Part 350: Charles E. Rosenbaum in Little Rock, Arkansas
One of the primary figures who promoted Scottish Rite degree productions in the Southern Jurisdiction was Charles E. Rosenbaum, Sovereign Grand Inspector General of Arkansas. At this same time that Rosenbaum was locating a building to house a Scottish Rite theatre, another Scottish Rite was building a theater in Oakland, California. In Arkansas, Rosenbaum instigated the purchase and conversion of a Hebrew Synagogue to include an elevated stage and proscenium for Scottish Rite degree productions. Rosenbaum’s inclusion of staged degree work and the immediate popularity from his endeavor throughout the western region helped secure his membership in the Supreme Council. Later, as the Sovereign Grand Inspector General of Arkansas, he was also appointed to the new ritual committee. A new movement was afoot in the Southern Jurisdiction and the theatrical interpretations of degrees were no longer actively suppressed as they once had been under Grand Commander Pike’s regime.
So lets look back at what was going on at this time. During December 1895, Rosenbaum posted a “Notice to Owners of Real Estate” in the Daily Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, 10 Dec 1895, page 7). He noted hat “The Scottish Rite bodies, Free Masonry of this city desire to purchase a piece of property suitable for Masonic purposes and to that end solicit sealed proposals from those having property to offer, whether improved or unimproved.” Rosenbaum was the chair of the new building committee. By February 8, 1896, the Daily Arkansas Gazette reported that the Scottish Rite Masons had decided to purchase the “Jewish Temple property on Center Street” (page 3). It was purchased for $6,000 and a new Jewish Temple was planned to be erected for the sum of $20,000 at Fifth and Broadway Streets. By July 25, 1896 they named their new home the Albert Pike Cathedral (The Daily Gazette, page 5). The building was vacated during May of 1896. This converted synagogue in Little Rock incorporated so many of the features that would later become standard in the new construction of Scottish Rite theaters: drops, lights, proscenium opening, and set pieces. As in Chicago, the stage was slightly raised from the lodge floor by three symbolic steps. Similar to Chicago’s 1873 Egyptian Room format, Little Rock used a square proscenium opening – common to many commercial theaters of the time. In addition to a similar presentational format, Little Rock contracted the Chicago scenic studio firm of Sosman & Landis to supply the stage scenery, with Thomas G. Moses supervising the painting.
The construction of Little Rock’s stage space was so well received that additional scenery and theatrical elements were added only two years later. 1898 was also the same year that Wichita, Kansas, purchased a Scottish Rite scenery collection for their new stage. Little Rock’s Fall Reunion program of 1898 praised the new scenery acquisitions, stating that the members “will enjoy to a much greater extent the exemplification of the various degrees, assisted so materially by additional scenic and electrical effects, on which neither labor or expense have been spared, to the end that it might be the most perfect to produce” (“Fall Reunion Program” Albert Pike Scottish Rite Cathedral, 1898).
In 1899, the Guthrie Daily Leader covered the Spring Reunion in the new Masonic home in Guthrie from May 29-31. Rosenbaum was one of the many prominent Masons who were visiting from all parts of the country to see their new stage (21 May 1900, page 8). The paper reported, “Charles E. Rosenbaum, thirty-third degree, of Little Rock, will exemplify the work in the thirty-second degree. He is known throughout the United States for his proficiency in exemplifying this degree. The building of the temple is credited to Harper S. Cunningham, a thirty-third degree Mason, and now Sovereign Grand Inspector General in Oklahoma. Previously he had been a deputy of the supreme council for Oklahoma since the opening of the country.” At the time, there were 104 Scottish Rite Masons in Oklahoma with a new class of 100 participating in the Spring Reunion.
A second scenery installation was delivered to Little Rock in 1902 for a new stage in and this time, the building was featured in the first year of “New Age Magazine” (later the publication became “Scottish Rite Journal”). In the article, Rosenbaum proudly claimed, “…the stage equipment in Little Rock is the most perfect in America – not only for Masonic purposes, for which it is used exclusively, but from any other point of view…nowhere else in America, with the possible exception of one theatre in New York, and one in Chicago, is it possible to produce either the scene or electric effects that can be produced on this stage.” Well, maybe in the Masonic world, but not in the commercial world. Most new theaters that opened across the country made similar statements to draw in crowds.
Regarding the successful stage effects for the 1902 Little Rock Scottish Rite, Charles E. Rosenbaum credited fellow Mason and Masonic supply representative Bestor G. Brown. Brown was credited with creating many of the superb scenic effects, including “a specially designed electrical switch board that facilitated the impressive illusions.” That would be similar to the electric board that was on display with Western Electric at the Columbian Exposition in 1893; the one that helped with the scenic electric theater’s production of “A Day in the Alps.” Brown will also later be credited with the “special” counterweight rigging system for Scottish Rite theaters. Again, it is doubtful that Brown was solely responsible for the innovation of electrical lighting and counterweight rigging systems in the big picture. In the smaller context of fraternal theater, he must have been an absolute god as he knew how to create theatre magic.
To be continued…
