Last summer, William D. Moore invited me to be the guest speaker at fifth annual American Fraternalism event at Boston University during spring 2019. Will is the Director of the American & New England Studies Program and an Associate Professor of Material Culture. Two of his past publications include “Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes” (University of Tennessee Press, 2006) and “Secret Societies in America: Foundational Studies of Fraternalism,” co-authored with Mark Tabbert (Cornerstone Book Publishers, 2011). Will had been following my blog for some time, purchased “The Santa Fe Scottish Rite Temple: Freemasonry, Architecture and Theatre” book, and was intrigued with my current research posted to my blog.
Several incidents shaped my topic, “A Masonic Legacy: Bestor G. Brown and Brown’s Special system,” and other articles that I was working on at the time.
Between November 2018 and February 2019, I wrote three articles: “Setting the Stage” (Theatre Historical Society of America’s fourth quarter issue of “Marquee”); “Brown’s Special System for Scottish Rite Theaters in North America” (TheatreInitiative Museum Berlin’s “Die Vierte Wand 009); and “Brown’s Special System: A Masonic Legacy,” (Scottish Rite Research Society’s spring newsletter “The Plumbline).” At the same time, I was still writing my blog and starting to make contact with the Valley of Portland in regard to Brown’s special system; they have the earliest example as originally installed in 1903, being manufactured in 1902. Then toss in work projects, conferences, family, the holidays, and other obligations; busy time at our house.
In regard to Boston, I was most excited to see Will. We first met during the planning stage for Lance Brockman’s touring museum exhibit, “Theatre of the Fraternity: Staging the Ritual Space of Freemasonry, 1896-1929.” The last time I saw Will and his wife was the Weisman Museum in 1996 when the exhibit opened. By the way, Lance’s catalogue still is available for sale on Amazon, here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/Theatre-Fraternity-Scottish-Freemasonry-1896-1929/dp/0878059474
I arrived in Boston on Tuesday, April 9, and spent a lovely afternoon chatting with Will about numerous fraternal subjects. We continued the conversation over dinner, adding his wife Charlotte to the mix. What a delightful arrival and evening spent with two extremely fun people. My presentation was not until 7:30PM the next day, so I was able to spend some time relaxing and writing in Brookline, New York. I am currently working on my next book about Sosman & Landis studio, so I treasure anytime that is devoid of distractions. Before my presentation, there was a group of us that went out to dinner, including friend and colleague Diane Fargo who teaches scene painting at BU; she is a remarkable artist in her own right.
My presentation went extremely well, lasting 45 minutes with a 15-minute Q&A that followed. In attendance BU staff and students, as well as visiting Masons from Boston University Lodge, Harvard Lodge, the Lodge of St. Andrew and the Boston Scottish Rite. That evening, I was invited to tour the Scottish Rite stage before I left town the next day. On April 12, I visited the Boston Scottish Rite and the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. I knew that there would very little scenery, as the hemp system was replaced and an LED wall added to the mix. I was very curious to see how well new technology replaced historic scenery.
To be continued…
