House Of The Temple

[MASON]

About the Building
Located at 1733 Sixteenth Street, NW in the District of Columbia, this monumental building in the nation’s capital has been the national headquarters of the Supreme Council since 1915. The Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia laid the cornerstone in 1911, and the building was completed in 1915. Its architecture is an adaptation of the famous Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.”

Steven McLeod Bedford, author of John Russell Pope: Architect of Empire, maintains that the Temple of the Scottish Rite would be the subject of constant praise for the next twenty years. The January 1916 issue of the London Architectural Review noted that “this monumental composition may surely be said to have reached the high-water mark of achievement in that newer interpretation of the Classic style with which modern American architecture is closely identified.”

The architect of the House of the Temple was John Russell Pope. Elliott Woods was chosen as an assistant and professional advisor. Pope is well known for his other works in the District of Columbia, including the National Gallery of Art, National Archives and the Jefferson Memorial. The House of the Temple was his first major commission in the District of Columbia. He was only 36 years old at the time he signed his contract for the building.

In 1917, Pope’s peers awarded him the Gold Medal of the Architectural League of New York for the design. French Architect Jacques Greber in his L'Architecture aux Etatis-Unis of 1920 described it as “a monument of remarkable sumptuousness …the ensemble is an admirable study of antique architecture stamped with a powerful dignity.”

 

Architectural progress photo taken by Harris and Ewing on April 7, 1913, during the construction of the House of the Temple.
In his book, American Architecture (1928), Fiske Kimball used this building and its “overwhelming simplicity and grandeur as an example of the triumph of classical form in America.” The project also earned Pope a place in the 1928 edition of Sir Banister Fletcher’s monumental History of Architecture on the Comparative Method, and even the adamant modernist Lewis Mumford agreed that it was an excellent example of its type. In the late 1920s, a jury of Pope's peers selected and published measured drawings of the Temple as one of the three best public buildings in the United States, ranking it with Bertram Goodhue's Nebraska State Capitol (1920-32) in Lincoln and Paul Cret's Pan-American Union (1907-10) in Washington, D.C. A poll of federal government architect in 1932 still ranked it as one of the ten top buildings in America.

There have been few architectural alterations since the construction of the building. The House of the Temple has been open to the public for free guided tours since it opened in 1915. Join us for a tour to find out more and see this masterpiece on your next trip to Washington, D.C.

John Russell Pope: Architect of Empire, by Steven McLeod Bedford. Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 1998. Color photo of the Temple: © Maxwell MacKenzie, Washington, D.C.

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The sphinxes at either side of the front door are each carved from one massive
block of stone. Each weighs over 17 tons. The sphinx on the right of the Temple
door symbolizes Wisdom. The eyes on its serene face are half-closed. On the
left is the sphinx symbolizing Power. Its eyes are wide open and alert.

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How The Sphinx Came To Washington

by William L. Fox, Past Grand Historian and Grand Archivist

As a historian and the son of a historian, much of my formative inspiration and
training occurred naturally at home, long before graduate school. There, almost
nightly at the dinner table, my father apprised us by example and conversation
of what historians do.

Sometimes, they electrified the past into life, so as to instill an educated passion
for history among imaginative students or readers. Other times, when historians
failed to kindle even a weak spark, they had to laugh off their student's foibles
as a small detail of the larger human comedy of miscommunication.

Most experienced classroom teachers of history, after awhile, keep a mental file
of student bloopers and whoppers as a counterweight to the pleasanter triumph
of enthusiasm over ignorance. It has been impossible, thus far in my career, for
me to exceed my father's favorite short-answer reply once given by a 12 o'clock
scholar on a final exam in modern European history. In this case, the class was
asked to identify in a sentence or two the frequently referenced item from
weekly lectures, "Rosetta Stone." At the critical moment to decide, the muses
failed to show up for one forsaken and ill-prepared college examinee who,
staring blankly at the page, desperately and creatively jotted down next to that
monolithically puzzling pair of words in question, "Napoleon's girl friend"! Now
housed in the British Museum in London, the Rosetta Stone was unearthed in
1799 by a group of Napoleon's troops stationed along the west bank of the
western mouth of the Nile. Students of history not only need to know how to
define a major event, idea or term, but why it is important, how it is significant,
and what are its consequences. Simply, the Rosetta Stone, a basalt stele (from
the Greek term for a commemorative pillar or inscribed cylinder) permitted the
decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics by Jean Franüois Champillion, the
younger (1790-1832). He is regarded today as the founder of Egyptology. The
Rosetta Stone sets down a decree composed by priests assembled at Memphis
who had a signal measure of political influence, for they were endorsing publicly
the potentially doomed Ptolemy V Epiphanes (204-181 BCE). The message is
chiseled in hieroglyphic and vernacular Egyptian as well as Greek. Translating
the Greek first, then working backwards, a small team of scholars discovered by
the 1830s the solution to one of the oldest written languages in human history.

The dramatic moment also gave birth in the modern west to a deep popular
fascination with all things Egyptian, particularly as decorative motifs in public
buildings. Nineteenth-century Jews in western Europe and the United States, for
instance, showed a remarkable affinity for Egyptian symbolism, while more
typical building structures of the period derived clearly from Greco-Roman
patterns. The American architect and Freemason William Strickland, a worthy
successor to his teacher Benjamin Latrobe, also a Mason, designed
Philadelphia's first large synagogue (Mikveh, Israel) which, surprisingly, had a
front end sanctuary marked by a free adaptation of Egyptian ideas. Strickland's
temple was dedicated in 1825.

Another of Strickland's many significant American buildings is the First
Presbyterian Church (now called Downtown Presbyterian Church) of Nashville,
Tennessee, erected between 1849 and 1851. From the outside it appears to be
another routine Neo-classical building of right angles and red brick, set between
twin belfries.

But the facade's details, such as the recessed columns and door frames, gently suggest an Egyptian influence. Once inside, however, there is no mistaking the architect's and subsequent remodelers' readiness to depart from traditional Georgian styling. The interior walls and columns are vividly colored and decorated in Egyptianesque earthen hues and figures: serpent heads, zig-zags, stripes, lotus leaves, and papyrus capitals.(1) Although it was considered exotic to see such Egyptian revival architecture on the American cityscape prior to the Civil War, by the 1880s Victorian America acquired a taste not only for gingerbread lines and garish tracery fashioned in milled moldings or red sandstone but also a growing fondness for Egyptian architecture. One of the tallest steel-frame buildings in the nation's capital, which changed forever the District of Columbia's building code with regard to height restrictions, was put up in 1894 as a landmark, twelve-story hotel, named "The Cairo," just a few blocks from the Scottish Rite's House of the Temple. A more descriptive name for the building would have been "The Casablanca" as its design is an aberration of Moorish and Gothic artistry, but the association with Egypt, if only in name, is noteworthy for its apparent cachet.

As recently as 1995, a riverboat casino called the Empress in Joliet, Illinois, caught national attention as a commercial success, having suffered no loss of gamblers for its completely Egyptian theme and artifice.(2)

Similarly, Memphis, Tennessee, is home to a convention arena named the Memphis Pyramid whose main portal is guarded by a massive statue of Pharaoh Ramses II. Further, it is hardly unplanned that the George Washington Masonic
National Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia, replicates the architectural tour de force of early antiquity in Alexandria, Egypt, called the Pharos Lighthouse.

Cultural historians believe that the occasional popular attraction of a modified Egyptian building style found in a variety of public buildings is meant to be more than an entertaining novelty. Rather, the unusual, non-Western architecture is, indeed, sometimes a serious statement that can be attributed broadly in an industrial age to a long desire for eternity.


Certainly, the evocation of massive solemnity and ceremonial permanence appeals subliminally to the modern eye and offers a needed contrast to austere, merely functional buildings such as factories, warehouses, towering apartments, and government offices.


Adding Egyptian features in 19th and 20th century American public architecture also expressed a refined sense of mystery and intelligence, combined qualities of antiquity packaged in fresh outlines. The Egyptian religious ideas which centered on human mortality and death, in particular, inspired similar modern impulses manifested expansively in American funerary preoccupations. Cemeteries all across America a century ago exploited vague Egyptian preferences in the construction of mausolea, sarcophagi, elaborate memorial markers, and obelisk monuments.3 Then, of course, there is in our nation's capital the Washington Monument, a towering obelisk immortalizing America's first President and foremost Freemason. While the late Renaissance hermetic traditions of Europe had already placed great stock in Egyptian wisdom and religion as an "imperfect harbinger" of Christianity (controversial beliefs for which the Italian Dominican priest, Giordano Bruno, 1548-1600, was executed by the Inquisition), the seeds for a modern Egyptian revival sprouted more generically in the Enlightenment's scientific curiosity about ancient esoteric religion and allegorical legends.


Freemasonry was, consequently, one among several intellectual midwives to help deliver the rebirth of ancient Egypt into modernity. But only up to a point, which some Masonic Egyptophiles need to concede more strongly. According to architectural historian James Stevens Curl, reflecting on the rise of Freemasonry in this Enlightenment context of turning toward the Nile's delta, "a ceremonial setting using motifs from Ancient Egypt would seem to be logical, given Masonic belief in Egypt as the source of skill and wisdom, yet an Egyptianizing theme in Freemasonry does not appear to have surfaced much before 1750."4 Egyptian features in the design of continental Masonic Lodges, notably in France and central Europe, evidenced themselves much more frequently than in British Masonry. It was not uncommon that a French Master Mason's apron of 1801 included, besides a token likeness of Napoleon, delineations of an Egyptian temple, obelisk and pyramid.5 A century later in Edinburgh, Scotland, a major exception to the predominantly continental expropriation of Egyptian imagery
appeared with the opening of the Chapter Room of the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter in 1901. Therein, overt Egyptian decor was used for stunning effect.
The Egyptian influence on French Freemasonry of the Napoleonic era, obviously connected with the Emperor's Egyptian campaign, coincides with the development of the Scottish Rite in America, conceived in dual terms as a hybrid of British and continental Masonic innovations. Extreme caution, however, needs to be exercised in assuming too much about the Egyptian role in Freemasonry as carried through the French connection and transmitted to American Blue Lodge and Scottish Rite Masonry. It is true that continental Freemasons, who included almost every major thinker of the Enlightenment, frequently saw their Lodges as Egyptian temples and sometimes themselves as an Egyptian priesthood. It is no accident that Mozart's The Magic Flute (1791), for example, the first major opera in German (to which Goethe wrote a sequel in 1795), is chock full of concurrent Masonic and Egyptian references.(6) Cornell University professor Martin Bernal omments that "indeed, the Masonic admiration for Egypt has survived the country's [Egypt's] fall from grace among academics [preferring the primacy of ancient Greece and Rome]."(7) The Hall of Justice scene in the Scottish Rite's 31st Degree (in the Pike Ritual) represents more than a tepid tribute to Egyptian civilization.


But it is also true that widespread hostility to the concept of Egypt developed during the period of Romantic dominance from 1790 to 1890. Egypt was, at best, relegated to the footnotes. Henry W. Coil speaks with sympathy in behalf of the deceiver Alessandro Cagliostro whose pseudo-Masonic Egyptian ritual was soundly repudiated equally (and ironically) by both Roman Catholic officials and Freemasons: "Masonic writers still kick the dead Lion by denouncing Cagliostro for representing the Egyptian Rite as Masonic, but they do not make it clear what he did that had not been done by scores, perhaps hundreds, of degree fabricators
on the Continent of Europe, some of whose works still circulate as Masonic!" (
The wider tensions between competing western cultural sources, creating an imaginary blood rivalry between ancient Greece and dynastic Egypt, made pyramids less fashionable with the rise of Romanticism. Keats's famous ode is about a Grecian urn, not an Egyptian mummy.(9) Also, economic forces may have fueled the growing sense of cultural competition, because by the 1830s Egypt
was probably ahead of all other nations in industrial capacity (i.e., textiles) except for England.(10) Against this sweeping background, from the shaping of broad
cultural tastes by the Rosetta Stone's discovery to the metaphorical continuities linking ancient master builders with modern Masonic Lodges, The Supreme Council's House of the Temple enters the picture. John Russell Pope, the Temple's 36-year-old architect, a devotee of classical and Beaux Arts arrangements,
blended many Egyptian lines and details into his discerning plan. These are not the oddities that many Temple visitors at first presume as revealed by their most frequently asked question about the ornamentation and fixtures which project distinctively Egyptian sensibilities. In other words, to paraphrase the early Christian writer Tertullian, they ask, what do Athens and Jerusalem have to do with Memphis?


Pope's praiseworthy attempt to recapitulate the Hellenistic temple-tomb of King Mausolos at Halicarnassos (on the coastline of modern Turkey) could hardly ignore the greatest funerary works known_the immutable, triumphal pyramids. The matched sphinxes flanking the entry, symbolizing power and wisdom, are obviously Egyptian, but the building's roof, obscured by the shallowness of the building site itself, is a stepped pyramidal structure. The 33 fluted Ionic columns that call to mind Greece are capped by a tiered pyramid that echoes Egypt, whereas the architect's other well-known classical monuments, such as the Jefferson Memorial and the National Art Gallery in Washington, DC, are always
finished with a spherical dome on top. In the House of the Temple, Pope's genius is not only for classical symmetry, but also the balanced proportions of mixed masses and incongruous details of Plato and Pharaoh.


The Atrium is the boldest Egyptian component of the building. The charcoal polish of the eight Doric columns made from Windsor granite signify the ponderous ambience of the hall, common to all Egyptian sacred structures. The lighting is deliberately subdued, also typical of Egyptian interiors. The deep earth tones used to color the walls and adorn the friezes at the ceiling's edge are not Grecian, which would require a polychromatic scheme, but Egyptian. More than halfway to the vanishing point on the curved back wall of the Atrium, as bright natural light falls upon the central stairway leading to the Temple Room, two Egyptian block statues
in black stone guard the passage. (See inside front cover.) Such statuary depicting either seated gods or humans is thought by scholars to have been "produced for afterlife use and the presentation of the deceased as a revered person." (11)
It is also noteworthy that the important hieroglyph for the Egyptian idea of cosmic order (maat) is always represented as a figure seated exactly as the two block statues appear in the Atrium. An arguable interpretation, therefore, is to view these
two guards of the stairway as a three dimensional embodiment of maat.


Furthermore, in locating the block statues at the foot of a staircase, the staircase itself takes on embellished significance. It may represent to the viewer the raised platform upon which Osiris (Egyptian ruler of the underworld, with whom the dead person is symbolically linked) sits or, alternatively, the staircase may actually suggest a primordial return to the ascending place of creation.


On the stair landing above, two bronze and alabaster lamps are crowned by three serene faces of Egyptian beauty. From that point, the upper portion of the Temple takes on the architectural confidence of Imperial Rome. The dichotomy between two civilizations of very early antiquity has often kept them apart even in the heterogeneous modern world as the romantic tragedy of Antony (the Occidental) and Cleopatra (the Oriental) suggestively prefigured. That he transcended the genetic, artistic, and religious differences between eras and societies in successful, brilliant design in the House of the Temple is to John Russell Pope's lasting credit.
But the Scottish Rite Masons for whom the House of the Temple was built originally are also responsible for melding cultural diversities in so huge a symbol that today it stands as a major structure in America's capital city. The impetus to identify with Egypt and Greece simultaneously was not always popular. Together they mark a contrast of associations. Old Egypt represented life's harsh realities and dark uncertainty, while venerable Greece lived in the light of joyful possibility through its games and dramas. The fact that Scottish Rite Masonry could hold in mind two often contradictory worlds is a remarkable achievement.


Martin Bernal offers a congratulatory word because "with some degree of self deprecation, Masons have maintained [an admiration for Egypt] until today, [which must be regarded] as an anomaly in a world where 'true' history is seen to have begun with the Greeks."(12) One cannot enter or depart the House of the Temple, Pope's classical restudy of one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, without also passing by the shadows and traces of other ancient wonders from Egypt. The mood of the pyramids of Giza or the inscrutable fascination of the sphinx are inescapable in such masterworks as the Scottish Rite's Washington, DC, headquarters. Nor can one fail to gain added appreciation for Napoleon's girl
friend.

[MASON]

The large plaza in front of the Temple is terraced with four flight of stairs. The great bronze doors above give entrance into the building.
 
The lion door-knocker, ancient symbol of hospitality, welcomes you into the Temple.

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The Atrium, spacious and inviting, sounds the first notes of light, life, and welcome which are characteristic of the building.

The Atrium is the central court of the Temple, where visitors are welcomed and given their first view of the majesty of the Temple's design and architecture. The Atrium is paved with Tavernelle marble, centered and bordered with dark green antique marble. Eight marble benches, echoing the design of the central table, are located in recesses in the ambulatory formed by eight huge Doric columns of polished green Windsor granite. The limestone walls reach up to the ceiling beams.


 

[MASON]

As we enter the Temple Room, the exultant sound of the great organ blends with the light to lead us onward until we enter the Temple Room itself. The Temple Room is a delight to the eye as well as to the spirit. Walls, soaring upward, seem to expand rather than to enclose the room. The furniture is made of Russian Walnut, with brown pigskin upholstery—enriched by a tooled laurel leaf pattern in black and gold. The floor is polished marble mosaic—tens of thousands of tiny cubes, each laid by hand. The floor is accented with a white marble border and with inlaid lines of bronze. In the wall openings on each side of the room are pairs of green
granite columns, with bronze bases and capitals. The glass in the windows shades up from a deep orange at the bottom (where the light comes through the coils of bronze serpentine grilles) to a pale yellow at the top, allowing the light to stream in at full force.

The windows serve as another symbol of the progressive search for more light. The hangings in each opening are of purple Italian velvet, edged with gold. Crowning the center of the window is the Double Eagle, the symbol of the Rite. The seats opposite the entrance designate the East. Here is the Sovereign Grand Commander's chair, under a canopy of Italian velvet. The canopy is lined with cream silk, and embroidered with the emblem of the Grand Commander.

Around the walls is a black marble frieze inscribed in bronze letters "FROM THE OUTER DARKNESS OF IGNORANCE THROUGH THE SHADOWS
OF OUR EARTH LIFE, WINDS THE BEAUTIFUL PATH OF INITIATION UNTO THE DIVINE LIGHT OF THE HOLY ALTAR." In the center of the
room, as it is in the center of the Scottish Rite, is the altar. Made of Black and gold marble, and resting on a black marble plinth, it dominates the Temple Room with quiet dignity. On the front of the altar, in Hebrew characters, is the inscription, "GOD SAID, 'LET THERE BE LIGHT' AND THERE WAS LIGHT." Rising above the altar is the vast polygonal dome, symbol of the vault of heaven. The dome soars nearly 100 feet above the Altar, flooding the Temple Room with light. We have said that Light is of importance to the Scottish Rite. The light of learning, of insight, of education is shared among Masons all over the world.

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Leaving the Atrium, we enter the Executive Chamber; the room in which the
Supreme Council meets in session. The room contains 33 seats, one for each of
the 33 members of the Council. The Grand Commander's chair is under the
canopy and is, as all the woodwork in the room, of walnut. The ceiling has gold
inlay, while the walls are heavy plaster, beautifully marbled and accented with
black leaf and vine painting.

The carpeting was designed for the room by the Stark Carpet Corporation which
also designed the carpet for the Capitol Building. It was woven to specifications
in China. Etched glass ceiling panels soften and diffuse the light, and provide an
aesthetic climax in the room.

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Aside from significantly embellishing the beauty of the House of the Temple, the Alcove is a place to recognize the generous contributions by outstanding
Brethren to their local Scottish Rite Foundations or the the Scottish Rite
Foundation, S.J., USA. In addition, gifts in this range to the House of the
Temple Historic Preservation Foundation, S.J., USA, are also recognized in the
Alcove, which is down the hall from the Executive Chamber, and the Pillars of Charity Portrait Gallery on the first floor of the House of the Temple, just off the Scottish Rite Hall of Honor.

The Alcove, after more than three years of planning and construction, was
completed in time to be dedicated during the 1993 Biennial Session. The
challenge was to create an area so harmonious with style, quality, and
significance to the House of the Temple that it would appear to have always
been there. This was accomplished by remaining faithful to the timeless and
masterful design of John Russell Pope, the original architect of the House of the
Temple. Pope also designed many other architectural masterpieces, including the Jefferson Memorial, National Archives, and National Gallery of Art in our
nation's capital.

In developing his original concept for the House of the Temple in 1911, Pope
created a "light well," located at the middle landing of the marble staircase leading from the Atrium to the Banquet Hall, in the heart of the building. A window covered by a bronze grid admitted partial light through this opening.

In 1944 and 1953, by special permission of the United States Congress, the
remains of Sovereign Grand Commanders Albert Pike and, later, John Henry
Cowles were placed in vaults to either side of the light well. Memorial busts of
Pike and Cowles, each on a marble pedestal, were added at that time.

In 1990, The Supreme Council, 33°, decided to enhance and utilize this area by
creating an exquisite memorial alcove as a place of special recognition for those
whose generous gifts have advanced the work of the Scottish Rite. At that time Brother John D. Melius, 33°, artist of the "George Washington Laying the Cornerstone of the United States Capitol," "George Washington's Inauguration as the 1st President of the United States," and "Victory-World War II" paintings, was selected to work closely with Brother Donald Hogan Misner, 32°, KCCH, coordinating architect for the proposed Museum-Library addition to the House of the Temple, to ensure the architectural harmony, structural integrity, and cost effectiveness of the Pillars of Charity Alcove. In order to utilize fully Pope's light well, Brother Melius suggested a stained-glass window as the centerpiece of the Alcove. The result of refining several proposed versions, the present window depicts the Scottish Rite Eagle with 33 beams of light radiating to an exterior view of the House of the Temple itself. The window was constructed by one of America's premier stained-glass companies, the Willet Stained Glass Studios of Philadelphia.

Also, the magnificently detailed stone and woodwork of the entrance to the
Pillars of Charity Alcove, as well as the Alcove's highly decorated walls and
ceiling, are the meticulous work of Harold C. Vogel, one of the master carvers
of the Washington National Cathedral. The left and right walls of the Alcove, for instance, are inset with exquisite scale reproductions of the Alcove's signature Ionic column motif. Under each of these columns is a dedicatory plaque honoring a significant contributor to the Scottish Rite.

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The dedication of the Supreme Temple Architects Hall of Honor was one of the highlights of the 1991 Biennial Session. An original oil portrait of President Harry S. Truman, 33°, donated by the Scottish Rite Foundation of Missouri in 1990, was the premier painting installed in the Hall. Among them are such outstanding American Scottish Rite Freemasons as General James (Jimmy) Doolittle, 33°, G.C.; Gene Autry, 33°, G.C.; Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, 33°, G.C.; Will Rogers, 32°; Senator Sam J. Ervin, 33°; and Bishop Carl J. Sanders, 33°, G.C. In order to assure an aesthetic harmony to this very special area in the House of the Temple, all Hall of Honor paintings are commissioned by the Supreme Council from Jean Pilk, a well-known portrait artist who has created official portraits for such notables as Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Governor L. Douglas Wilder, and General Colin Powell. In addition, special lighting and a custom-woven carpet complete the Hall's distinctive character. In upcoming years, this illustrious pantheon of Masonic heroes, both past and present, will be completed with pride by the Scottish Rite, for in donating a portrait to the Temple Architects Hall of Honor, the Brethren not only honor our nation's most outstanding Scottish Rite Masons, but also give support to the House of the Temple, thus preserving it for generations to come.

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[MASON]

Albert Pike Room

This room is a memorial to Albert Pike, who was Grand Commander of this Supreme Council from 1859 until his death in 1891, at the age of 82. During these 32 years, he wrote and compiled many books and became familiar with numerous languages, among them Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit. He is recognized as a great Masonic scholar, philosopher, and historian. He used his vast talents to research and rewrite the Rituals of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. His renown as a jurist, orator, philosopher, scholar, soldier, and poet extends throughout the world.

The Albert Pike Room contains, in addition to his personal memorabilia, a model of the monument erected in his memory, the original of which is located at Third Street and Indiana Avenue, Northwest, in Washington, D.C., near the U.S. Department of Labor building. This is the only statue in the District of Columbia honoring a Confederate General. Also included in the Pike Room's displays are first editions and holograph copies of many of Pike's works; his original desk, lamp, clock, and chair; many personal items including Masonic regalia, a representative sampling of his large collection of pipes, and a plaster-cast mask similar to a life mask of Abraham Lincoln on display in the Americanism Museum of the House of the Temple.

 

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THE AMERICANISM MUSEUM

The Americanism Museum contains a rich and varied exhibit of artifacts that illustrate our Fraternity's dedication to personal, social, and intellectual freedom. Here are displayed relics of the colonial and other periods of American history. For instance, there is a foundation stone from the White House which dates back to the original construction. Discovered during renovation started in 1948, the stone bears Masonic markings and is authenticated by a letter from former President Harry S. Truman, 33°. The collection also includes a life mask of President Abraham Lincoln, a lodge lantern used by a Union Army Lodge during the American Civil War, and a kamikaze rifle recovered from a Japanese suicide plane in World War II.

 

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THE ARCHIVES

The Archives of the Supreme Council are a priceless repository for correspondence, rare documents, important proceedings, and general information about Masonry and the Scottish Rite. Over three million items make up the valuable collection, with the oldest dating back to the early part of the 16th century.

The four rooms that house the Archives are climate controlled for an optimal temperature of 68 degrees and relative humidity of 50 percent. The facility holds records from the Grand Commander's office for the last 20 years and additional rare documents are stored in a large walk-in vault on the lower level of the House of the Temple.

The most modern archival techniques and supplies are used for the preservation of items to be placed in the Archives. Documents, photographs, and imprints are filed in special protective boxes. Among the many papers neatly stored in the boxes, arranged on steel shelving, are rare books and old Rituals. Everything is cataloged and cross-referenced on cards. In 1987, part of this card file system was transferred to electronic format. Ultimately, record retrieval will be entirely computer-based though file cards will always be nearby.

The Archives of the Supreme Council contain one of the best historical repositories of Masonry and the Scottish Rite in the world. Naturally, it corresponds to the history of the United States. As the history of the Supreme Council advances, it does so in parallel with the contributions of the Scottish Rite to our nation. The important material in the Archives holds the key to that story.

 

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THE BURL IVES COLLECTION

 
For many decades, Ill. Burl Icle Ives, 33°, Grand Cross, an award-winning singer and actor, touched the hearts of young and old. Beginning his performance career at the age of four, Ill. Ives spent his entire life bringing joy to those around him through both his artistic talent and his kindness. Although most of the world knew him as an entertainer, his membership in Masonry meant a great deal to him, and he constantly devoted himself to numerous charities.

With the help of many generous donations from his wife, Dorothy Ives, and daughter, Barbara Vaughan, the Supreme Council has created a glowing tribute to Brother Burl's life and work. The room housing the Burl Ives Collection was dedicated during the 1997 Biennial Session. The displays are designed to walk the visitor through the different stages of Brother Burl's life, beginning with his childhood, passing through his performance career, and ending with his Masonic accomplishments. Included in the impressive display are a collection of record album covers, family photographs, and personal effects as well as different honors and awards Ill. Ives received both as an entertainer and as a Mason. The collection displays, for instance, the Grand Cross jewel he received in October 1993. This is the highest individual honor the Supreme Council bestows. Of his Masonic awards, it was an honor his wife says meant the most to him. A series of audio clips and color slides of this outstanding Scottish Rite Mason's unforgettable music and career accompany visitors throughout their viewing of the Burl Ives Collection.

 

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CORNERSTONE HALL OF FREEDOM

The Cornerstone Hall of Freedom was added to the House of the Temple to commemorate the bicentennial Masonic reenactment in 1993 of the laying of the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol. The stone used during the ceremony, a perfect 18-inch cube, serves as the exhibit's centerpiece. The display also includes other memorabilia from the event including a photographic collage, a replica of the engraved silver plate affixed by George Washington under the original stone, a copy of an 18th-century Masonic apron, and a print of the painting, "George Washington Laying the Cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol, Sept. 18, 1793," by Ill. John D. Melius, 33°.

 


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THE COWLES COLLECTION

The Cowles Collection remembers Sovereign Grand Commander John Henry Cowles who served from 1921 to 1952. An unusual item in the Cowles Collection is his highly decorated leather chair. Since he resided in an apartment at the House of the Temple, many interesting personal effects are included, as well as a collection of gavels.

 


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GRAND COMMANDER'S COLLECTION

 
The Grand Commander's Collection features selections of fine porcelains from around the world, including Royal Copenhagen, Royal Crown Derby, Boehm, Meissen china, and American cut glass. Housed in fine cabinets with Chinoiserie decoration, this unique collection reflects the international scope of the Scottish Rite.

 

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INTERNATIONAL COLLECTION

 
Formally established in 1933, the International Collection was dedicated with the following words: “To Universal Freemasonry and especially to those Masonic Bodies with which this Supreme Council holds fraternal intercourse and representation.”

It consists of five sections: (1) Manuscripts and correspondence submitted to the Supreme Council (2) Photographs stored in archival-quality boxes in areas with controlled temperature and humidity (3) Material objects displayed in secure cases (4) Foreign periodicals located in the main stacks (5) The Library itself now filling numerous bookcases in the large reading room on the north side of the House of the Temple’s first floor.

With more than 4,000 volumes from 68 countries, the number of items on each country varies widely and ranges from a single book for countries such as Zambia, Korea, and Malta to several bookshelves for countries such as Canada, England, and Germany. Topics cover a broad spectrum of Masonic interest and make this collection a unique source of information about the worldwide Masonic Fraternity. The countries represented are:

Argentina
Australia
Austria
Barbados
Belgium
Bolivia
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Czechoslovakia
Denmark
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
England
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Guatemala
Haiti
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
 Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Korea
Malta
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Norway
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Rumania
Russia
Scotland
South Africa
Spain
Sudan
Sweden
Switzerland
Tasmania
Togo
Tunisia
Turkey
Ukraine
Uruguay
Venezuela
Yugoslavia
Zambia
 

The International Room also contains the Bicentennial Commemorative Exhibit which was displayed at the Charleston, South Carolina, Museum as part of the celebration of the 2001 Bicentennial Session of the Supreme Council, 33°. The exhibit’s several colorful panels, each complemented by a specially designed display case with actual artifacts, trace the history of the Supreme Council from its founding on May 31, 1801, in Charleston to the Scottish Rite today. Articles on display range from antique examples of Masonic china and glassware to rare books, unusual gavels, historic Scottish Rite jewels, and even the boots worn on stage by the well-known contemporary entertainer Ill. Mel Tillis, Grand Cross.


 


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PAST GRAND COMMANDERS' COLLECTION

 
This room contains a variety of interesting contributions from Past Sovereign Grand Commanders. Among them are a mounted collection of railway watches, portraits and busts of Past Sovereign Grand Commanders, the Maurice H. Thacher collection of memorabilia and books relevant to the Panama Canal, and the Kenneth S. Kleinknecht, 33°, Exhibit honoring his significant contributions to America's space program.


 


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THE ROBERT BURNS LIBRARY

 
During his lifetime, Bro. William R. Smith, 32°, former Director of the National Botanical Gardens in Washington, D.C., assembled one of the most complete collections of published works by and about Scottish poet Robert Burns. Recognized as one of the finest of all Burns collections, second only to the Burns collection in Glasgow, Scotland, it was cataloged by Mr. William Thomson of the Public Library of Edinburgh, Scotland, and recently converted to the Library's computer catalog system by Joan Sansbury, Librarian of the Supreme Council. The industrialist Andrew Carnegie, trustee of Mr. Smith's estate, decided that because Robert Burns had been an ardent Freemason, it would be appropriate to place the Burns collection in the Library of the Supreme Council, with the condition that it be housed in a special room available to the public and community of scholars.

Also included in the library are numerous special holdings such as the Dr. Lewis Carman Collection of Lincolniana, the Claudy Collection on the works of Goethe, and the L.M. Taylor Collection of esoteric literature. Each of these contains enough in-depth materials to satisfy the most demanding scholar.