Part 672: Charles E. Rosenbaum and Degree Productions
In 1930, Thomas G. Moses wrote that the three men who “had all to do with the starting of the Scenic decoration of real Scottish Rite Degree work” were Charles E. Rosenbaum, Bestor G. Brown and Joseph S. Sosman.
Charles E. Rosenbaum was born in St. Louis, Missouri during 1855. At the age of twenty-eight, he moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, founding C. E. Rosenbaum Machinery Co. His business endeavor flourished, becoming one of the most successful machinery and mill supply companies in the region.
Rosenbaum joined the Fraternity in Little Rock, Arkansas. On March 10, 1886, he was raised a Master Mason in Magnolia Lodge No. 60. The Scottish Rite of Arkansas credits Rosenbaum with conceiving the idea of staging the second section of the Master’s Degree (here is the link: http://www.ark-scottishrite.org/charles-e-rosenbaum.html.) The Master’s degree, or third degree, of the Symbolic Lodge involves the murder of King Solomon’s chief architect during the construction of the Temple. In fact, it is this story introduced in the third degree that form the basis for many Scottish Rite degrees.
Rosenbaum’s proposal to theatrically stage the third degree was nothing new, but it was new to the area where he was proposing it. Rosenbaum submitted a formal request to the Grand Lodge of Arkansas to grant him permission to stage the Second Section of the Master’s Degree. He was granted permission. On November 20, 1906, Worshipful Master Rosenbaum conferred the third degree on Brother William C. Bond in the auditorium of the Albert Pike Consistory. The event was recorded to include the largest attendance of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas ever assembled up to that time. Now consider that Rosenbaum had been involved in staging Scottish Rite degrees in Little Rock since 1895. He was involved in creating the first Scottish Rite theater in the State of Arkansas. By 1896, Little Rock’s Albert Pike Cathedral was completed and boasted both scenery and stage machinery by Sosman & Landis. Rosenbaum would become a very good friend of the scenic artist who painted many of the Little Rock scenes – Thomas G. Moses, the final president of Sosman & Landis.
Since the 1850s, Scottish Rite bodies in the Northern Jurisdiction had staged portions of their degrees. The Blue Lodge, otherwise referred to as the Symbolic Lodge, included the first through third degree. The Scottish Rite expanded on the story of the third degree and other legend in the fourth to thirty-second degrees, with an honorary thirty-third degree. Scottish Rite Orient of Arkansas’ website includes a section in Rosenbaum, noting, “Brother Rosenbaum was convinced that this new innovation would not only better serve the candidate but the membership as well. A dramatic conferral of this most precious of Masonic degrees would, without a doubt in his mind, leave a greater impression upon the candidates but engage the fraternity in a way that it had never seen before. With special effects, lighting, elaborate regalia, stage props and the burning of incense; all of the human senses would be tantalized and stimulated by this new delivery system for these ancient moral lessons.” Not exactly.
I want to stop for moment to reflect on the state of the Fraternity in terms of staging degree work from the first thru thirty-second degree. The Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry had staged degrees for decades before they became popular in the Southern Jurisdiction. Part of the reason that they were not immediately imitated in the Southern Jurisdiction was because of Grand Commander Pike. Pike controlled the Rite from 1859 until his passing in 1891 and was not a fan of degree productions. Although all of the Scottish Rite degrees had been communicated to hi in one day, he believed that men should slowly pass through the degrees. In fact, Pike’s quote from his 1882 Allocution included “The Rite in this Jurisdiction is a Rite of instruction, and not of scenic pomp and stage-show. I can not conceive of a more useless occupation than the arranging and performing of degrees, neither the effect nor the purpose of which is to make men wiser or better, but which are acted as melodramas, to gratify an aesthetic taste and please the imagination, like the pageantry of cardinals and orioles.” When Pike was in charge, there were no large theatrical endeavors started in the Southern Jurisdiction, well, at least that he was aware of. We do not know for a fact that the Grand Lodges in the Southern Jurisdiction completely banned the theatrical interpretation of any degree work, but it would stand to reason that experimental attempts had occurred over the year. There are articles that verify the existence of stages in the Southern Jurisdiction before Pikes’ passing in 1891.
In Cincinnati, a Northern Jurisdiction city, Master Masons were courted in Blue Lodges with notion of a superior degree experience in the local Scottish Rite. Now governance was a little different in the North Masonic Jurisdiction as there were rival Supreme Councils. My research suggests that the early implementation of Masonic stages with scenery, lights and special effects, was a way to increase membership, even steal members from a rival organization. Again the use of theatrical elements promised a superior degree experience for both the candidate and membership. Of this time, I think of two kids are playing happily in a sand box when a third kids stops by and says, “You should see what WE’RE doing in our sand box.” It is likely that at least one of the two kids would leave to check out the nearby activity.
Prior to Rosenbaum joining the Little Rock Scottish Rite, it was a fledging Masonic order in the region like many, suffering the after effects of the Civil War. The Scottish Rite Orient of Arkansas website states, “Brother Rosenbaum was the first person to take Albert Pike’s degrees and dramatize them for a more attractive initiatory experience in the Scottish Rite as well. Illustrious Brother John H. Cowles, 33°, Sovereign Grand Commander, said this about Brother Rosenbaum:
“His fame spread throughout the Southern Jurisdiction. Many letters were received by him from other Valleys, to all of which he replied in a most fraternal and helpful spirit, and so it was not long until many other Valleys, and then still other Valleys throughout the Jurisdiction, began to confer the degrees in a manner worthy of them. That work has grown until now we have magnificent temples all over the Jurisdiction, build especially to enable the officers and members to impress the degrees through proper ritualistic interpretations upon hundreds and thousands who have come into the Scottish Rite since that time. He certainly was the pioneer, and deserves the credit we freely give to him. His worth was soon noted by the Supreme Council, and he was appointed on the Ritual Committee before he was an active member of the Supreme Council.”
He certainly was popular and propagated the use of degree productions, but Rosenbaum was not the first to conceive of the idea in the Southern Jurisdiction. He was possibly one of the first to be publicly recognized in the Southern Jurisdiction besides Bestor G. Brown. There are examples of stages in Southern Jurisdiction building that appeared well before Rosenbaum joined the Fraternity. These stages were constructed in a standard Masonic hall or lodge room before becoming state-of-the-art stages. Furthermore, many of these stages were in states boarding the Northern Jurisdiction; close to Southern Jurisdiction Valleys where membership observed the success of their nearby brothers.
To be continued…
