Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

Last updated
Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library
National Heritage Museum, Lexington MA.jpg
The entrance to the museum from just inside the parking lot off Marrett Road
Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library
Established1975;49 years ago (1975)
Location Lexington, Massachusetts, U.S.
Coordinates 42°26′12.2″N71°12′51.2″W / 42.436722°N 71.214222°W / 42.436722; -71.214222
CollectionsVan Gorden-Williams Library & Archives
Owner Scottish Rite
Nearest car parkon-site
Website monh.org

The Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, formerly known as the National Heritage Museum and the Museum of Our National Heritage, is a museum located in Lexington, Massachusetts. Its emphasis is on American history, Freemasonry, and fraternalism, including co-ed and women's organizations, and it contains the Van Gorden-Williams Library & Archives. [1] The museum was founded in 1975, to correspond with the start of the Bicentennial of the United States and is partially funded by the Supreme Council, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite, an appendant body of Freemasonry. [2]

Contents

The museum features general interest galleries with changing exhibits about fraternal organizations such as the Masons, American history and culture, and Lexington's role in the American Revolution.

Since 2013, the same building houses the headquarters of the Supreme Council, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite. Previously, the headquarters was located in a 1905-built mansion which was sold to the Town of Lexington in 2013, to build a community center. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freemasonry</span> Group of fraternal organizations

Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 14th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities and clients. Modern Freemasonry broadly consists of two main recognition groups: Regular Freemasonry, which insists that a volume of scripture be open in a working lodge, that every member professes belief in a Supreme Being, that no women be admitted, and that the discussion of religion and politics do not take place within the lodge; and Continental Freemasonry, which consists of the jurisdictions that have removed some, or all, of these restrictions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish Rite</span> Rite of Freemasonry

The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry is a rite within the broader context of Freemasonry. It is the most widely practiced Rite in the world. In some parts of the world, and in the Droit Humain, it is a concordant body and oversees all degrees from the 1st to 33rd degrees, while in other areas, a Supreme Council oversees the 4th to 33rd degrees.

In Anglo-American Freemasonry, York Rite, sometimes referred to as the American Rite, is one of several Rites of Freemasonry. It is named for York, of Yorkshire, England; where in the legend of the Rite, it was first practiced.

In Freemasonry, regularity is one of the factors by which individual Grand Lodges judge whether to recognise one another for the purposes of allowing formal interaction at the Grand Lodge level and visitation by members of other jurisdictions. Each individual Grand Lodge determines which other Grand Lodges it considers Regular.

Prince Hall Freemasonry is a branch of North American Freemasonry created for African Americans founded by Prince Hall on September 29, 1784. There are different organizations which purport to be of Prince Hall Freemasonry: the independent, ‘Prince Hall Affiliated’ or ‘PHA’ Grand Lodges, most of which are recognized by their State Grand Lodge counterparts and the United Grand Lodge of England, being considered ‘regular’ in freemasonry; and those under the jurisdiction of a ‘National Grand Lodge’, ‘Prince Hall Origin’, or otherwise non-Prince Hall Affiliated lodge or Grand Lodge, considering them ‘irregular’,‘clandestine’ and unrecognized by both the Prince Hall Affiliated masonic bodies, and their ‘mainstream’ masonic counterparts. Prince Hall Freemasonry is the oldest and largest predominantly African-American fraternity in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of the Temple</span> Building in D.C., United States

The House of the Temple is a Masonic temple in Washington, D.C., United States, that serves as the headquarters of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knights Templar (Freemasonry)</span> Fraternal order affiliated with Freemasonry

The Knights Templar, full name The United Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta, is a fraternal order affiliated with Freemasonry. Unlike the initial degrees conferred in a regular Masonic Lodge, which only require a belief in a Supreme Being regardless of religious affiliation, the Knights Templar is one of several additional Masonic Orders in which membership is open only to Freemasons who profess a belief in Christianity. One of the obligations entrants to the order are required to declare is to protect and defend the Christian faith. The word "United" in its full title indicates that more than one historical tradition and more than one actual order are jointly controlled within this system. The individual orders 'united' within this system are principally the Knights of the Temple, the Knights of Malta, the Knights of St Paul, and only within the York Rite, the Knights of the Red Cross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masonic bodies</span> Auxiliary organization of Freemasonry

There are many organisations and orders which form part of the widespread fraternity of Freemasonry, each having its own structure and terminology. Collectively these may be referred to as Masonic bodies, Masonic orders, Concordant bodies or appendant bodies of Freemasonry.

Hyman Isaac Long was an American physician in New York City by 1786. He was an immigrant from the British colony of Jamaica in the West Indies and is listed in the first [city directory of 1786. He is known for his leadership in developing Freemasonry organizations in New York, Virginia and South Carolina.

Born in New Hampton, New Hampshire, on February 19, 1792, Simon Wiggin Robinson was the son of Captain Noah Robinson, who served honorably in the American Revolution. Young Robinson served his country, also, in the War of 1812 when he was stationed at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as an Adjutant.

The Knight Kadosh is a Freemasonic degree or ceremony of initiation performed by a number of Supreme Councils of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. It is the 30th Degree of the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite for the United States of America, and the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of Canada. The Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite, does not currently confer a degree with the name Knight Kadosh. Instead its thirtieth degree is entitled "Grand Inspector."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freemasonry and women</span> Positions on women in the fraternal organisation

Freemasonry has had a complex relationship with women for centuries. A few women were involved in Freemasonry before the 18th century, despite de jure prohibitions in the Premier Grand Lodge of England.

Christopher L. Hodapp is an American author and filmmaker, noted for his writings about Freemasonry, fraternalism, the Knights Templar, secret societies and conspiracy theories. He is the founding editor in chief of the Journal of The Masonic Society, the associate director of the Masonic Library and Museum of Indiana, and Public Relations Director for the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana.

The Supreme Council, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, USA is the first Supreme Council of Scottish Rite Freemasonry, founded in 1801. Its official full name is "The Supreme Council of the Inspectors General Knights Commander of the House of the Temple of Solomon of the Thirty-third Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America." It is also commonly known as The Supreme Council, 33°, Southern Jurisdiction, or by some other varying degree of complete titulage. It is sometimes called the Mother Supreme Council of the World. It is the governing body of Scottish Rite Freemasonry in its jurisdiction, and is one of five Supreme Councils in the United States, along with the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, two Prince Hall Affiliated Supreme Councils, and the Supreme Council of Louisiana.

The history of Freemasonry in Mexico can be traced to at least 1806 when the first Masonic lodge was formally established in the nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iowa Masonic Library and Museum</span> Historic site in Iowa, United States

The Iowa Masonic Library and Museum, located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States, is one of the largest Masonic libraries in the world and incorporates at least three museum collections. The library was the first, worldwide, to have its own building, which was constructed in 1884. Its current building, constructed in 1955, also houses the administrative offices for the Grand Lodge of Iowa, one of the governing bodies for Freemasonry in Iowa.

The Supreme Council, Scottish Rite, Northern Jurisdiction oversees the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry in fifteen states: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Vermont. This territory has existed since 1827 when the NMJ gained jurisdiction "over the then 14 states situated east of the Mississippi and north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Wisconsin was not yet a state, but part of Michigan."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Lodge of Costa Rica</span>

The Grand Lodge of Costa Rica is the main organization of regular Freemasonry in Costa Rica. It was created on December 7, 1879 and was the first in Central America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Universal Co-Masonry</span> International fraternal Masonic organization

Universal Co-Masonry, is an international fraternal Masonic organization headquartered in Larkspur, Colorado. Formally a national Federation of Le Droit Humain, the international order of mixed co-freemasonry, Universal Co-Masonry split off in 1994 to become an independent masonic obedience. The organization seeks to “combat ignorance in all its forms” and works “to the Glory of God and the Perfection of Humanity”. Universal Co-Masonry has created “a Masonic Government that ensures the maximum liberty compatible with a voluntarily accepted discipline and is organized upon the precepts of the Ancient Mystery Schools, the Scottish Rite, and the English Rite”. Universal Co-Masonry is active in North America, South America, and the Philippines. Universal Co-Masonry also oversees the administration of the Masonic Philosophical Society, a philosophical discussion and educational society that meets online and in several countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter E. Webber</span> Masonic leader; attorney

Walter Ernest Webber was an American lawyer and Freemason who served as the nineteenth Sovereign Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Northern Jurisdiction of the United States between 2003 and 2006.

References

  1. "Home · digitalVGW". digitalvgw.omeka.net. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
  2. "About". Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  3. Parker, Brock (24 March 2013). "Lexington to purchase Masonic site". Boston.com. Boston Globe. Retrieved 24 March 2013.