Saying Goodbye to Fort Scott on July 1
We left Wamego, Kansas, and headed to meet a friend in Fort Scott. Almost three years ago, I made the fateful trip with the CEO of Masonic Charities, the General Director of the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center and a local Scottish Rite Mason. At that time, I was the Curatorial Director for all incoming acquisitions for the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center and I was there to evaluate the Fort Scott Scottish Rite Collection, assessing its condition and determining whether it would survive the removal from its current home and transportation to Minnesota. The whole tale of my involvement with the Fort Scott scenery collection, prompted my writing of the story “Tales of a Scenic Artist and Scholar: Acquiring the Fort Scott Scenery Collection for the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center.” My story evolved to solely focus on the scenic artist who painted the Fort Scott scenery collection – Thomas Gibbs Moses.
My involvement with the Fort Scott scenery ceased after its storage in the custom-made racks that I designed during the fall of 2015. My position was terminated upon the opening of the Minnesota Masonic Center and the museum team, Outhouse Productions (who helped design exhibits at the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center) attempted to restore the collection with the help of their standard exhibit artist, Kimber Lawler. Sadly, the group had never restored any historic theatre scenery before and used hot melt glue to attach netting to the fragile fabric. They also cut many of the leg drops in half after flame-proofing everything; a death sentence to historic scenery. Furthermore they replaced all of the original wooden battens with pipe pockets, losing much of the personal notes written by Thomas Moses during the original installation.
When I first witnessed the “restored” drops hanging at the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center, I was devastated to see the wrinkles, shiny surfaces from size that was too strong, and further deterioration after a botched restoration attempt by those who did not understand the proper handling of historic scenery. So, today was my day for a sense of closure and sharing the current status of the drops. It still distresses me that the Fort Scott Masons entrusted me to help preserve their history and I wasn’t ultimately able to help them. To both Fort Scott Masons and many Masons in my home state, the CEO of Masonic Charities identified me as the one who would restore the entire collection. Many Minnesota Masons at Grand Lodge this year still believed that I was part of the scenery restoration, as it was so firmly stated on numerous occasions.
However, today was the day that I could tell the tale of my dismissal, pass off a copy of my new book, and stop by the Fort Scott Scottish Rite building one more time. After a lovely lunch, a visit to the old fort, and hike along a prairie trail, I am ready to explore anther Scottish Rite collection – Joplin. We made it to Joplin by late afternoon and enjoyed some local barbeque. One more day enjoying the beauty of some Scottish Rite scenery that may still have a future.
To be continued…
