born just three years apart, these two Scottish Rite members were accomplished musicians outside of Freemasonry. They brought their musical talent and passion for enhancing the dramatic presentation of the Scottish Rite’s 32° to their brethren. Examining these works today we can learn more about how the musical parts of the 32° might have sounded over a century ago.

 

A version of this article first appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of The Northern Light.

Captions:

Gilbert Raynolds Combs. Opening of “Lord Unto Thee,” in Ritualistic Music for the Thirty Second Degree As Authorized by the Philadelphia Consistory, A.A.S.R. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Consistory, 1918. Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, 65.9 .U58mu 32.

Daniel Protheroe. Opening of “Lord Unto Thee,” in Music for the Consistory as Authorized by the Supreme Council, A.A.S.R., Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, United States of America. Boston, MA: Supreme Council, 33°, N.M.J., 1918. Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, 65.9 .U58m 19-25.

A B’nai B’rith Token of Generosity

B'nai B'rith Identification Tag, 1927. United States. Gift of Nancy S. Lynn in Memory of John A. Lynn, 99.049.28.

This small metal item in the collection of the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library features a menorah with the numbers “1927.” It is an identification tag produced by the International Order of B’nai B’rith, one of the largest Jewish organizations in the world. This tag was a symbol of the owner’s charitable donations through the organization.

B’nai B’rith, which means “Children of the Covenant” in Hebrew, was established in New York, New York, in 1843 by a group of German Jewish immigrants. Some of its goals as a fraternal organization were “alleviating the wants of the poor and needy,” “visiting and attending the sick," and "providing for, protecting, and assisting the widow and the orphan,” as described in its constitution. The group evolved into a general charitable and service organization in the early 1900s. B’nai B’rith is the oldest national Jewish organization in the United States.

Its Wider Scope Program, begun in 1927 as this tag illustrates, helped fund major initiatives in the United States and abroad. Two of these were the now-independent Anti-Defamation League and Hillel International, a program for Jewish university students. Expanding charitable and human rights work internationally continued to be a goal of B’nai B’rith. Earning non-governmental organization (NGO) status in 1947, it was the first Jewish organization to have regular, full representation at the United Nations.

B'nai B'rith Identification Tag, 1927. United States. Gift of Nancy S. Lynn in Memory of John A. Lynn, 99.049.28.

The reverse of this tag identifies the owner as subscriber number 3072 to the Wider Scope program that supported B’nai Brith’s projects. This subscriber was John A. Lynn (1861-1945), from North Jackson, Ohio. Lynn’s granddaughter gave this token, and other items related to Lynn’s involvement in Masonic and fraternal organizations to the museum in 1999.

Lynn had a full life in Ohio—marrying his wife Jessie Patchin in 1896, parenting two children, and working as an insurance agent. In addition to his membership in B’nai B’rith, he was also a Freemason, Shriner, and Knight Templar, as shown in this image, from the same gift to the museum. This small tag is a tangible sign of Lynn’s generosity.

Further Reading:

• A United Order True Sisters Anniversary Medal
• B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum and B’nai B’rith Archives

Christmas on the Home Front: Masonic Christmas cards in World War I and World War II

The Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library’s collection includes a large collection of material related to World War I and World War II. Like their fellow patriotic citizens, members of Masonic and fraternal organizations fought in the wars and supported them at home. However, even during times of war, daily life continues, and Americans whole-heartedly celebrated Christmas during these turbulent years. In the spirit of the holidays, here are two Christmas cards sent during World War I and World War II by Masonic organizations.

Sent by Colonial Chapter, No. 87, Order of the Eastern Star, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this first card wishes its members a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Ella L. Smith, Worthy Matron, and Wm. F. C. Whitehouse, Worthy Patron. Illustrated with a garland of holly at the top and sides, the card also depicts the British, American, and French flags at the center. This card is undated, but the three flags represent the allied powers in World War I.

Massachusetts-based Brookline Lodge issued the second card, titled “Peace, Good-Will, Brotherhood.” The card’s design is hand drawn and written by hand. It was then mass-produced and sent out to members. Illustrated with holly, a lit candle and candle holder, as well as the square and compass, the card reads “May we ever cherish and defend such a way of life—and hold in sacred memory those who gave their lives that we might have Freedom.” T. Wesley Downer, Worshipful Master of the lodge in 1945, sent this card just a few months after the end of World War II. Brookline Lodge sent out this Christmas card during their twenty-fifth anniversary year. During their anniversary celebration, Henry S. C. Cummings, Secretary and Historian, stated “We cannot help but be reminded of this moment to a quarter of a century ago—for the first World War had just been won over those who schemed to change our way of life. We have again triumphed over these same forces of evil, and in a real sense, enjoy much the same impulses that stirred then in the hearts of men, in their desire for a friendlier, more orderly and righteous world.”

These Christmas cards help remind us of the importance of family, friends, and community in turbulent times. Happy Holidays from the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library!

Photo caption

Order of Eastern Star Christmas and New Years card, undated, Museum purchase, A2022/185/001.

Brookline Lodge Christmas card, 1945, Collection of the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, A2019/125/001.

Scottish Rite Jewel Worn by Marquis Fayette King

Jewel Worn by Marquis Fayette King, 1885. Edward Williams (1820-1890), New York, New York. Gift of Council of Deliberation of Maine, 2018.032.2a-b.

In 1870 a committee of the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction happily announced that “the condition of the Treasury will warrant an appropriation for a suitable distinctive badge for each Active Member of the Council….” The group went on to “earnestly recommend that a committee of three be appointed to prepare a design….”  This new committee was further charged “to procure and deliver a jewel to each Active Member of the Supreme Council….” Expenses noted in the proceedings show that in July of 1870 the Supreme Council paid the firm Edward Williams & Co. to produce fifty-three jewels for Active Members, along with ten “triangles for officers.” The following year, the Supreme Council commissioned the same company to manufacture two more jewels for Active Members, “13 triangles for Deputies,” and six jewels for foreign representatives.

From 1870 through 1890, Edward Williams & Co., a New York City firm founded by silversmith and diamond cutter Edward Williams (1820-1890), crafted jewels for the Supreme Council. Williams’ company also provided jewels to other Masonic organizations. In 1881 one newspaper described Williams as a “distinguished artist in precious metals” who had created “a magnificent jewel” in gold and platinum, decorated with enamel and diamonds, for the Past Grand Master of the Grand Encampment of the United States.  When Williams died in 1890, notices of his death included the information that he had “manufactured Masonic and Odd Fellows’ badges” and he was “was well known as a Mason.”

Edward Williams & Co. made this jewel, now in the collection of the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, for Marquis Fayette King (1835-1904). On December 30, 1885, Williams received $143.87 from the Supreme Council, in payment for his bill “for making and engraving 2 jewels for Active Members.”  These jewels were intended for the two new Active Members the Supreme Council had named to serve on the Scottish Rite’s governing body in 1885. One was Marquis Fayette King from Portland, Maine.

King was born in 1835, a few months after the death of his heroic namesake, Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette. King became a Mason in his hometown, joining Ancient Land Mark Lodge in Portland as a young man in 1859. He became a member of the Scottish Rite in 1863 and received the 33^rd Degree in 1865. After being appointed to the Supreme Council as an Active Member in 1885, King served as a Deputy, a member representative for his home state of Maine. He wore this gold and enamel badge, the jewel associated with his role as an Active Member of the Supreme Council and Deputy for Maine, for almost 20 years.

Learn more about King’s jewel and the holdings of the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library in “Looking Back, Moving Forward: Fifty Years of Collecting.”

References:

Nathan Gold, Marquis Fayette King (Boston, MA: David Clapp & Son), 1905, 5.

Proceedings of the Supreme Council..Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction... (New York, NY: Masonic Furnishing Company) 1870, 1871, and 1886.