Live: Clifton Daniel, Harry Truman's Grandson Interview Monday 4/13

by Christopher Hodapp

UPDATE: CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE YOUTUBE RECORDING OF THE BROADCAST 

Tomorrow — Monday, April 13th — the Grand Council of the Allied Masonic Degrees (AMD) will be presenting an online discussion with Brother Clifton Truman Daniel about his grandfather, President Harry S Truman. I've been graciously asked to facilitate this presentation. Clifton and I will be discussing some of the quite public Masonic events during Truman's career as a senator, vice-president, and finally as president.


Clifton Truman Daniel is a member of Chicago's Oriental Lodge. If you haven't heard Clifton speak before, he is the eldest grandson of Harry Truman, and he inherited his grandfather's talent for gregariousness and storytelling. I recommend his book, Growing Up With My Grandfather: Memories of Harry S. Truman.

Harry Truman has come up a lot among us Freemasons in the last few weeks as the COVID-10 pandemic shutdown rolled across America. Truman was a Past Grand Master of Missouri, a 33° Scottish Rite Mason, and coincidentally, the 33rd President of the United States. If you watched the video I posted over the weekend of his national address about the Masonic Service Centers during WWII, you know he was an ardent supporter and promoter of Freemasonry. 

What you may not know that he was just as full-throated a promoter of the fraternity all the way back to 1909 when he first joined a lodge after spotting a Masonic ring on the finger of a visitor to the family farm. Even during battles in France in World War I, Truman wrote to his future wife Bess about proudly bringing friends, fellow soldiers and officers into the fraternity. If you've never read Brother Truman by Allen E. Roberts (written back in 1976), it's an exhaustive survey of Truman's letters, statements and activities related to Freemasonry throughout his lifetime. But since Roberts' book came out more than 40 years ago, more has come to light about Truman's remarkable life and his influences both from and on the fraternity.

We'll be chatting about Harry Truman's role in expanding and focussing the mission of the Masonic Service Association, his famous visit to an Indiana lodge for a young sailor's Master Mason degree while on his campaign whistle stop tour across the midwest in 1948, the White House foundation stones with operative stonemason marks he personally had sent to every Masonic grand lodge in the U.S. during the mansion's complete reconstruction in the 1950s, and much, much more.

We'll also be joined by Missouri's MW John W. Hess who has some exciting and recently discovered information about Ray V. Denslow and the 'secret' Masonic mission Truman sent him on across Europe after the end of the war. Denslow was charged by the President to research the suppression of the Masonic fraternity by the fascist regimes in the 30s and 40s, the destruction of lodges, and the looting of their records as the Nazi forces invaded country after country. Truman ultimately wanted Denslow's report to formulate a plan to rebuild European Freemasonry in the post-war years, much as the Marshall Plan would do politically and economically. This is a remarkable and fascinating story all by itself, and I hope much more can be unearthed about it in the coming years. 

The Missouri Lodge of Research has just published a two-volume set of Ray V. Denslow's Masonic Journey  reminiscences, and it opens up an enormous thread of study about this critical moment. Quite honestly, European Freemasonry might not have recovered as it did without the dedication of both Truman and Denslow — something few researchers knew about until these books were released lst year. (By the way, it was Ray Denslow's son William, also a PGM of Missouri, who wrote 10,000 Famous Freemasons.)

Harry Truman's tenure during and after World War II as vice-president and then president following Franklin Roosevelt's sudden death in 1945 marked what was arguably the most complex and world-changing period in history. Historians look back at the period and most agree that Truman was the right man at the right time, and accomplished more in seven years in the Oval Office than two dozen average peacetime presidents combined. The sheer magnitude of plans, programs, conflicts, resolutions, organizations, and truly epochal changes (like the only wartime uses of the new atomic bomb) that occurred on his watch is staggering to behold. And yet, we continue to see these episodes in which he nurtured and publicly promoted Freemasonry while the entire world was upside down. Freemasonry remained important to Truman all his life, and believed with all his heart that the world would be a much better, safer, smarter, more peaceful, more thoughtful place if more men would adopt its precepts. Would that we had that kind of dedicated crop of leaders today anywhere.

So here's the scoop on the interview. 

This presentation will be hosted online via Zoom, and will be simulcast live on Facebook. It will begin at 7:30 CDT (8:30PM Eastern, 6:30 Mountain, 5:30PM Pacific). Because of the pandemic restrictions, we will all be attempting to do this from our respective living rooms. Many thanks to Aaron Shoemaker, Eric Diamond and AMD's Sovereign Grand Master Glen A. Cook for asking me to participate and making this happen so quickly. 

The Grand Council of the Allied Masonic Degrees is sending out a direct link to their members who, will be able to participate in the show live via Zoom, and we will be having a question and answer period hopefully about 40 minutes in.

The first 90 members who marked "going" on the event in AMD's private group will receive details to participate via Zoom.

Everyone else can watch on the PUBLIC AMD USA page at https://www.facebook.com/alliedmasonicdegrees 

We will also simulcast on the Freemasons For Dummies and X-Oriente Facebook pages. But be aware that increased video streaming during the COVID-19 pandemic is causing major issues on the Internet. One of the things being affected is the ability to stream to Facebook directly from Zoom. As a result, the live Facebook simulcast may not work as planned. Eric Diamond and Aaron Shoemaker have been working at this all week long, and it seems to work. But that could all change under actual battle conditions on Monday night.

The Zoom presentation will be recorded in its entirety. and made available on Facebook and Youtube so it can be viewed anytime online. Aaron Shoemaker asks everyone to please visit the brand new AMD YouTube channel and click the "SUBSCRIBE" button at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUJmjMZ2CtX5cVd9FBozTmQ when you have a moment. Even though they don't have any videos up and running yet on that site, they need 100 subscribers there to enable some of the features that we hope to utilize in the future.

For more information, check the event posting on Facebook HERE. And this post will be updated as new connection details are finalized.

• Event invitation to sign up for Zoom participation link (AMD only) HERE
• Facebook simulcast link HERE.

PAST STORIES ABOUT HARRY TRUMAN

Here are some links to some of my previous posts about Harry Truman.

• 'Your Son Is My Brother': the Masonic Service Centers of World War II
• Site of Harry Truman's Historic Masonic Visit Damaged By Fire
• Truman: "None will look askance and say, 'Where was Freemasonry in this hour of need?'"
• Truman Assassination Attempt Thwarted 66 years Ago

'Your Son Is My Brother': the Masonic Service Centers of World War II

by Christopher Hodapp

Over the weekend I posted a link to a YouTube video of then-senator and Freemason Harry Truman addressing the nation in 1942 during World War II about the Masonic Service Association and what eventually turned into 90 Army-Navy Masonic Service Centers across the U.S. After I called attention to that clip, I received a sizable raft of feedback from all over the country asking about that program of the MSA and Truman's involvement. 

It seems that Masons today are interested today in how the fraternity banded together with enough solidarity during a time of previous world crises to do something that benefitted their country and their communities on a national basis. And some are asking why we can't do that again.

Since we're all essentially under home detention for the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic shutdown, I took the opportunity to update and slightly revise a Power Point presentation I did about the Masonic Service Centers last January for Indiana's Dwight L. Smith Lodge of Research U.D. 

It's available now on YouTube and on Facebook.

Your Son Is My Brother - Youtube

Your Son Is My Brother - Facebook

On Monday I'll be facilitating an online conversation with Harry Truman's grandson, Brother Clifton Truman Daniel talking about some of the important Masonic influences in President Truman's life and several important Masonic events he was involved with, even during his presidency. The Service Centers were only one of many Masonic projects he was involved in. Throughout his lifetime he was an active participant and supporter of the fraternity. The online program is being sponsored by the Grand Council of the Allied Masonic Degrees, and I'll post login details as soon as I know them.

Masonic Chair From Famous Truman Visit Destroyed in Beech Grove Lodge Fire

President Harry S Truman visiting Beech Grove Lodge in 1948

As reported last month, a fire broke out  on July 8th in the East of Beech Grove Lodge No. 694 on Indianapolis' south side. The blaze and subsequent damage destroyed the lodge room and its furnishings. The rest of the 1943 building sustained extensive damage as well. 

Beech Grove Lodge became an important part of Masonic history in 1948 when Freemason, Missouri Past Grand Master and President Harry S Truman famously snuck away from the press during a campaign stopover in Indianapolis to attend a Master Mason degree. Donald Bauermeister, a young sailor from Indiana who was his physical therapist on board the Presidential Yacht back in Washington, was being raised that evening, and Truman suddenly informed his staff that he intended to be there, sending the Presidential party and Secret Service detail into an organizational tailspin.

Sadly, the brethren of Beech Grove Lodge have reported that the three-seated Worshipful Master's station chair that President Harry S Truman occupied during his "secret" trip to the lodge in 1948 was damaged far beyond repair in last month's tragic fire. They will explore the possibility that a small memento can be made of the surviving pieces.

The 2nd floor has been gutted and demolition has begun on the main floor. A decision will soon be made on how many, if not all, of the joists for the roof will need to be replaced. The stone and block exterior of the temple survived the fire and will be retained in the rebuilding efforts.

Most of the paper records of the lodge survived the fire, but were heavily smoke damaged and waterlogged. However, the Masonic ring given to Don Bauermeister by his parents and handed to him by Harry Truman himself, along with his Masonic Bible signed by the President are still safely on display at the Masonic Library and Museum of Indiana, located in the Indianapolis Masonic Temple.

Details about Truman's visit to Beech Grove Lodge in 1948 can be found in Dwight L. Smith's Goodly Heritage (1968), Allen E. Roberts' Brother Truman (1985), and most recently in my own book, Heritage Endures (2018).


UPDATE 8/9/2019:

At the Indiana Masonic Home at Compass Park in Franklin today, Grand Master Kenneth Roy, Jr. presented Beech Grove Lodge's Master WB Kevin Upshaw with their new charter to replace the one lost in the fire.

Site of Harry Truman's Historic Masonic Visit Damaged By Fire

THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED 7/11/2019

Fire broke out at about 3 AM Monday morning at Beech Grove Lodge 694 on the south side of Indianapolis. 

Beech Grove Lodge is noteworthy in Indiana’s Masonic history, as well as to the cultural heritage of the fraternity. In 1948, President Harry S Truman famously snuck away from the press during a campaign stopover in Indianapolis to attend the Master Mason degree of Donald Bauermeister, a young sailor from Indiana who was his physical therapist on board the Presidential Yacht back in Washington. The President was crisscrossing the Midwest on a whistle stop campaign tour, and was traveling through Indiana at the time. Don and his father had attended Truman’s stump speech in Kokomo earlier in the day, and were invited by the President to ride in his private railroad car the rest of the way into the city. While underway, Truman suddenly informed his staff that he wished to visit the Beech Grove Masonic lodge that evening. 

Harry Truman was an enthusiastic Freemason. Before becoming President in 1945, Truman had served as Grand Master for the Grand Lodge of Missouri, and remained an active supporter of the fraternity all his life. 

Rumors of the President’s ‘secret’ trip to Beech Grove that night spread like wildfire, especially among the railroad community. The Secret Service had taken pains to convince the press that Truman had gone to bed early aboard his train at Union Station, and even used a body double decoy to convince them. Nevertheless, over a thousand people gathered in the streets outside of the lodge to try to catch a glimpse of the President entering the Masonic Hall at 7th and Main Streets.

He arrived just before the second section of the degree began, and nearly three hundred Masons packed into the lodge room, the social areas, and even lined the staircase. Because Masonic degree rituals are considered secret, Truman’s non-Mason security agents were not permitted to actually enter the lodge room during the ceremony. Forced to wait nervously outside, the President assured them he was in the safest possible place on Earth. Inside, Truman was invited to preside over the ceremony, and sat in the Master’s chair. When asked how he wanted to be formally introduced to the gathered members and visitors, he humbly declined the presidential title and instead asked to be identified simply as a Past Grand Master of Missouri. 

Monday's blaze started on the second floor near the East in the lodge room, and authorities have determined the fire was caused by an electrical problem. Thankfully, there were no injuries. The lodge room and about a third of the roof and attic area are a total loss, but the flames were confined to those areas by the closed Tyler's and Preparation room doors. 

The present hall of Beech Grove Lodge was dedicated in 1942. Because of the major structural loss and tremendous water and smoke damage, it is expected that the building will be gutted and rebuilt, but the exterior facade will be retained.

Charters of the lodge and the Eastern Star chapter were both consumed by the fire. On Wednesday members and work crews were hurriedly attempting to remove all surviving paper records and any other salvageable items, as the building is now unstable.

Members of the lodge report that the famous meeting’s 1948 register book with the President’s signature suffered smoke damage from the fire, along with original photographs from the event. The Master's chair that President Truman sat in is currently buried under the collapsed portion of the roof beams, but a preliminary look holds out the possibility that it can be salvaged. 

Local news station WXIN Fox 59 aired a follow up report by reporter Nick McGill about the lodge on Wednesday, featuring an interview with Worshipful Master Kevin Upshaw. SEE IT HERE.

The Masonic ring given to Don Bauermeister by his parents and handed to him by Harry Truman himself, along with his Masonic Bible signed by the President are still safely on display at the Masonic Library and Museum of Indiana, located in the Indianapolis Masonic Temple.

Details about Truman's visit to Beech Grove Lodge in 1948 can be found in Dwight L. Smith's Goodly Heritage (1968), Allen E. Roberts' Brother Truman (1985), and most recently in my own book, Heritage Endures (2018).