‘Shouldn’t we be part of this?’

    

Freemasonry often participates in civic parades, thanks to our presence in the culture throughout history. I marched in one myself in Alexandria, Virginia, with hundreds of Masons, as part of the town’s Washington’s Birthday festivities on February 20. The Prestonian Lecture of 2009, by Bro. John Wade, explains how all the public marching came to be in his “Go and Do Thou Likewise: English Processions from the 18th to 20th Centuries.”

New York City Freemasonry is no stranger to the local Columbus Day, German-American Steuben Day, Philippine Independence Day, Bay Ridge Memorial Day, and probably other parades. So I nominate another parade for Masonic involvement. It’s an obvious one: The Independence Day Parade!

This takes place on Independence Day (duh) way downtown. From the publicity:

The festivities begin with the Flag-Raising Ceremony led by the Veteran Corps of Artillery of the State of New York and their Annual Salute to the Nation at 10 a.m. After opening remarks at 10:45, the parade will kick off at 11.

The scenic route of the parade winds from Castle Clinton in Battery Park to the corner of Pearl and Broad streets (turning the corner in front of Fraunces Tavern), up Broad Street, past the flag-decked New York Stock Exchange, turning right onto Wall Street in front of spectators on the steps of Federal Hall, and east on Wall Street to the South Street Seaport.

After the parade, head to Fraunces Tavern Museum for $1 admissions and an afternoon of special programming as a part of the “It Happened Here” series.

On loan in the Davis Educational Center and Loeb Gallery through July 10, make sure to view a very rare printing of the Declaration of Independence in The New-York Journal or The General Advertiser, printed by John Holt in Water Street on July 11, 1776, as well as an official facsimile of the Declaration of Independence, made from a copperplate engraving printed by William J. Stone, circa 1833.

That might sound like a lot of walking, but it isn’t. This is the oldest part of New York where the streets are tiny and compacted. Organized by the Lower Manhattan Historical Association, an impressive array of historical and patriotic groups, augmented with the support of area museums, government agencies, and others, make it all possible.

It seems odd that neither Grand Lodge nor any of the lodges—especially those that date to early America—are among the participants. Maybe we can fix that. It’s a fairly new event—tomorrow’s parade is only the eighth annual—so maybe it simply isn’t very well known. I’m going to look into it and maybe get Freemasonry involved in the 2024 parade.

While I haven’t been to Fraunces since before the pandemic, it is a place I love. I even delivered a lecture on Freemasonry there, upstairs in the museum, one winter night many years ago.