GM of Florida Again Rescinds Recognition With Cuba

Well. THAT didn't last very long at all. What Grand Lodges giveth, Grand Masters can taketh awayeth.

As reported here, the Grand Lodge of Florida F&AM recognized the Gran Logia de Cuba on December 10, 2016, and their lodges enjoyed mutual visitation for the first time in 56 years. 

Now it seems that Florida's Grand Master, MW Stanley Hudson, has again withdrawn recognition on February 16th from the GL de Cuba for their failure to "renounce the clandestine lodges operating" in Florida's jurisdiction.

(Click the image above to enlarge.)

UPDATE 2/18/2017 11AM: 
I am informed that this controversy stems from lodges operated within Florida made up of exiled Cuban Masons who are not affiliated with the Grand Lodge of Florida F&AM. They obviously see this as an invasion of their territory by Cuba, and this discussion apparently has gone on for a while. Here is a link to a letter regarding the matter from 2014.

It seems that the GL of Florida largely looked the other way at the operation of the exile lodges with an understanding that they would cease once relations between the island nation and the US were normalized and the two Grand Lodges reconciled. That apparently did not happen, at least as quickly as the GL of Florida wanted it to. Hence, the new divorce.

H/T Colin Peterson

Vitruvian Man

A brief TedEd lesson on the mathematical explanation of the namesake of one of my lodges, Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, that touches very quickly on the concept of 'squaring the circle.'

Masonic Week 2017 Opens Today

Masonic Week 2017 officially kicks off today at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, adjacent to Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia (just across the river from Washington DC). The official program can be seen HERE. 

Masonic Week is the official yearly gathering of numerous annual meetings and degree conferrals, elections, speeches, presentations, banquets, and other assorted sundry activities of lesser known, mostly York Rite-related organizations. The Allied Masonic Degrees is the primary body meeting, but there is a whole world of others many Masons know little or nothing about, gathered in one place. 

It is also the location of the annual induction of the newest Blue Friar, a select society of Masonic authors, and his presentation of an original paper. (I've heard a rumor of who it might be this year, and it is well deserved and long overdue, if true.)

And of course, it is the site of the 9th Annual Meeting and Banquet of the Masonic Society, and Friday evening's speaker will be our new-ish Editor of the Journal of the Masonic Society, Michael Poll. TMS is also once again hosting a hospitality suite (in Room 1811), so if you are attending this year, please stop by the room, enjoy a wee dram, and enjoy the company. You never know who you will find there.

Unfortunately, I am not going again this year - not in the Hodapphäus budget I'm afraid - but it's always an outstanding function of the year. It is a very international gathering, and you never know who you'll find there from around the world. Most events required earlier reservations, so it's not the best situation to arrive without having done that before. It's not really well suited to walk-ins. But that said, there are plenty of folks who don't bother with any of the official events, they just show up, see old friends, make new ones, and just hang out for the weekend. And there's always a decent lineup of vendors, there, too, in case you don't own enough Masonic books, magazines, jewelry, and other ephemera.

(And yes, I'm sure by now everyone and his mother has told Dan that he misspelled "Reagan" in the graphic on the event's pages.)

UPDATE 2/9/17: Michael Poll just posted online that his flights from New Orleans have unfortunately been cancelled due to inclement East Coast weather, and that he is unable to reschedule to get to Washington DC in time for this event. However, he is recording the speeches he was supposed to give and they will be projected at Masonic Week.

(Why do the organizers of Masonic Week stubbornly cling to the combination of the DC area location in February, despite decades of experiencing weather cancellations that scream to change it? The SRICF finally gave up on it two years ago and moved to Louisville in November. Yes, I know, it's been 75° on this weekend before too. But snowstorms or ice are the more likely scenarios. The event used to coincide with the annual meeting of the Conference of Grand Masters which always took place the following week in Washington, so it made sense then. And that started in the days when people took trains everywhere. But the GMs finally abandoned the area, in part out of exasperation with the weather. So, what's keeping Masonic Week there now, especially at that time of year?)

2018 Quatuor Coronati Conference at GW Memorial 9/14-16/2018 Call For Papers

2018 Quatuor Coronati Conference: Freemasons in the Transatlantic World during the Long 18th Century (1688 - 1815)

September 14-16, 2018
SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS

The Academic Committee of the 2018 Quatuor Coronati Conference, sponsored by Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076 of the United Grand Lodge of England, invites proposals for papers presenting new research in the form of biographical or prosopographical findings in the history of Anglo-American Freemasonry during the long eighteenth century, including studies of freemasons in or from all parts of Britain, Ireland, all of North America and the Caribbean. Early and mid-career academics are particularly encouraged to apply, though proposals from senior and independent scholars are also welcomed. 

Academic committee of the conference: Professors Susan Sommers, Mark Wallace, Paul Monod and Jessica Harland-Jacobs. 

Abstracts and proposals of up to 500 words, plus a brief CV, should be submitted in the body of an email to the committee c/o Professor Susan Summers at susan.sommers@stvincent.edu, with “QC 2018” in the subject line. 

The closing date for the first round of submissions is May 1st, 2017. 

Location: Alexandria, Virginia, USA: George Washington Masonic National Memorial (101 Callahan Drive, Alexandria Virginia, 22301)

More information will be posted HERE over the coming months and QCCC members will be able to register their interest in the event later this year. The initial steering group for the conference comprises Susan Sommers (Academic), Mark Tabbert (GWMNM, Alexandria) and Ric Berman (Finance, Marketing and UK liaison).

H/T: Oscar Alleyne

Corey D. B. Walker Speaking in Boston 4/3

Boston University's American and New England Studies Program will present its third annual lecture on American fraternalism on April 3rd.

This year Professor Corey D. B. Walker, or Winston-Salem State University, will lecture on “The Sovereignty of the Imagination: African American Freemasons and the Problem of Democracy in the Modern World.”  Professor Walker is the author of the outstanding 2008 book, A Noble Fight: African American Freemasonry and the Struggle for Democracy in America.

The lecture is free and open to the public, and will take place Monday, April 3, 2017, at 8 pm in Room KCB-101 of 565 Commonwealth Avenue on the Campus of Boston University, in Boston, Massachusetts. Boston University Lodge, AF & AM is the generous supporter of this lecture series. (Click the poster image above to enlarge.)

By the way, A Noble Fight is an exploration of the role of Prince Hall Masonry in African American American society and culture. His premise is related in some respects to Margaret Jacob's contention that speculative Freemasons were living out the theories of the Enlightenment in their Masonic lodges in an early practical application of them. Walker's variation, in part, is that the 19th century black American lodges were likewise instructing their members in the very practical 'working tools' of democratic government. His speech seems from the description to be a 21st century extension of the similar theme.

The announcement of this speech made me go back and glance through his book again. I'm coincidentally  writing a chapter right this very moment about recognition of Prince Hall Freemasonry in Indiana, and this week I am picking my way through the formation of what became the Prince Hall Grand Lodge here. In his address to the mainstream Grand Lodge of Ohio in 1875, Ohio's Grand Master, Asa H. Battin delivered up a very lengthy presentation to his assembled brethren entitled "New Day, New Duty," in which he reported that there were 12,811 'colored Masons' at work in 539 lodges in the U.S. at that time. I'm unsure of where he got those numbers, but for a voluntary organization that cost precious household money to join during a turbulent political and social moment in history for American blacks, that was a pretty substantial cluster of men that 99% of mainstream Masons didn't know (or believe) existed. Battin was interested in recognizing the precursor to the Prince Hall grand lodge in Ohio at that time, and his committee came back with an interesting recommendation that ultimately failed to pass. Nearly every other state's proceedings for 1876 discuss Ohio's activities on the matter. It should be noted that actual mainstream recognition of Prince Hall Freemasonry wouldn't begin for another century.

Anyway, if you are in the Boston area, check out Brother Walker's presentation. (In 2008, he was a member of Jefferson Lodge 20 in Charlottesville, Virginia, of the MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Virginia.) 

It doesn't appear that reservations are required.

H/T to Will Moore

'America: Facts vs. Fiction - Secret Societies' Tonight 2/4

At 10:00PM tonight (Saturday, February 4th), the American Heroes Channel (AHC) will premiere a new episode of America: Facts vs. Fiction about U.S. 'secret societies,' kicking off their 4th season. 

Yes, the Freemasons are included in the one hour show. Yes, both Alice and I are supposedly interviewed in it. No, we haven't seen it yet ourselves and we make absolutely zero guarantees as to its veracity or quality. Nor do we know if the producers felt compelled to include some "opposing viewpoint" spokesman or crackpot to edit us up against. 

However, I will say they told us when we shot with them last year that they were not, and that's not their style anyway. Frankly, the only reason we agreed to this one was because past episodes of this show have been entertaining, factual, and generally free of what another producer of one of these types of things several years ago called the "woo-woo factor." America: Facts vs. Fiction has usually done a good job of truthfully documenting the subject at hand in seasons past, with a concentration on specifically debunking conspiracy theories (not supporting them). So, we did it.

Watch if you are so inclined tonight. You won't hurt our feelings if you don't.

Here's the official descriptive blurb:

Much of what we know about America's secret societies is myth, not truth. The Freemasons have no evil agenda, the Mafia took root not in New York, but the South, and Yale's Skull and Bones does not control a sinister shadow government.

For Indiana Masons, be sure to watch the scenery during the episode: they shot sequences at both the Indianapolis Masonic Temple and the Indianapolis Scottish Rite Cathedral (with a concentration on our magnificent stained glass windows, as well as the exterior details).

UPDATE 2/7/2017: In case your cable/satellite/other provider doesn't offer AHC, the episode is now available online HERE. Don't know for how long.

Not a Good Day for Masonic Buildings

Not one, but two irreplaceable Masonic buildings came across the wires today: the Zembo Shrine Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and the former home of two of a Jeffersonville, Indiana Masonic lodge.

First up, History For Sale from the Harrisburg News website today:

A few weeks ago, the Lemoyne-based Bill Gladstone Group listed the 62,621-square-foot building for sale for $950,000.

The building, at N. 3rd and Division streets, long has been home to the Shriners, the Harrisburg affiliate of the international fraternity that follows Masonic principles. In addition to serving as meeting space for the society, the building may be best known throughout central PA for hosting the annual Zembo Shrine circus, in addition to many other large-scale events.

“It’s been a kick in the gut,” said Michael T. Govora Jr., a past potentate of the Zembo Shriners. “But we simply can’t afford to do it anymore. It’s a matter of manpower and money.”

Govora said that aging and declining membership, as well as increasing costs for such expenses as property taxes and utilities, are forcing the sale. Moreover, the Shriners want to make certain that they’re able to continue with their principal mission—raising money for 22 children’s hospitals.

“We’re looking at this as a positive,” Govora said. “We’re looking for our fraternity to be fruitful for years to come and not run out of money keeping something we can’t afford.”

The local organization currently has about 2,200 members, he said, down from about 10,000 four decades ago.

Built in 1928-29, Zembo was designed in the Moorish Revival style, with flourishes of Art Deco, by noted local architect Charles Howard Lloyd. The Shriners selected Lloyd’s design following a heated competition involving some of Harrisburg’s best-known architects, according to “Building Harrisburg,” Ken Frew’s history of the city’s architecture. Zembo cost about $1 million to build.
Both Govora and Gladstone said that it may take awhile to sell the cavernous stone-and-masonry building, given its unique design and features, which include rooms full of dazzling, imported tiles, a large auditorium, a 120-foot minaret and 300 parking spaces.

“So much history is attached to it, so many events have been held there,” Gladstone said. “To their credit, they realized that the time had come to sell.”
David Morrison, executive director of Historic Harrisburg Association, described Zembo as “the second-most iconic building in Harrisburg after the Capitol.”

“It’s played a huge role in the community,” he said. “A lot of events have taken place there over so many years–presidential candidates, important performers. So, its history is unique.”

Morrison said he expects another institutional user would be most interested in the property.

“Across the street, you have the William Penn campus,” he said. “That makes it a unique district, and the centerpiece is the Zembo center.”

As for the Shriners, Govora said that sale of the property will help them survive as a group and continue their mission. They may ask the buyer to lease back meeting space to them or they might find another, smaller location in the Harrisburg area.

“There’s no need for people to get too nervous because we’re not going anywhere as a fraternity,” he said.

The project was started just six months before the stock market Crash in 1929 that led off the depression, and it was nonetheless completed by May 1930. Despite the current valuation of the facility at more than $7 million, it's being fire-saled on the market for just under a million, about what it cost to build almost 90 years ago.  

Second is a former Masonic temple in Jeffersonville, Indiana, the onetime home to Clark Lodge 40 and built in 1926. While Zembo is certainly savable and has potential to be a magnificent home for another owner, Jeffersonville's building is not so lucky. The lodge moved out back in 1994, and despite new ownership, it has been largely neglected almost ever since (although a satellite dish on a side roof implies it's had a more recent resident).

From Jeffersonville's Masonic Temple Faces Demolition in the News & Tribune this morning:

The clock may be ticking on the fate of one of Jeffersonville's most historically significant buildings — the Masonic Lodge at 509 E. Spring St.

On Wednesday, the owner — Chris Nolan of Pinnacle Properties Development Group — filed an application with the Jeffersonville Building Commissioner’s Office to raze the deteriorating building. It must be posted for two weeks, which started Wednesday.

Thirty days is the soonest any demolition could occur but first, Nolan would need to secure a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Jeffersonville Historic Preservation Commission, due to the building's historical importance.

The commission meets the second Monday of each month — the next meting is Feb. 13 and Nolan must apply for the certificate and be placed on the agenda before action can be taken that night.

A structural engineering investigation, performed by Renaissance Design Build, Inc., accompanied the application to the building inspector.

The report states that through a “non-destructive visual inspection,” engineers noted deterioration throughout the building — sections of roof missing and pieces of roof scattered around the site, standing water on all three floors and the basement, including a foot of water in the boiler room, electrical panels, metal box gutters and electric service which had fallen from the building, more than 50 percent of plaster walls and ceilings that were missing or damaged and ceiling and floor assembly failures throughout the structure.

The recommendation from engineers, as stated in the report, was to demolish the building due to “current unsafe deteriorated conditions of the existing building under Jeffersonville Unsafe Building ordinance 840R18 and cost-effectiveness of reconstructing existing building to bring it up to safe and structurally sound conditions for habitability.”

But Greg Sekula, director of the Southern Regional office of Indiana Landmarks, a statewide nonprofit preservation organization, hopes things turn around.
“Jeffersonville has lost a tremendous amount of historic buildings over the years from everything to interstate construction to flood to fire and this is one of the true landmark properties that remain — we need to do everything we can to save this building,” he said.

The three-story, 20,000-square-foot building, which overlooks Jeffersonville's Warder Park, was built in 1926 and was in use by the Masons until 1994. It was added to Indiana Landmark's top 10 list of endangered buildings statewide. It is also a contributing structure to the Old Jeffersonville National Register Historic District.

“Without a doubt, this is probably the most significant historic building in Jeffersonville remaining in terms of grand civic structures that have not been rehabilitated,” he said.

Sekula said that he and others at Indiana Landmarks have been in contact with Nolan over the years — alerting him about avenues of preservation that were open to him.

“Our door has always been open,” Sekula said. “It is a building we have been monitoring for quite some time. We have ... tried to encourage him to consider rehabilitating the building.”

Sekula said he let Nolan know about the state and federal tax credits that were available, and offered the possibility of donating or selling the building for rehabilitation.

“We had been encouraged by past conversations that he was committed to at least putting a roof on the building after some damage that occurred,” he said. “And unfortunately he has not taken the steps to secure the roof and as a result [the building] has been taking on some significant water on the interior.”
Nolan could not be reached for comment by press time.

According to a Jeffersonville ordinance regarding historic preservation, the commission must consider certain criteria when determining whether or not to accept the application, including the state of deterioration and affect the demolition would have on the historic district.

If it is denied, the building may still be demolished if the owner can prove they have exhausted all possibilities to try to preserve or sell the building.

“We would hope that we could work with Mr. Nolan to come up with an alternative to demolition,” Sekula said.

The town has been a mixed bag architecturally for historic Masonic buildings. Also in Jeffersonville, the historic longtime home of North Star Lodge 3 of the MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Indiana at 801 Spring Street (right) got the wrecking ball in 2015. The lodge reportedly was going to move to nearby Claysburg, but I can't find any record of it since 2015. If anybody knows its fate, pass it along and i'll update.

Jeffersonville sits directly across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky, and was an important stop westward in the early days of Indiana because of a geographical speed bump in the river known as the "Falls of the Ohio." The obstruction to river traffic there exists even today, and a substantial lock system was constructed on the Kentucky side. During the Westward Expansion, no matter what you were paddling, you had to get around the Falls or just leave the river entirely. So, Jeffersonville was extremely important. There was already a Masonic lodge in the town just a year after the formation of the Grand Lodge of Indiana in 1818: Posey Lodge 8 (chartered 1819, but surrendered in 1833), and was replaced in 1835 by Clark Lodge 40.

After moving out of the 509 Spring Street building in the 90s, their newer home is now at 303 E. Park Place, and they share it with Jeffersonville Lodge 340.


Still, there's a preserved Temple left downtown. The beautiful current home of two more Jeffersonville lodges of the GL of Indiana F&AM is at 805 E. Market Street (also facing Spring Street): New Albany 39 and Pythagoras 355. Their beautiful Italianate home was originally built as a private residence, the John Connor house, in the 1800s (photo at right), but the lodge has been there since at least 1900. 

WB Darren Klem Passes Away: Funeral Friday 2/3

My friend and Brother, WB Darren Jason Klem passed away on Sunday. 

That's a damned difficult sentence to type.

Darren came to Broad Ripple Lodge when we were really struggling, and God truly smiled on us when he arrived. He had just moved to Indianapolis for his job at Rolls Royce, but he had first become a Mason in Bayonne, New Jersey at Menorah Lodge 249, which had just merged in a Masonic stew of consolidations into Peninsula Lodge 99.  He was also a member of a very special Texas lodge, Tranquility 2000. So, Darren was already extraordinarily active and enthusiastic about the fraternity. 

Once here, Darren also became a member of our unique Bartimaeus Lodge UD, a special purpose lodge that exists solely to confer the Masonic degrees on candidates with physical handicaps or challenges that require extra care. That was the kind of man he was, who sought out ways to help. 

Darren became Master of Broad Ripple 643, and brought great leadership and fun to the position. He also became an active member of Lodge Vitruvian 767, and was moving through the officers chairs there, as well.

As part of his job, he had to travel extensively, to Europe, and often to Britain. When traveling, he would try to make time to seek out and visit a lodge in whatever part of the countryside he was in, and his experiences were unique. He had a deep voice and a hilarious sense of fun, and he embodied that rare combination of commanding respect, admiration, love, and humor, in one unassuming package. He rarely raised that voice, and yet others always seemed to be drawn toward his comments or decisions naturally. He wasn't always the first guy a stranger might gravitate to in a room, but Darren was very often the last one he was still talking to when they shut out the lights and locked the door.

After he served as Master of Broad Ripple, he eventually took the Secretary's chair over from Nathan Brindle when he moved on, and Darren held that position for many years. It was cancer that forced him out of that seat at last in November, and only then, reluctantly - actually in mid-meeting. 

He and I were both struck with nearly the identical type of cancer, in almost precisely the same spot, within just a few months of each other six years ago. That's a club I was not happy to share membership with him in. But whereas mine was eventually beaten surgically, chemically, and radiologically, Darren's was not. Time and again, he would pull though successfully, only for the damned horrid tentacles of it to cling on in secret and reappear again in months or a year, and the miserable process would begin all over again. 

Darren has a beautiful, loving wife, and of course my heart goes out to Tabitha, who has been by his side as this struck him again and again. She has been through her own hell that has been every bit as terrible in its own way as his. But he also has two young daughters. And there's no reason on God's Earth I can think of right this very moment to make sense of why the science worked and I lived, and why my friend, her husband, their father, did not.

---

UPDATE 2/3/17 2:55PM NOTE CHANGES:

(Obituary posted this morning HERE.)

Worshipful Brother Darren Klem's Masonic Memorial Service will be this Friday around 7:30pm. at Flanner and Buchanan in Broad Ripple. Please arrive at 7:30pm to prepare and make ready. 

Flanner and Buchannan - Broad Ripple
1305 Broad Ripple Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46220
(317) 475-4475

WB Klem made many arrangements before his death, and has asked that Lodge Vitruvian and our own Lodge be participants in the service.

We have also been invited by the family to attend the Catholic Service at St. Joan of Arc at 4217 Central Avenue on Saturday 2/4/2017 at 10am. as well as the burial at St. Malachy West Cemetery in Pittsburo, Indiana following the Saturday service and Memorial Lunch at St. Malachy Catholic Church (9833 E County Road 750 N, Brownsburg, IN 46112) following the burial.

Please direct any questions regarding this to me and I will do my best to answer them.

Fraternally and with a heavy heart,

Doug Eckhart, PM
Worshipful Master BR Lodge #643
317-379-8311
doug@deckhart.com

May it be his portion to hear from Him who sitteth as Judge Supreme: “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joys of thy Lord”.

---

My friend Jay Hochberg knew Darren many years before I did from his days in New Jersey, and has written his own very personal memories of Darren on his Magpie Mason blog site HERE. Thanks, Jay.

Knights of Malta vs. Pope Francis: Update

On January 12th, I posted HERE about an imbroglio going on in Vatican City over the modern day Knights of Malta. The story at that time was strictly from the lopsided Catholic press, and especially from a columnist with a bone to pick about Freemasonry.

Well, Saturday the story finally broke out into the secular press, and the New York Times picked it up in a far more detailed and linear fashion than the piece I had quoted. It should be noted the single and largely insignificant reference to Freemasonry in this article. It seems to be largely a non-issue in this matter, as far as Pope Francis making any sort of new pronouncements, or even rumblings, about our fraternity.

Read: Ten Centuries Later, a Pope and Knights Do Battle by Jason Horowitz (how he drew the Vatican assignment, I'll never know).

'Living Stones' Magazine Now Available For All

In September 2016, WBro. Robert Herd announced that he was discontinuing the publication of his well regarded Living Stones monthly Masonic magazine after six years, due to the dwindling number of high quality submissions. 

He has just recently and most generously decided to make all of the past issues available online for no charge, stating, "I feel the magazines and articles are in a way timeless, and will offer education and wisdom for years to come. I hope you enjoy them." 

Issues are organized by year, and may be viewed HERE.

Apparent Arson Fire at Historic Grand Rapids, MI Masonic Center

The CBS affiliate, WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, Michigan reported early this morning that a "suspicious fire" is being investigated by police at the Grand Rapids Masonic Center. 

According to the story:

The fire was reported around 1 a.m. Wednesday at the Masonic Center, located at 233 Fulton Street near Lafayette Avenue.

GRFD Battalion Chief Nancy Boss told 24 Hour News 8 that someone got into the building and set a small fire. Firefighters were able to extinguish it quickly and no one was hurt.

Authorities called the fire “suspicious.” It’s unclear who set the fire and why.
Forensic teams were on scene to help in the investigation.

As of late Wednesday evening, no further news reports had been posted, but the damage was apparently limited.

The Temple celebrated its centennial in 2015, despite a proposal the previous year to sell it, which was overwhelmingly rejected by the membership. It is the home to the Masonic Museum and Library, Grand Rapids Lodge 34, Doric Lodge 342, York Lodge 410, and the Grand Rapids Valley of the Scottish Rite. It is also the headquarters of the Michigan Masonic Charitable Foundation.

Back in 1947, a much larger fire severely damaged the building (right), but an asbestos curtain drawn over the proscenium of the theater protected their priceless Scottish Rite degree backdrops from destruction. Photos of that incident appear on the center's Facebook page HERE.

GL Arkansas Lawsuit Dismissed

As mentioned here back in October, the Grand Lodge of Arkansas lost $500,000 in a failed real estate investment scheme dating back to 2008. They subsequently attempted to recover their losses by suing various parties involved in the fund in federal court in April 2015. But by last October, the judge in the Arkansas Eastern District court, Hon. J. Leon Holmes, had already thrown out all charges against four of the six defendants in the case.

Well, last Wednesday, January 18th, Holmes tossed out the case against the last two remaining defendants and dismissed the case "with prejudice." The documents are available online HERE (Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Arkansas v. DCG/UGOC Equity Fund LLC et al) if you have a PacerMonitor subscription (they offer a free trial for 14 days, but be careful, as you could get charged $49 for the next month if you miss the email). Noteworthy across all of the judge's decisions is the repeated use of the phrase, "the Lodge has failed to carry its burden to show..."

(UPDATED LINKS to the pertinent documents: October 19, 2016 decision; and the January 2017 Decision)

Arkansas Masons have been asking whether the complete legal costs accrued by this Quixotic quest through the court system will be duly reported at next month's Annual Communication.

Large institutional organizations have problems from time to time. Any well-meaning one can make a poor investment through no fault of its own, and there's often nothing more damning about such an error or stroke of bad timing than, at most, maybe credulousness or bad judgement by an officer or two, who simply were out of their depth in the matter. The best of organizations are up front with their stockholders or members, promise to do better or change leadership, and get back to work. But Arkansas continues to rack up problem after problem, and they can't be hidden from their own members any longer. The practice of ejecting every single member who makes a critical observation out loud has taken on epidemic proportions: 23 expelled so far this year, and it's not quite the end of the term yet.

The question now arising is, will February's gathering in Little Rock erupt in a massive outburst of revolutionary anger, disgust, and exasperation? Or will some calming PGM or other admired Arkansas Mason emerge who rallies members to some noble cause and gathers their immediate approbation? Or will the assembled brethren simply sit quietly and watch it all unfold in emotional resignation - only to stop themselves at years' end when it comes time to write their dues check, and consign their notices to their shredders?

---

UPDATE 1/30/2017: 

According to court documents filed by the Grand Lodge in the lawsuit against the Equity Fund investment company, half of their $500,000 loss came out of their Perpetual Membership investment fund. As a result, the loss of investment income will be felt by every lodge under the Grand Lodge of Arkansas in the reduction of payouts from lifetime memberships.

---

To recap the entire Arkansas saga, here are the pertinent links:

3/13/10: Grand Lodge of Arkansas Pulls Charter, Files Charges Over Website
12/16/10: News From Arkansas
2/17/11: A Gathering Storm In Arkansas
2/18/11: More Sad News From Arkansas
11/9/12: Shrine Declared Clandestine in Arkansas
1/31/13: South Carolina Suspends Relations With Shriners International
6/19/16: Arkansas Rumblings
6/26/16: Reprehend With Justice
8/23/16: GL of Arkansas Suspends Grand Senior Warden
8/28/16: Grand Lodge of Arkansas' Yezhovshchina: Grand Line Officers Purged
9/3/16: More Antics Out Of Arkansas
9/11/16: Arkansas: Floggings Continue, Yet Morale Doesn't Improve
10/10/16: New Allegations in Arkansas

11/2/16: Grand Master of Oklahoma Suspends Recognition of GL of Arkansas
11/16/16: Oklahoma Edict on Arkansas Lapses: Amity Restored

12/19/16:  Arkansas's Holiday Surprises

French "Dummies" Author Phillipe Benhamou in Paris 2/25/17

My friend and compatriot in France who collaborated, translated, and greatly expanded that country's version of Freemasons For Dummies (Franc-maçonnerie Pour Les Nuls), Bro. Phillipe Benhamou, is a friendly, funny, and brilliant man who I am in the conflicting position of not being able to sit in the same lodge with under our rules of recognition. He is a longtime member of the Grand Loge de France, which is regular, but unrecognized by the majority of the outside Masonic world. Such is the state of Freemasonry and its own brand of internal and international politics. 

(They are the second largest grand lodge in France, after the irregular Grand Orient de France. GLNF, the one we all are in amity with, is third.) 

Phillipe's job when he wrote the French edition went far beyond a simple translation of what I originally wrote (which has been done in Germany). My version primarily concentrated on Freemasonry as it functions in the U.S., and to a lesser extent, in the British Isles. But the French Masonic landscape is hugely complex and very different from us, for a variety of cultural, historic, and political reasons. The result is now three major grand governing bodies of lodges in that country, along with another ten or more minor ones of enough popularity to at least mention. Plus the various appendant bodies attached to all of them. Additionally, at least 20% of the Masons in France are women, and the Order of the Eastern Star is unknown there (female and mixed lodges have been at work in France since about 1740, in case anybody thinks there's anything particularly "new" about it). 

Wiley Publishing's French partner for the Dummies series wanted a book that would appeal to all of the Masons in that country, along with the skeptics and non-Masons. So, the book Phillipe crafted is obviously very different from mine, and he faced an even more daunting task than I did. Unfortunately, it is often passed up by Masons there who would enjoy and benefit from it because they just assume it was written by a non-Mason, or an anti-Mason with a grudge. Most French readers have been surprised to find out he is indeed a member, after all. Interestingly, the publisher there has created a couple of different versions, including an expanded illustrated edition with many color photographs.

While he is occasionally featured on radio and elsewhere, Phillipe doesn't usually traipse the countryside making speeches to any lodge that will feed him the way I have over the years, so a public event with him is pretty rare. 

He will be speaking on Saturday, February 25th, 2017 at 2:00PM in the beautiful temple of the Grande Loge de France in Paris at 8 rue de Puteaux 75017, mere steps from the Rome Metro station. 

His topic will be "Freemasonry: What Good is It?" and I suspect he will be shamelessly hawking books and signing them for those who show up with their own copies. (Phillipe is also a novelist, along with his actual vocation as a scientist in the French space program.) His presentation is a part of the GLdF's Condorcet-Brossolette lecture series for the general public that discusses the role of Masonry in modern society by inviting a variety of speakers from a broad spectrum of viewpoints. The organizers are asking for attendees to register online HERE.

Levant Preceptory at Indiana York Rite Class This Sunday 1/28

Levant Preceptory will present the of the Order of the Temple at Angola Lodge No. 236 in Angola, Indiana this Saturday, January 28th, 2017 for the Grand Master's York Rite Class.

Here is the schedule for the day's events:

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Grand Master’s York Rite Class for Indiana

08:00 AM Registration and Coffee

09:00 AM Royal Arch Degree

10:45 AM Royal Master Degree

11:30 AM Select Master Degree

12:00 PM Lunch 

  1:00 PM Order of the Red Cross 

  1:45 PM Order of Malta (Short Form)

  2:30 PM Order of the Temple

Angola Masonic Lodge

35 S. Public Square

Angola, IN 46703-1926

Driving Directions

http://www.mapquest.com    

Contact

Mike Anderson  

candacraig2@re-comm.net   

Levant Preceptory technically operates under the existing Charter of Raper Commandery No. 1 by authority of both the Grand Commandery of Indiana and the Grand Encampment of the United States, but we draw our volunteer Knights from all over Indiana, and occasionally even surrounding states. We are dedicated to excellence in the performance of the ritual and Indiana's tactics for the conferral of the Order of Temple, in a manner that will have the greatest emotional impact upon the aspirant. We have been invited to perform throughout Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio.

We have no dues or formal structure, aside from choosing our Director of Work and our experienced inspector from within our active ranks. Our fellow Knights are, however, required to provide their own period equipment, which is available from several online resources. We can provide that supply information for you upon request. But far more important, our members are expected to learn their parts to perfection in word, and meaningful, powerful delivery. We adhere to proper Indiana tactics. 

Other groups are appearing all over the country attempting to recreate our success and impact on aspirants by simply buying period costumes. Anybody can buy clothes and props. That is NOT the key to what we do, and never has been since we began in 2007. Costumes are mere stagecraft, and if all a group does is dress differently, but still muddles through degree conferrals, it has achieved nothing meaningful. The true key is setting a consistantly high standard of excellence that will not be compromised, which is why we attract the very best Templar ritualists in the state - some of whom who might have otherwise departed their Commanderies in disappointment. 

If you are committed to that excellence as well, consider taking part in our activities.

6th UCLA Masonic Conference: 300 Years of Freemasonry 3/4/17

The 6th International Conference at UCLA will be held on Saturday, March 4th, 2017. This year's conference is entitled 300 Years of Freemasonry: Its Meaning as Its Founding and Today.

As part of its collaborative partnership with the history department at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the Institute for Masonic Studies presents an annual International Conference on Freemasonry on the UCLA campus. Open to students, historians, and members of the general public, these events seek to educate and inspire scholars of the craft.

Saturday, March 4
8:30 a.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Grand Horizon Ballroom, UCLA
$30 Conference registration/$20 Optional catered lunch

On June 26, 2017, Freemasons throughout the world will celebrate the 300th anniversary of the founding of the first grand lodge in England – considered to be the landmark date from which the fraternity’s origins are measured. Although the values and rituals established by the earliest Masons are still at the heart of Freemasonry, it is an ever-evolving craft that has been inspired and transformed by the societies to which it has expanded as the years passed. Freemasonry has endured for centuries, but it remains a living craft that is handed down from generation to generation of good men seeking a more enlightened existence.

* Explore the foundation of the first grand lodge: Is the 300th anniversary historically accurate, or is the "history" we ascribe to based on legends handed down through the ages?

* Learn how a religious revolution sparked the fraternity's embrace of religious diversity, subjectivity, and rationalism.

* Study the Masonic rites in 18th century France, how they affected candidates, and how these historic ritual experiences reflect upon today's rituals.
* Discover how studying Freemasonry and government in early Mexico may offer insight into Masons' incentives to protect democratic societies.

* Gain a better understanding of how Prince Hall Masonry has come to be recognized throughout most of the United States.

Presenters include:

Said Chaaya, Ph.D. is a historian of the modern Middle East. He is currently a postdoctoral research fellow in the UCLA History Department's Freemasonry and Civil Society Program.

Kenneth Loiselle, Ph.D. is a historian of 18th-century France with a particular interest in the history of Freemasonry. Loiselle is an associate professor of history and international studies at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and an affiliated researcher at the Center for the Contemporary and Modern Mediterranean at the University of Nice in France.

Andrew Prescott, Ph.D. is professor of digital humanities at the University of Glasgow. From 2000-2007, he directed the Centre for Research into Freemasonry at the University of Sheffield. He has also served as a librarian and archivist at the University of Wales Lampeter and as head of the Digital Humanities Department at King's College in London.

Cécile Révauger, Ph.D. is professor emeritus of English studies at Bordeaux Montaigne University in France. She is the author of five books which have been translated into multiple languages, including, "Black Freemasonry: From Prince Hall to the Giants of Jazz, Inner Traditions," 2016. She is also the director of "Monde Maçonnique" - a collection on Freemasonry.

María Eugenia Vázquez Semadeni, Ph.D. was a visiting professor at the UCLA History Department from 2010 to 2016. She has published several articles and book chapters on Mexican Freemasonry, the origins of the political party system in Mexico, and the formation of public opinion.

Susan Mitchell Sommers, Ph.D. is professor of history at St Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. She is the author of "Parliamentary Politics of a County and Its Town: General Elections in Suffolk and Ipswich in the 18th Century" (2002) and "Thomas Dunckerley and English Freemasonry" (2012). 

Register at the website HERE.


On the plus side, it's good to see Andrew Prescott and Susan Mitchell Sommers there with their new research that poses new questions and presents uncovered evidence about the founding of the Premier Grand Lodge of England, questioning the 1717 date.

On the negative side, it's disappointing that Cécile Révauger is being given more respectability than she deserves. I've seen and heard her in person with her open, contemptuous dismissal of anyone questioning her unsourced and/or questionable suppositions and conclusions. Her answer when questioned (by a HIGHLY respected, published, and eminently qualified fellow PhD several years ago in Scotland) about an unsupported and just plain wrong statement that formed a portion of her presentation was a dismissive wave of the hand and the sentence, "It is a well known fact." 

Dr. Oscar Alleyne's blistering back and forth exchanges with her in the most recent issue #34 of the Journal of the Masonic Society, following his scathing review in Issue 33, only reinforce my own (admittedly surface) personal observation of her methods. She makes too many superficial, cultural and 'historical' declarations and errors masquerading as sophisticated pronouncements to be taken seriously as a researcher regarding Prince Hall and African-American Freemasonry. Unfortunately, her book will become a future reference for academics for no other reason than the fact that no one else more rigorous or qualified than a white French woman filled the gaping void on the subject of an American, male organization within a minority community, that demands far deeper understanding of a complicated social relationship. That's a damn shame. 

I know this all sounds like jealous or misinformed whinging from a hack who writes For Dummies books, but I've read many of the same resources she has, and the scholars who questioned her have, too. So, while I really wanted to recommend her book, if only out of desperation for a scholarly treatment of the subject, I just can't in good conscience do it, and I am not happy that she's being trotted out for events like this, both in the US and internationally. It would be like me trying to publish a book striving to be the definitive text about the cultural and historical implications, causes, and effects of Laïcité based on what "everybody knows" and reading the Introduction to a Lonely Planet Paris tourist guide book.

Another disappointment is that John Hairston is not included in the lineup for the Conference, in light of his own new documentary research about the formation of Prince Hall Freemasonry. Unlike Révauger, his book really IS rigorous and important. But perhaps the speakers had been set in place before his book came out late last year. And I suspect John doesn't have enough respectable letters after his name for such a tony venue. I CAN recommend his work HERE: Landmarks Of Our Fathers.