Michael Halleran at Natl Heritage Museum April 28th

"Gentlemen of the White Apron," A Lecture by Michael A. Halleran
On Freemasonry in the Civil War
at the
National Heritage Museum
Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 1 pm


Michael A. Halleran, a freelance historian and practicing attorney, sets the standard for scholarship on Freemasonry in the Civil War. On Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 1pm, he will present the talk, “Gentlemen of the White Apron: Freemasonry in the American Civil War.” The lecture will reveal the history behind the many mythical stories of Masonic Brotherhood across the Civil War battle lines. A signing of his acclaimed book, The Better Angels of Our Nature, will follow. Admission is free. The lecture is part of a series on the Civil War, and is made possible by Ruby W. Linn.

Michael Halleran is a freelance writer and a practicing attorney in the Flint Hills of East-Central Kansas. A lecturer at Emporia State University, he is also an active Freemason. Halleran received the Mackey Award for Excellence in Masonic Scholarship by the Scottish Rite Research Society for his article on Civil War Freemasonry in that society’s journal: Heredom. He is a member of the Quatuor Coronati Correspondence Circle, and the Scottish Rite Research Society where he studies American military Masonry and the traditions of military lodges worldwide.

The Museum is offering the lecture series on occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The series is designed to explore the history of this divisive conflict, and its meaning for our nation today. It also relates to Museum’s mission of fostering an appreciation of American history, patriotism and Freemasonry, and reflects both current research and exciting themes relevant to our world. All talks are sponsored by Ruby W. Linn.

Upcoming lectures in the series are:

“Among the Ruins: Charles F. Morse and Civil War Destruction”
Saturday, September 29, 2 pm
Megan Kate Nelson of Harvard University will unfold the Civil War experience of one Massachusetts soldier, Charles F. Morse, an officer in the 2nd Mass. Rgt. His letters, drawings, and other contemporary images will draw us into the world of ruin and destruction that participants in the war found themselves confronting.


“Quilts for Civil War Soldiers: Stories from the Home Front and the Battlefield”
Saturday, October 20, 2 pm
Pamela Weeks, Curator of the New England Quilt Museum, knows the stories behind thee rare surviving Civil War quilts made by caring hands for soldiers fighting for North and South. Learn about the quilts, their makers, life on the home front during the war, and about how civilians organized to get desperately needed aid and supplies to the battlefield.

The National Heritage Museum is dedicated to presenting exhibitions on a wide variety of topics in American history and popular culture. The Museum is supported by the Scottish Rite Freemasons in the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States. The Museum is located at 33 Marrett Road in Lexington at the corner of Route 2A and Massachusetts Avenue. The Museum is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Admission to the Museum is free. For further information contact the Museum at (781) 861-6559. www.nationalheritagemuseum.org