Well-known photographers occasionally capture Scottish Rite spaces. In the case of the Santa Fe Scottish Rite Cathedral, Jesse Nusbaum documented both the interior and exterior of this Moorish Revival style complex in 1912. Nusbaum was also an archeologist and three-time superintendent of the Mesa Verde park from 1921-1946. Many of his photographs are now located in the Palace of the Governors Photo Archives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Their collection includes an estimated 1,000,000 items, such as photo postcards, panoramas, stereographs, photographs, glass plate negatives, film negatives, lantern slides and many other materials. It is a site well worth investigating. Here is the link: http://www.palaceofthegovernors.org/photoarchives.html
In addition to the images of well-known photographers, Masonic journals and other fraternal publications recorded the extravagant interiors of new Scottish Rite buildings when they were first completed. A 1904 article from “New Age Magazine” details the interior of the new Albert Pike Consistory in Little Rock, Arkansas, including a full-page layout of their new theater with a Sosman & Landis scenery collection.
Contemporary images of some Masonic theaters are also available online, the bi-product of wedding ceremonies, dance recitals, and other community or rental events. Today’s amateur photographers capture the ornate interiors while visiting Scottish Rite facilities all across the country. Luckily, the internet has preserved many of these details that might otherwise fade from public record. I frequently do image searches just to see if anything new has popped in terms of painted scenery collections in Masonic theaters that I have yet to record. While searching for vintage images of the Fort Scott Scottish Rite auditorium, I recently located a Class picture . This image depicts a contemporary group of candidates seated in front of the stage with the grand drape. This might be one of the last images of this dry rotted curtain with the Scottish Rite eagle.
What isn’t documented and available online from Fort Scott and most other historical theaters are the off-stage areas and hidden recesses in the building. These images were often never recorded. They are not located in public archives as the result of professional or amateur photographers. However, there are some in private collections. Luckily, theatre historians and practitioners have documented many “Behind the Scenes” photographs. Stagehands and theatre technicians from touring shows take pictures of lighting consoles, rigging systems, and other stage equipment that they have found fascinating while working at a Scottish Rite theater. The Archiving Technical Theatre History Facebook Group is one of many forums where historical images and information are exchanged by theatre professionals and academics. It is an immediate way to share information and preserve moments from the past. Some of us understand that we cannot wait for either funding or grants to disseminate information. Not everyone has the time or ability to share new discoveries. Action needs to be taken now.
I started www.drypigmet.net for just this reason. After years of collecting information and documenting painted details of scenery, I realized that only a few select individuals had seen my work. I wanted to leave a digital trail and share the information that I had gathered over the years to ensure its survival before being donated to a public archive. It also gave me an incentive every day for some much needed “R & R” – my own term for “research and reflection.” I am the perpetual student, always seeking knowledge and trying to learn something that I did not know the day before. I rejoice in sharing my findings as I decode theatrical heritage and scenic art techniques. Posting various images of buildings, catalogues, lights, counterweight systems, painted curtains and costumes, often leads to other discoveries and future finds. When we do not share our knowledge, many discoveries die with us in a state of isolation. I look at John Rothgeb’s paper at the University of Texas and realize that I simply replicated much of the information he had already uncovered when I wrote my dissertation. He just hadn’t shared much of his research.
Had I just spent one month of graduate school at the Harry Ransom Center, my studies might have advanced to a different level. Yes, it is extremely satisfying having my own conclusions verified by another before I even started thinking about them. Ironically, the missing holes in much of Rothgeb’s research were filled by my discoveries and vice versa. Valleys where Rothgeb added question marks were areas that I evaluated and conducted extensive research. It is extremely frustrating to realize that we just missed each other by a few short years. He was passing out of the picture as I was just entering it.
To be continued…
