‘Big news from the SRRS’

    

A few major announcements emanated from the Scottish Rite Research Society in recent days.

Mark Dreisonstock, 33°

First, Adam Kendall has exited the position of editor of Heredom, the society’s annual book of transactions. (Give the guy a break. He’s a few months away from becoming Master of Quatuor Coronati 2076.) Stepping into that role is Mark Dreisonstok, editor of The Scottish Rite Journal.

And online membership services are expanding. From the publicity:

We’ve got great news! SRRS Online, the society’s first online platform, will be released this fall! SRRS members will be able to:

‣ Access all issues of The Plumbline

‣ Access all issues of Heredom

‣ Pay current and past dues

‣ Update contact/shipping information

‣ Access SRRS material on desktop or mobile phone, anytime, anywhere in the world

‣ Get SRRS news all in one source

‣ Get links to SR Bookstore and Master Craftsmen 

The best part? It’s included with your membership at no additional charge.

We are also working on an online-only subscription tier, great for our international brothers and those who prefer access to digital-only content.

Congratulations to everybody! Look for Heredom 33, Adam’s last volume, in the autumn. The call for papers for Vol. 34 has gone out.

     

‘Heredom update’

    

Scottish Rite Research Society

Not part only, but the whole of life is a school. There never comes a time, even amidst the decays of age, when it is fit to lay aside the eagerness of acquisition, or the cheerfulness of endeavor.

 

Albert Pike

Morals and Dogma

Sublime Elect of the Twelve

Yes, we have an update from Editor Adam Kendall on the production schedule of the Scottish Rite Research Society’s upcoming books. To wit:

Heredom Vol. 32 is at the printer, to be sent to all members starting October.

Bonus Item: Chronology of the Supreme Council is at the printer.

2025 Bonus Item: Funerals of the AASR (including Rose Croix) is in layout and we hope to get that out by end of year.

2026 Bonus Item: 11 Gentlemen from Charleston is in layout and will be sent to the printer after Funerals.

We aim to provide you with the very best in thought provoking and informative material. Thank you very much for your patience and support!

Scottish Rite Research Society

Contents of Heredom 32.

     

‘New editor at The Plumbline’

    

“Behold, I will set The Plumbline in the midst of Masonic periodicals, and Chris Ruli shall be its editor.”

I imagine it went something like that, but all we have to go on is Chris’ modest announcement on social media:

On the thirty-third anniversary of The Plumbline’s release, I’m excited to announce that the Scottish Rite Research Society Board of Directors has elected me to serve as the publication’s editor.

The publication serves more than 3,500 members around the U.S. and abroad. Back in 1991, Rex Hutchens laid out the first issue (then just referred as the Society’s newsletter) and it became a source of news, commentary, perspective, and research. In taking on this position, I plan to shift it back to that original concept while also highlighting good papers whenever possible.

As a former contributor, I’m excited to see where this can go. It’s also nice to be associated with past editors like S. Brent Morris, Pete Normand, Robert Davis, Adam Kendall, and Aaron Shoemaker. Stay tuned.

Send your letters, requests, inquiries and anything else you want shared here.

The Plumbline of course is one of the benefits of membership in the Scottish Rite Research Society, with the annual Heredom collection of research papers and a bonus book.

Art de Hoyos

SRRS bonus book.

The bonus now in the mail to members is Étienne Morin: From the French Rite to the Scottish Rite by Arturo de Hoyos and Josef Wäges. The new Heredom is Vol. 31, edited by Adam Kendall with Associate Editor…Chris Ruli!

When he’s not authoring books, speaking before Masonic audiences, and editing others’ work, he’s out jogging. Congratulations, Chris!

     

‘Masonic Week 2011: Blue Friars’

    
The annual meeting of the Consistory of the Blue Friars was the occasion of the welcoming of its 100th member: Alton Roundtree, a Past Master of Redemption Lodge No. 24 and the inaugural Master of David A. McWillliams, Sr., Research and Education Lodge, both under the MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia. You more than likely have heard of this brother, as his fame extends far beyond our nation’s capital and across the jurisdictions of Freemasonry. I’ll stand corrected, but I would say he is most celebrated for co-authoring, with Paul Bessel, Out of the Shadows: The Emergence of Prince Hall Freemasonry in America in 2008.



Bro. Alton G. Roundtree,
Blue Friar No. 100

I wonder if there is a single facet of Masonic history that can be told accurately and in a linear narrative, free of byzantine confusions, detours, and expectations of willing suspensions of disbelief, but I doubt that exists. The complicated story of Prince Hall Freemasonry is no exception, which explains the heft of the book Roundtree and Bessel produced. His Blue Friars paper last Friday is titled “The Two Conventions that Changed Freemasonry,” and it recounts the dizzying story of the 19th century rivalry between different Prince Hall grand lodges, vying for establishment, recognition and, naturally, members. Conventions held in 1847 and 1878, and larger-than-life characters like Thornton A. Jackson, figure hugely in the creation of modern day Prince Hall Freemasonry.

I don’t want to give away too much because you should read Out of the Shadows and because this paper will be published, possibly in Heredom.

Grand Abbott S. Brent Morris closed the meeting on a humorous note when, in thanking Roundtree for his presentation, he said “I am shocked – shocked – to find out there were feuds in Prince Hall Masonry, because in our Freemasonry....”

The Society of Blue Friars is a fraternity of Masons who are published authors. Both Morris and Roundtree are Founding Fellows of The Masonic Society.