‘Masonic sights at the NRA museum’

     

So I took Saturday off from Masonic Week to catch up with an old friend who relocated to Virginia recently, and we headed to the headquarters of the National Rifle Association in Fairfax to visit its National Firearms Museum.

I don’t think it unreasonable at all that I expected to find at least one firearm inside that was decorated with fine engraving of Masonic symbols, not because of a Masonic fanaticism, but just from a knowledge of historic firearms and of how Masons exhibit pride in their membership by adorning important personal possessions with obvious clues of their Masonic lives.

I figured I would have found something like these Colts, but decorated with plumbs, squares, levels, etc.

But I failed to find any such gun. There may be one or more exhibited, but I missed them. We spent nearly three hours(!) inside—that’s pretty much what it takes to make a careful review of the thousand or more items on display—but after an hour or so, the eye grows weary. I shot 128 photos before I realized it’s too hard to capture everything. My advice is to visit this amazing resource and see for yourselves. Bring walking shoes and energy bars. On display are everything from a medieval hand cannon (I always thought that was merely a figure of speech) to the Gatling gun used so memorably in The Outlaw Josey Wales.

Anyway, I did find a few other items of Masonic interest.

Gen. Winfield S. Hancock’s Masonic Robey M1850 S&FO Sword (ca. 1863) – “Hancock the Superb” commanded the Federal troops on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, and he ran for president as a Democrat in 1880. He was a brother at labor in Charity Lodge 190 in Pennsylvania.

I didn’t know Hancock was a Freemason, and I wasn’t especially drawn to this sword because it was displayed at ankle-level and the presence of Masonic symbols is anything but obvious. But I was on the lookout for Masonic symbols in this museum and, with some bodily contortion, I espied a small Square and Compasses (and maybe more) on the guard of the weapon. I’m sorry. I don’t know if you’ll see it here. Photography of this item was difficult, but it is there.

This powder horn was nice to see. Masonic folk art, made by soldiers, sailors, pioneers, artisans, and guys just sitting at home, can take any form, but carvings of animal bone are very common.

This leather pouch didn’t exactly jump out at me, but I was near enough to spot the Square and Compasses the way the initiated eye inevitably discerns such things amid busy scenery. This was a prop in the film The Alamo from 1960, and was worn by Richard Widmark in his portrayal of Bro. Jim Bowie.

There are museums, and there are museums, and this one is in the latter category for its incredibly vast inventory on display. Firearms from throughout the centuries and from all over the world (God, some French gunsmiths of the 1800s were insane!) are showcased as matter of factly as any items chronicling human achievement. It’s impossible to list a top ten of the most impressive, but the pistols fashioned in the form of the M1911 that were homemade by Viet Cong machinists simply demonstrate how intractably determined they were to fight. Those weapons certainly were primitive, but I’m sure they worked.
     

‘Hail to the Great Chief’

     
I am not allowed to divulge his name nor reveal his face, but an old friend became Great Chief of the Grand Council of Knight Masons of the United States on Friday. He is the third from Northern New Jersey Council 10 to attain this topmost office.
     

‘¡Viva El Presidente!’

     
(With apologies to Ben Elton and Woody Allen.)

Courtesy BBC

Brotherens, por favor, when next we meet, I would appreciate being greeted with a smart military salute and a hearty “Viva El Presidente!” because this evening I have been chosen to lead the Masonic Society for the ensuing two-year term.

Courtesy Rollins/Joffe Productions    

As this august group’s seventh president, I decree: the official language of the Masonic Society will be Swedish. In addition to that, all members will be required to change their underwear every half-hour.

But seriously, the Masonic Society enters a rebuilding phase.

• Board member Greg Knott advances to the Second Vice Presidency, and so Oscar Alleyne becomes First Vice President. Other personnel changes are to come.
• Our membership stats fluctuate, but if you once were a member we somehow lost, don’t be surprised when you find me on your doorstep with a pizza and a six pack looking to talk about you rejoining. Actually, a survey to current and past members will help us understand what about the Society is appreciated, and what is disappointing. Coming soon.
• We are talking about ways to enhance membership value in the Masonic Society. When Masons in my travels talk to me about our dues, the consensus is “Forty-five bucks—no problem!” But those of us inside the brain trust want to deliver more for your dollar, so we will find a way forward using media technologies. A discourse community, for sane Masonic conversations, and videos, to bring far away lectures to you, are feasible. We are blessed to have several eminent Masons, who do this sort of thing professionally, guiding us here.
• Special events? God, I hope so! It seems like another Masonic-con or Esoteric-con springs up somewhere in the United States every couple of weeks. In years past, the Masonic Society hosted a number of unforgettable experiences, and I hope to regain that momentum before impeachment hearings commence!

We are grateful to Mark Tabbert for his after-dinner remarks this evening in which he presented the historical record of George Washington’s actual Masonic life. Not the myths nor the exaggerations, but just the facts concerning what has become a misunderstood chapter in Masonic history. Look for Mark’s upcoming book on this subject due soon from University of Virginia Press.

That’s enough blogging for tonight. I’ll be in Virginia for another day, but taking a break from Masonic Week to catch up with an old friend who relocated to this area recently, meaning “it’s five o’clock somewhere.”
     

‘Mount Vernon to display one of his aprons’

     
One of Bro. George Washington’s Masonic aprons will go on display at Mount Vernon again later this month.

Don’t be fooled into thinking there is only one “Washington’s apron.” There are three I know of: New York Freemasonry possesses one. Pennsylvania has another. And this one coming to Mount Vernon is the Mt. Nebo Apron.

Magpie file photo

Click to enlarge.

The exhibit will run February 14 through 23, all day, and admission is part of the site’s general admission ticket price. From the publicity:


This Masonic apron was made in France and is believed to have been presented to George Washington at Mount Vernon in 1784 by the Marquis de Lafayette, a former general and close friend of Washington, who was also a Freemason. The apron features Masonic symbols, such as compasses and a square, together with the crossed flags of the United States and France, all exquisitely embroidered in silk and gold- and silver-wrapped threads with metallic sequins.

On view in the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center, Washington would have worn this apron when attending Masonic meetings. Thanks to a loan from the brethren of Mt. Nebo Lodge 91 of Shepherdstown, West Virginia, Mount Vernon has been able to display this special object on the national observance of George Washington’s birthday since 2011.
     

‘Freemasonry and the Visual Arts’

     
“Freemasonry is a beautiful system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols….”

That snippet of ritual language differs from place to place; it sometimes goes “a peculiar system,” but the larger point about allegory and symbol is what matters. A study of Masonic thought vis-à-vis visual arts is a natural path to blaze, and fortunately a book was published last November that imparts the findings of more than a dozen scholars who examined the fine arts and material culture brought to fruition by and for Freemasonry around the world these past three centuries.

I’m embarrassed to admit I completely missed a roundtable discussion of this very book hosted last Friday at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, but you and I can profit from hearing from one of this book’s editors in three weeks when the Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library will host Professor Reva Wolf for a lecture. From the publicity:

Symbols, Trade Cards, Portraits

and Figurines: Case Studies

at the Intersection of Freemasonry

and the Visual Arts

Thursday, February 27

6 to 8 p.m.

Masonic Hall

71 West 23rd Street, Manhattan

RSVP here

With the dramatic rise of Freemasonry in the eighteenth century, art played a fundamental role in its practice, rhetoric, and global dissemination, while Freemasonry, in turn, directly influenced developments in art. Professor Reva Wolf’s lecture provides an overview of diverse approaches to the study of Freemasonry and art, the wide range of art and places that its history encompasses, and some challenges inherent to the subject.

Prof. Reva Wolf

Reva Wolf is Professor of Art History at the State University of New York at New Paltz, where she teaches courses on art of the eighteenth century to the present and on methods and history of art history. She received her Ph.D. from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and is the author of Goya and the Satirical Print (Godine, 1991), Andy Warhol, Poetry, and Gossip in the 1960s (University of Chicago Press, 1997), and numerous articles and essays. Her co-edited book, Freemasonry and the Visual Arts from the Eighteenth Century Forward: Historical and Global Perspectives, was recently published by Bloomsbury Visual Arts. Professor Wolf has been awarded an Ailsa Mellon Bruce Visiting Senior Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, and an NEH Fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, among other fellowships, to support her research. She is a recipient of a State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.


And about that book! Freemasonry and the Visual Arts from the Eighteenth Century Forward: Historical and Global Perspectives is edited by Wolf and Alisa Luxenberg, and published by Bloomsbury Visual Arts. It’s an academic text, which is a nice way of saying it retails for more than a hundred bucks, so shop around.

It unites scholars, some of whom you’ve read about previously on The Magpie Mason—David Bjelajac, William Moore—to lead the reader on a tour of Europe, the New World, Near East, and beyond to document how art and architecture have been inspired by the Masonic mind.

“The enormously rich visual culture generated by Freemasonry has not received the attention it deserves from art historians,” says Professor Andrew Prescott of the University of Glasgow, no stranger to the educated Mason. “This pioneering collection of essays provides fascinating and tantalizing illustrations of the rich artistic legacy of Freemasonry in many different countries ranging from Europe and America to Haiti, Iran and India across media, including paintings, prints, metalwork, jewelry, ceramics, and architecture.”

The book’s contents include:


Freemasonry in Eighteenth-Century Portugal and the Architectural Projects of the Marquis of Pombal by David Martín López

The Order of the Pug and Meissen Porcelain: Myth and History by Cordula Bischoff

Goya and Freemasonry: Travels, Letters, Friends by Reva Wolf

Freemasonry’s “Living Stones” and the Boston Portraiture of John Singleton Copley by David Bjelajac

The Visual Arts of Freemasonry as Practiced “Within the Compass of Good Citizens” by Paul Revere by Nan Wolverton

Building Codes for Masonic Viewers in Baron Taylor’s Voyages pittoresques et romantiques dans l’ancienne France by Alisa Luxenberg

Freemasonry and the Architecture of the Persian Revival, 1843-1933 by Talinn Grigor

Solomon’s Temple in America: Masonic Architecture, Biblical Imagery, and Popular Culture, 1865-1930 by William D. Moore

Freemasonry and the Art Workers Guild: The Arts Lodge No. 2751, 1899-1935 by Martin Cherry

Picturing Black Freemasons from Emancipation to the 1990s by Cheryl Finley and Deborah Willis

Saint Jean Baptiste, Haitian Vodou, and the Masonic Imaginary by Katherine Smith


This lecture hosted by the Livingston Library will take place inside the Jacobean Room on the eighth floor of Masonic Hall—I guess in anticipation of a large crowd. Photo ID is required to enter the building. See you there.

Evidently, our library is in great hands! Congratulations to the Trustees and to Director Alex Vastola.
     

‘An evening with Andrew Hammer’

     
No, this is not a win-a-dream-date with Andrew. He will be visiting New Jersey again next month for a speaking engagement. Kindly RSVP no later than February 28.

     

‘A birthday look at Thomas Cole’

     

Self-Portrait, by Thomas Cole, 1836, oil on canvas.

Owned by New-York Historical Society.

“My Birthday. Once more has the Wheel of Life revolved [and] again advances on the untried road of Another Year.”

Thomas Cole

Speaking of 19th century American painters who were Ohio Freemasons (see post below), today is the 219th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Cole. He will be associated with New York forever, but it was Lodge of Amity 5 in Zanesville, Ohio where he became a Mason. Born in England, Cole emigrated to the United States in 1818 with his family, settling in Steubenville, Ohio.

It is the Hudson Valley of New York that is inextricably bonded to Cole the artist, thanks to his landscapes depicting, or otherwise inspired by, the scenic region.

Masonic messages are found in Cole’s works. These are not overt, but are recognizable by the initiated eye. I don’t think The Architect’s Dream is among those, but still is worth discussing:

In the distance, an Egyptian pyramid looms over Egyptian, Greek, and Roman temples while, in the foreground, a Gothic-style church juts from the trees. Oil on canvas, 1840.

Cole’s works associated with Masonic thought are his four The Voyage of Life oil-on-canvas paintings from 1842, showing Childhood, Youth, Manhood, and Old Age.

The Voyage of Life: Childhood

The Voyage of Life: Youth

The Voyage of Life: Manhood

The Voyage of Life: Old Age

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC holds and exhibits these paintings. Its website says:

Cole’s renowned four-part series traces the journey of an archetypal hero along the “River of Life.” Confidently assuming control of his destiny and oblivious to the dangers that await him, the voyager boldly strives to reach an aerial castle, emblematic of the daydreams of “Youth” and its aspirations for glory and fame. As the traveler approaches his goal, the ever-more-turbulent stream deviates from its course and relentlessly carries him toward the next picture in the series, where nature’s fury, evil demons, and self-doubt will threaten his very existence. Only prayer, Cole suggests, can save the voyager from a dark and tragic fate.

From the innocence of childhood, to the flush of youthful overconfidence, through the trials and tribulations of middle age, to the hero’s triumphant salvation, The Voyage of Life seems intrinsically linked to the Christian doctrine of death and resurrection. Cole’s intrepid voyager also may be read as a personification of America, itself at an adolescent stage of development. The artist may have been issuing a dire warning to those caught up in the feverish quest for Manifest Destiny, that unbridled westward expansion and industrialization would have tragic consequences for both man and nature.

     

‘Willard Masonic mural being restored’

     

The Spirit of ’76 by Archibald Willard, 1876, oil on canvas.
Click to enlarge.    

Archibald Willard (1836-1918) was an early American artist whose name is not well remembered, but whose signature work is instantly recognizable. A historic figure in Ohio for sure, Willard created The Spirit of ’76 (above), as iconic a rendering in the American imagination as any.

He was a Freemason too and, like any dedicated artist in the fraternity, he painted Masonic themes for Masonic use. It is unknown precisely when, but approximately 1875 Willard created a mural for a lodge located in Bellefontaine, Ohio. The painting, in three sections spanning a total of 13 feet of canvas, depicts King Solomon’s Temple, and was used for degree instruction.

Courtesy morningjournal.com

One section of the Masonic mural.

Last Saturday, The Chronicle reported how the work has been undergoing restoration, and that it will be returned for exhibit inside The Spirit of ’76 Museum in Wellington when complete. Mending tears and holes, and removing nearly a century and half worth of dirt is most of the difficult work being handled by experts at the Intermuseum Conservation Association in Cleveland.

Click here for more on the painting.

This project costs $34,000. A grant of $18,000 from a non-profit called the Ohio History Connection (formerly the Ohio Historical Society) is being put to use, but you can donate by visiting here.
     

‘A strong start in 2020 for the Masonic Society’

     

The Masonic Society is off to a great start so far this year.

January isn’t even over, and we have gained 20 new members. Another 14 lapsed members have returned to us. And we picked up one new subscriber for The Journal of the Masonic Society.

Our annual banquet will be next week at Masonic Week in Virginia, and we already are expecting more than 50 guests. (I know we’ll have more because I haven’t even signed up myself!)

That’s Friday, February 7 at 7:15 p.m. in the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington. Advance registration is required, so click here.

Only $55 per person for a sirloin dinner entrée. Our keynote speaker will be Mark Tabbert, who will present “A Deserving Brother: George Washington and Freemasonry,” including his recent research that went into his upcoming book.

All Freemasons and our ladies are welcome to our dinner.

We will have elections of officers and other necessary business, plus we will discuss plans for the coming two-year term.
     

‘Speakers chosen for Academy’

     

At the Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge next time, the presenters will be Bro. Chuck Dunning of Texas and Bro. Victor Julian Avila Ametller of Cuba.

That will be Saturday, March 21 in the Freemasons Cultural Center (1 Masonic Drive) in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. Check in at 8:30 a.m., and the program should start at around 9:30. Lunch will be served at noon ($10 per person), and the day will conclude around 3 p.m.

From the publicity:

Chuck Dunning

Chuck Dunning is an advocate, facilitator, trainer, and consultant in contemplative practice, with more than 30 years in the professional fields of higher education and mental health, as well as in Masonry and other currents in the Western esoteric traditions. Chuck’s consistent commitment is to the actual practice of contemplative disciplines to facilitate and enhance experiences of personal growth, social wellbeing, and spiritual initiation and transformation. Chuck’s Craft lodge memberships include Haltom City-Riverside 1331 in Texas, and Albert Pike 162 in Oklahoma.

He also is an honorary member of Sophia 767 in North Carolina, and Ancient York 89 in New Hampshire. Chuck’s Scottish Rite memberships are in the Valley of Fort Worth, Texas and the Valley of Guthrie, Oklahoma. His York Rite memberships are in Texas Chapter 362 and Texas Council 321, both in Fort Worth. He is a Full Member of Texas Lodge of Research.

As a professional, Chuck recently entered semi-retirement from serving as a student affairs administrator and adjunct faculty member at Texas Christian University, and from being a psychotherapist at TCU and in community agencies, hospitals, and private practice.

Victor Julian Avila Ametller 

Bro. Ametller is a native of Cuba and is employed as director of the National Masonic Museum of the Grand Lodge of Cuba, AF&AM. Prior to that role, he was professionally employed in the civil works sector in and around Havana. Victor joined the Craft in 2003 in Roman de la Luz Lodge 201, attaining the degree of Master Mason in 2007. He was first appointed a District Deputy Grand Master in 2015 and has plans to serve as Worshipful Master of Roman de la Luz Lodge in 2020. An active Scottish Rite Mason, Ametller has served in several offices in those bodies, culminating in his coronation as an Honorary Sovereign Grand Inspector General, 33º, in September 2016.


If you will attend, you will be asked to pre-register. I think an eventbrite page is coming. If you cannot attend, please know there will be a live stream shown here.
     

‘Way haul away, ye Mariners haul!’

     
It’s Robbie Burns’ birthday, but don’t look for haggis at this Masonic feast. We—more than 250 of us—are seated fairly comfortably inside the Grand Lodge Room of Masonic Hall in New York City, enjoying the camaraderie, conviviality, and near gluttony that is the Mariners Lodge Beefsteak Banquet.

This annual affair is sold out tonight at $150 a plate.

Everything we needed to know was spelled out in our program.

Tonight’s tobacco is chosen! Masonic Hall is smoke-free (must be some bureaucratic snafu), so no pipes at the beefsteak, but no matter. A pinch of Mr. Gawith’s Original every so often will aid digestion, stimulate conversation, and improve posture!

Getting ready to set sail.

Michael, Sal, and Josh.

At a Mariners Lodge festive board, Masons are on port and starboard sides. We were seated amidships.

How many Masons does it take to change a lightbulb? One, when it’s Moore. Actually, Isaac is up that ladder to shoot photographs, which were all over Facebook before long.

Don’t your festive boards have drones keeping an eye on things?

RW Bro. Sam conducted us through the festive board ritual and served as emcee. Grand Master Sardone, in purple, at his right.

If you ever wondered what 250+ Freemasons gorging on beef, lamb, beef, shrimp, salmon, beef, ale, potatoes, and beef looks like.

My mistake for relying on a phone as a camera. Here is our Junior Warden for the night.

The purpose of the aprons is defined clearly and humorously in that New Yorker piece by Joseph Mitchell I mentioned in the first Magpie post on this event, but it was lost on some of the brethren whom I observed eating their ribs and lamb lollipops with the cutlery. They went home with aprons as unsullied as any symbol of purity and innocence. From left: Oscar, Josh, Augustine, Michael, and Sal Corelli.

Close-up shot of the apron. This unforgettable event was described by some present as a Bucket List item. The maritime-themed festive board is something every cheerful Mason ought to experience, but I would hope everyone would be able to take part more than once.

  

‘Cécile Révauger to present Sankey Lecture’

     

Click to enlarge.

One of these years I will travel to Ontario to visit the fine lodges there and to attend a Sankey Lecture, but I won’t be able to do it this time.

That’s a shame because the lecturer for the 11th annual Sankey Lecture will be Professor Cécile Révauger, of the University of Bordeaux, who will present “Enlightenment, Gender, and Race: Personal Reflections on Leading Issues in Masonic Studies.”

The lecture is scheduled for Sunday, March 22 (note the new date) at 3 p.m., and will take place again inside the Sean O’Sullivan Theatre at Brock University, located at 500 Glenridge Avenue in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Admission is free, and there is a limit of five tickets per request. Click here.