English Masonic Lodges, Pipe Organs and National Heritage

From the late eighteenth century onwards the music of English freemasonry evolved from a purely vocal tradition to one that included the pipe organ, reflecting freemasonry's evolutionary shift out of the tavern and into purpose-built premises. The early decades of the twentieth century were surely the high point in the story of the English masonic pipe organ, if measured in terms of sheer numbers, but since then the story has been one of decline and destruction. With only one or two notable exceptions, such instruments were modest in size and arguably lacking in musical merit, but their form perfectly reflected their function and they clearly constituted a distinct tradition of English organ design. While the demise of many remaining instruments is probably inevitable, as they lose the struggle to justify the sums of money required to maintain them, the private nature of English freemasonry has meant that these instruments have gone largely undocumented, not least in the records of the National Pipe Organ Register, and will soon be lost to memory

Civilised men -- members of the craft : Freemasonry in Auckland to the formation of the Grand Lodge of New Zealandin 1890 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History at Massey University

The public's fascination with freemasonry seems endless. Freemasons are variously believed to be members of a mysterious brotherhood of enormous influence, a secret society believed to have its roots in the order of the Knights Templar or the Egyptian pyramids and a sect involved in sacrilegious rites. Most will know of the periodic attacks upon freemasonry - claims that it is a secret society of men who conspire to help each other against the rest of the world, that they recognise each other by secret signs and then extend favours, even though this may be in conflict with their public duties - and the response of freemasons that their overriding duty is to obey the law. Their meetings, at which the rich symbolism of freemasonry is displayed in the course of the ceremonies, which are inspiring rituals to their members, may seem to be silly nonsense and play-acting to laymen. Freemasonry was one of the earliest social institutions to appear in Auckland and its members were active and influential. Whenever freemasons are mentioned in Auckland today, almost everyone claims to have had a predecessor who was a freemason. Many people recall seeing a father, grandfather or uncle going to lodge meetings carrying a thin case and wearing a dark suit and wondering what happened when the door of the lodge building closed behind them. On 7th October 1769 Sir Joseph Banks, who paid for his passage on Captain Cook's first voyage, was the first freemason to sight New Zealand. It was inevitable that those who chose to seek a new life in the colony would include a number of masonic brethren who saw themselves as enlightened, peace-loving and the practitioners of social equity, whose purpose was to exert the influence of freemasonry in this new colony which had been claimed for civilisation. As one of the first organised social institutions in the new colony, freemasonry had the benefit of being an already established fraternity with a tried and tested constitution. While the instigators of the first masonic lodges in New Zealand were men of means and influence (early members included lawyers, engineers, architects, civil servants and merchants) they struggled in the first fifteen years to attract members to their fraternity as men used their energy to build homes and businesses. From about 1850, freemasonry enjoyed a period of rapid expansion, and they attracted a new type of membership. Occupations were then recorded as shopkeeper, school teacher, shipping clerk, butcher, carrier and gardener. In the 1870s occupational changes of political or economic origin saw less of the workforce involved in defence and a rising proportion concerned with commerce, transport, trades and services. Local activities began to provide private rather than public services in the processing and distribution of food and clothing and businesses were started by people with very little capital. 1 R.C. J. Stone, Makers of Fortune: A Colonial Business Community And its Fall, Auckland: Auckland University Press, Oxford University Press, 1973, p.3

When They Sing: the performance of songs in 18th-century English lodges

British research libraries are full of eighteenth-century masonic materials that contain song texts, but the exact use to which these songs were put has remained elusive. Drawing upon a close reading of the sources and contemporary comment Andrew Pink proposes a model for organising this material, as well as a model for its performance

Managers, Firms and (Secret) Social Networks: The Economics of Freemasonry

This paper studies the relationships between managers a¢ liations with Freema- sonry and companies' performance. Using a unique data set of 410 companies quoted on the London Stock Exchange between 1895 and 1902, I find that Masonic managers were associated with greater access to credit in small and young companies whose se- curities where traded over the counter. These companies earned higher profits, but the effect is not statistically significant. On the other hand, large publicly quoted corpora- tions that were managed by Freemasons did not obtain greater access to credit; they had lower profiys and lower Tobin's Q. These findings help to understand how social networks are related to companies' performances. Although social networks help to resolve agency problems between lenders and borrowers in firms that have difficulties in obtaining debt finance, in larger publicly quoted companies they are associated with worse agency conflicts between managers and shareholders and with worse economic performance.Freemasons;Social Networks;Access to Credit

Secrets in Common: Intellectual Foundations of the Lodge that found Billet in the Dens and Klaverns

Secrets in Common is an anthropological history that undertakes to explain the similarities of membership and ideology between the Freemasons and two formations of the Ku Klux Klan. The work is divided into seven sections. It was compiled from both extant, which was of principle significance, and secondary printed material. After many hours of reading and countless attempts at “understanding,” three short ethnographic narratives were compiled: they makeup the central axis of the material. The first narrative describes the Freemasons, while the second two are on the “Reconstruction Klan” and the “Klan of the ‘20’s,” henceforth referred to as Kuklux and Knights respectively. Circumstantial and anecdotal evidence allows the construction of an argument that supports the assertion that the intellectual foundations of the Freemasons were acted upon in Kuklux Dens and Knights’ Klaverns, and that in acting upon the Freemasons’ ideology both Klans became revitalization movements as defined by A.C. Wallace (1956)

Founding Freemasons: “Ancient” and “Modern” Masons in the Founding Era of America with Particular Emphasis on Masons Benjamin Franklin and George Washington

Abstract From its inception in 1733, American freemasonry represented a fair portion of American society. However, though there would be groups of freemasons during this time whose ideals and morals could be traced to a Christian belief system, not all American freemasons considered themselves Christians. Though his book is full of excellent research, David Barton, founder of the Christian heritage research group Wallbuilders, generalized American freemasonry as being entirely Christian in his recent publication The Question of Freemasonry and the Founding Fathers. Though there were undoubtedly Christian groups of freemasons during this time period, the assertion that all masons were Christians is not entirely true and needs to be corrected. The non- Christian masons during this time period, known as “Modern” masons, never claimed a Christian heritage but instead had set up lodges that promoted values other than those espoused in Christianity. In order to correct Barton’s partially incorrect analysis of American masons during this era, evidence will be given to convince the reader of both the reality of anti-Christian freemasons and their feud with their Christian counterparts. The definition of both “Ancient” and “Modern” American freemasonry will be documented, the formation of and struggle between the two groups will be detailed, and the Enlightenment ideals that represented many of the beliefs of American “Modern” freemasons will be explained. Further, as examples of men who did not adhere to Christian values in the Craft, short biographies of Masons Benjamin Franklin and George Washington’s involvement with secular freemasonry will also be given

Portrait of Thaddeus Stevens by Jacob Eichholtz

When we were approached to do a paper on the hidden history of an object in Gettysburg College, a colleague and I decided to take a weekend afternoon to walk around the campus in order to find an object to write about. After wandering for a while, we entered Penn Hall, and in the Lyceum we looked at the portraits of great contributors to Gettysburg College. One face that struck me was that of Thaddeus Stevens, who I remembered as one of the great Radical Republicans of the Civil War era. Gettysburg is very much a Civil War oriented area. However, I wondered what made Thaddeus Stevens so important as to merit a painting in the Lyceum. I then, embarrassedly realized that Stevens was also the namesake of Stevens Hall, and that clearly he must have been very important to the area. So what exactly warranted his place in Penn Hall and in the name of a building? [excerpt] Course Information: Course Title: HIST 300: Historical Method Academic Term: Spring 2006 Course Instructor: Dr. Michael J. Birkner \u2772 Hidden in Plain Sight is a collection of student papers on objects that are hidden in plain sight around the Gettysburg College campus. Topics range from the Glatfelter Hall gargoyles to the statue of Eisenhower and from historical markers to athletic accomplishments. You can download the paper in pdf format and click View Photo to see the image in greater detail.https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/hiddenpapers/1017/thumbnail.jp

Freemasonry and Evangelical Christianity: Are They Compatible?

Since 1717 there has been a formalized organization known as the Freemasons. Currently, there are over six-million members worldwide, with over 18% of those members residing in the United States. The Freemasons have been controversial since their inception due to their secret nature. There are claims that the organization is anti-Christian as well as claims that support its compatibility with the church, indicating that there are Freemasons on the rolls of our Evangelical Churches. Therefore, using observation and participant research as well as secondary data analysis and archival study, this paper will seek to determine if Freemasonry is compatible with Evangelical Christianity. In order to determine this conclusion, this paper will look to understand the history, religious overtone, and philosophy of Freemasonry. Then, based on the conclusion of these findings, a pastor will be better prepared to provide education and counseling to Freemasons and those contemplating Freemasonry within their churches