On July 10, 1904, the Los Angeles Times announced “Big Masonic Enterprises” were being planned (page 47). They included “a site bought for the Scottish Rite Cathedral,” “ New Masonic Temple to be Part of Plan,” and “Fresh Torture Invented by Mystic Shrine.” I am not even touching on the third part of the article.
The Los Angeles Scottish Rite was planning to build a cathedral estimated at $100,000. The article reported, “The site has been purchased, and the deal closed yesterday.” The site was selected by committee as it was equally accessible from all parts of the city. In conclusion, the article noted, “There will be no business rooms in the building, and every section of the cathedral will be devoted to the exclusive use of the Scottish Rite Masons.”
Plan for the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Cathedral published in the “Los Angeles Times,” 16 April, 1905, page 9
On April 16, 1905, the Los Angeles Times announced,”Ground will soon be broken for a hansome and commosioud Masonic edifice, which promised to be one of the finest of its kind in the West” (page 9). In the article “For the Cathedral of the Scottish Rite,” the plans for the auditorium was described, “60×70 feet and 33 feet high with a stage 32×60 feet” on the first floor. The stage house would be “48 feet high and will be arrangd to permit the production of elaborate scenic effects.” A large balcony surrounding the main auditorium was included in the plans.
The completed Los Angeles Scottish Rite Cathedral, from the “Los Angeles Herald,” 23 July 1905, page 19
A committee of eleven members were selected to have full charge of the arrangements: Perry W. Weidner, Will R. Hervey, Willam D. Stephens, Simon Conradi, W. C. Patterson, Henry Baer, Franklin Jordan, Niles Pease, Otto Sweet, A. W. Skinner and Frank H. Pfaffinger. By this point in the planning, the endeavor was now estimated at $125,000. Hudson and Munsell were the architects.
The Los Angeles Times, published the article “Bedeck for Dedication” on June 1, 1906, (page 23). The newspaper described, “Over the banquet hall is the auditorium, capable of seating nearly 2000. The stage is a marvel, completely appointed and furnished with the finest switchboard in the West. Alongside of the rows of handles that controls the lights is a set of six dimmers with thirty-six switches, making it possible to shade the lights from nothing to the fiercest glare. On one wing is an orderly row of ninety-four weights in their slides show how many drops are hung up in the flies.” This was a description of Brown special system, with the “slides” being the wood arbor frames.
The Los Angeles Scottish Rite auditorium, published in “The Los Angeles Times,” 1 June 1906, page 23Postcard depicting the Persian palace setting at the Los Angeles Scottish Rite
By July 23, 1905, the Los Angeles Herald further described the theater:
“The auditorium, where all the floor work will be illustrated, is off the foyer and is 62×71 feet in dimensions, extending from north to south, with stage 35×62 feet and a 26-foor proscenium arch, finished in stucco work, The stage is fully equipped with every accessory needful for the elaborate presentation of Scottish Rite work, The auditorium will be finished in mahogany and olive green, tipped with ivory, and will have an elaborate emblematic ceiling. The foyer, connecting with a hall at the south side of the auditorium from front to south and west, connecting with rooms for candidates and other purposes. The candidates’ room is 25×40 feet, the property room 30×48 feet, the storage rooms 18×24 and 18×18 feet. The auditorium balcony will seat 600 people. On the balcony floor is a billiard room 22×28 feet, a card room 16×20 feet, and the lodge room 35×38 fett. All of these rooms will be finished in maple and wainscoted and will be provided with ornamental fireplaces and bookcases.” (page 19).
Part 696: The San Francisco Scottish Rite, Feb. 6, 1905 – April 18, 1906
The cornerstone for the Albert Pike Memorial Temple in San Francisco was laid on July 9, 1904 by the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge, F. and A.M. of California. The name causes a slight problem, as nearly two decades later an Albert Pike Memorial Temple would be built in Little Rock, Arkansas. In Little Rock, the Scottish Rite Masons left their previous home in the 1902 the Albert Pike Consistory Building to join other Little Rock Masonic orders at the Albert Pike Memorial Temple.
Cornerstone laying ceremony for the San Francisco Scottish Rite, 1904.
The San Francisco Scottish Rite’s Albert Pike Memorial Temple was located at 1859 Geary Street in San Francisco, between Steiner and Filmore Streets, the building occupied a 86 feet by 137 feet lot. On February 6th, 1905, the new home of California Scottish Rite bodies was dedicated and a Scottish Rite Reunion commenced..
Fred J. H. Rickon was the president of the Albert Pike Memorial Temple Association, a group that consisted of some of the most prominent Masons in San Francisco. Other memebers were Frank B. Ladd, William Crocker, W. I. Brobeck and W. C. Ordway. Bestor G. Brown, Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Kansas and western sales manager for M. C. Lilley & Co., not only outfitted the new theater with scenery, stage machinery, lighting and costumes, but also “made the presentation speech, paying a graceful tribute to the energy of local fraters” (San Francisco Call, 7 Feb 1905, page 2). Other than the costumes, the theater’s scenery, stage machinery, and lighting were subcontracted to Sosman & Landis of Chicago, Illinois.
In “The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Free-Masonry Transactions of the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America” from 1905, there was a report from W. Frank Pierce, Sovereign Grand Inspector General, Valley of San Francisco. He stated:
“Only one reunion has been held in this jurisdiction, This one was at the dedication of the Albert Pike Memorial Temple, San Francisco, and held for the purpose of allowing the brethren from various parts of the State to witness the conferring of all degrees in a temple equipped with the most modern paraphernalia and stage fittings to present their dramatic part of the work.”
On February 6, 1905, the San Francisco Call included the article “Albert Pike Memorial to be Dedicated.” The article reported, “On this occasion the degrees will be conferred with full scenic effects and historically correct paraphernalia for the first time in California. Over $100,000 has been invested in this magnificent structure, of which fully $25,000 is in scenery and costume alone. It is anticipated that many of the craft from all over the State will take advantage of this occasion to receive these degrees, and it is thought that many prominent and distinguished visitors from other jurisdictions will grace the meeting with their presence” (“Albert Pike Memorial to be Dedicated.” 11 Dec. 1904, page 50).
Like many buildings in San Francisco, the Albert Pike Memorial Temple was destroyed during the fire that followed the 1906 earthquake on April 18. By April 22, 1906, the San Francisco Chronicle described the Masonic ruins after the fire: “On Geary street between Filmore and Steiner, two large, new, partly constructed brick and stone buildings, one the Albert Pike Memorial Temple and the other the Congregation Beth Israel Church, both practically collapsed, the roofs falling in. Not far away, on Sutter and Steiner streets, a large new building being constructed for the Golden Gate Commandery of the Scottish Rite fell with a crash” (page 6).
Image of the San Francisco Scottish Rite after the earthquake in 1906, from the San Francisco Public Library.Image of the San Francisco Scottish Rite after the earthquake in 1906, from the San Francisco Public Library.Image of the San Francisco Scottish Rite after the earthquake in 1906, from the San Francisco Public Library.
Part 695: Transactions of the Supreme Council, 1905
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Free-Masonry Transactions of the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America.
One of the more interesting publications to peruse is “The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Free-Masonry Transactions of the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America.” There is an abundance of information tucked away in reports, statistics and recorded travels completed by the Grand Commander and other Supreme Council representatives. I have discovered more about the early use of stages and degrees productions here than in may othet records.
The 1905 “Report of Committee on Doings of Inspectors and Deputies” provides a sneak peak into the goings on of Scottish Rite Valleys througout the Southern Jurisdiction. Keep in mind that this was in the midst of a Scottish Rite building boom that began at the turn of the twentieth century. Each representative (Sovereign Grand Inspector General, or SGIG for short) was making a two-year report at each biennial session. In 1905, it was for the two years ending June 30, 1905.
This was an exciting time for the Southern Jurisdiction as membership rapidly increases and funds pour in, especially from the western region. I looked for the report by Harper S. Cunningham, Sovereign Grand Inspector-General from the Valley of Guthrie, Oklahoma and Indian Territories. I sought out more information pertaining to the McAlester scenery photographed in 1904, that was later sold to the Scottish Rite in Santa Fe, and rediscovered in Charleston by Rhett Bryson in 1995. Here is Cunningham’s 1905 report:
“I have the honor to report that Scottish Rite Masonry has made satisfactory progress in Oklahoma and Indian Territory during the past two years.
The bodies located in the Valley of Guthrie have prospered sufficiently to practically complete payment of the debt outstanding against their new temple, and now contemplate additional improvements that will make the temple more commodious, especially as regards the entertainment feature, by providing a banquet hall commensurate with the needs of the craft. In the Valley of South McAlester I revived the Chapter of Rose Croix and during the past year have granted letters of temporary for the Council of Kadosh and the Consistory. These bodies are thoroughly equipped as far as paraphernalia needs are concerned. They have temporary quarters, where the degrees are worked in style and manner second to none. They have a corps of enthusiastic workers, and much enthusiasm for the Rite is shown among the brethren. They have purchased a magnificent site for a temple, and have agreed upon the plans and specifications, and already contracted for the excavation and building of the basement. The temple will be 100 x 150 feet in size, and will contain all of the improvements which have been suggested by the experience of our sister bodies, for the exemplification of the degrees. All things considered, the bodies of South McAlester are progressing undermost favorable auspices, and I predict them great success in their work. They are holding a reunion during the present week, October 9 to 12, inclusive, at which they confer the degrees upon a large class. The work will be manifested in their returns and application for permanent charters. The Honorary 33ds of my jurisdiction are all enthusiastic in the cause of Scottish Rite Free-Masonry and bear their honors worthily.”
A couple of things to consider. The building being discussed (100 x 150) would necessitate grander scenery for a larger stage, thus supporting the sale of the existing scenery to the Valley of Santa Fe while their 1912 cathedral was being planned and built. The used scenery would prepare Santa Fe Masons for a new theater.
In looking at activities across the country during 1905, I wasn’t to mention a few other reports.
Frank Pierce, SGIG of the Valley of San Francisco noted, “Only one reunion has been held in this jurisdiction, This one was at the dedication of the Albert Pike Memorial Temple, San Francisco, and held for the purpose of allowing the brethren from various parts of the State to witness the conferring of all degrees in a temple equipped with the most modern paraphernalia and stage fittings to present their dramatic part of the work.” This was another Sosman & Landis delivery.
Francis J. Woodman, SGIG (Valley of Washington, D.C.), reported, “Harmony prevails throughout our valley, and ard and faithful work is being performed in the exemplification of the degrees of the Rite, which will now compare favorably, I believe, with that done in other Valleys of the Southern Jurisdiction.” Translation: they are staging degrees.
Edward Tears Taubman, SGIG of (Valley of Aberdeen) State of South Dakota noted, “Our regret was that the visit could not have been extended to the bodies at Deadwood, where you would have also observed that they were well-equipped for the work…” Traslation: they are using scenery to stage the degrees. We know that Twin City Scenic Equipment Co. provided some early Scottish Rite scenery to the Deadwood Scottish Rite.
A. B. Chamberlain, SGIG of the Valley of Galveston, State of Texas, reported, “With the organization of their Consistory (Dallas), the brethren began in earnest to provide means for the erection of a cathedral, one that would not only answer their present needs, but those for many years to come, and to that end they appointed a committee to take charge of the same….the bodies of Galveston have shown the same prosperity as in the preceding two years. The members have determined to remodel their stage and equip same with necessary scenery and electric equipment. This will enable them to confer the degrees equal to any.” Translation: Dallas is starting the construction of a Scotish Rite facility; there wil be a stage for future generations. Galveston already uses scenery, but is going to remodel their space house and purchase better versions to make their degree productions more impressive.
John W. Morris, SGIG of the Valley of Wheeling, State of West Virginia reported, “The interest shown by the brethren in ritualistic work is far greater than when the last report was made. Since the last session, we have purchased a very desirable piece of property 90×100 feet, costing $23,000, all paid for and a little cash left. We are now contemplating the erection of a Scottish Rite cathedral and will begin when we perfect plans and schemes to raise the money.” Translation: We are planning to build a Scottish Rite like everyone else, complete with a stage, howevre, we are just waiting to see which plans work best in other states.
Frank M. Foote, SFIG from the Valley of Evanston, State of Wyoming reported, “Scottish Rite Masonry in the States of Wyoming and Utah has made during the past two years satisfactory progress. The bodies of the Rite in Utah have lately purchased land in Salt Lake City for a Scottish Rite temple, and have let the contract for the building, which will be completed and occupied in less than a year from this date…The bodies in Cheyenne, Wyoming, have rebuilt and refurbished the temple, which was destroyed by fire early in 1903.” Translation: The Utah Scottish Rite is almost complete; there will be a stage. We know that the Cheyenne Scottish Rite were using some scenery, the fire was an opportunity to facilitate the inclusion of even more staged degrees.
My research suggests the there were twenty-five Southern Jurisdiction Valleys that were staging degrees by 1905: Little Rock, Arkansas; Wichita, Topeka, Salina, Fort Scott, Lawrence, and Kansas City, Kansas; Guthrie and McAlester, Oklahoma and Indian Territory; St. Louis, Joplin, and Kansas City, Missouri; Fargo, North Dakota; Yankton, South Dakota; Omaha, Hastings, and Lincoln Nebraska; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Portland, Oregon; Butte, Montana; Galveston, Texas; Duluth, Minnesota; San Francisco, California; Memphis, Tennessee; and Washington, D. C. There are likely more, especially in Iowa, but I have not confirmed the exact dates when stages were constructed and/or scenery was purchased. Considering the first Southern Jurisdiction stages were completed in 1896, (Oakland, California, and Little Rock, Arkansas), this number shows amazing growth in less than a decade!
Part 694: The Scottish Rite in McAlester, Oklahoma, 1904
There was something else happening in the world of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry when the Scottish Rite in Kansas City, Kansas, was dedicated. In 1904 the Scottish Rite in McAlester, Oklahoma, photographically documented a few of their scenes, complete with costumed characters for the corresponding degrees. I first encountered these photographs while restoring the Scottish Rite scenery collection in the 1929 Masonic Temple. In a room with south-facing windows, a glass display case held a handful of photographs. There were several old photographs that depicted a small Scottish Rite stage and costumed degree teams.
One of the photographs in a display case at the Masonic Temple in McAlester, Oklahoma. This image depicts a degree team from 1904.
The typed card that accompanied the photographs stated:
“These are pictures taken of McAlester Scottish Rite degree teams in 1904, taken on stage “The Tabernacle,” McAlester’s first Scottish Rite Temple. It was located on the south side of Washington Avenue between 2nd and 3rd Streets, where the drive in facility of the Bank, NA, is presently situated.”
As with many onsite discoveries, I carefully tucked this little bit of information away and went on with my work for about a decade. I did not think about the photographs again until I was working on “The Santa Fe Scottish Rite Temple: Freemasonry, Architecture and Theatre” book (Museum of New Mexico Press, 2018). We were trying to track down some interesting images of Harper S. Cunningham, Sovereign Grand Inspector General of New Mexico, when the Santa Fe Scottish Rite was being planned. Cunningham had also functioned as the S.G.I.G. of Oklahoma Territory before moving to Santa Fe to help with the impending plans for constructing a new home with stage. Cunningham was referred to as the “Temple Builder.” As possible images were passed back and forth, one included Cunningham seated in front of a candidate class. This was taken in front of Santa Fe’s first Scottish Rite stage on Water Street.
Drop curtain created for the first Scottish Rite stage in McAlester, Oklahoma.Curtain created for the first Scottish Rite stage in McAlester, Oklahoma, used by the Santa Fe Masons at their Masonic Hall on Water Street.
As with many Scottish Rite Valleys, the stage was constructed at the end of a Masonic hall. The intent of this stage was to get the members used to staging degrees, as they were planning a new theater in the proposed Scottish Rite building. Cunningham had directed the Snat Fe Scotish Rite to purchase the used scenery from the McAlester Scottish Rite Masons as they had just built a new stage and ordered new scenery.
Small stage constructed at the end of the Masonic hall on Water Street in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
As I looked at the photograph of Cunningham stoically seated amongst a candidate class of twenty-two men, I noticed the tassels on the drop curtain behind. Many Scottish Rite drop curtains during the first two decades of the twentieth century have a similar feel and composition, but I have yet to find two that are identical. When I compared the drop curtain in the Santa Fe photograph and the McAlester photograph, I realized that they were identical. The used scenery purchased from the McAlester Scottish Rite during the planning and construction of the Santa Fe Scottish Rite Cathedral was sitting in a display case in McAlester, Oklahoma.
At the time I documented the McAlester degree team images, they were deteriorating from direct exposure to sun and heat. I realized that it was unlikely a conservator had swept in after my departure from McAlester and removed the photographs form the cases to care for these significant images. I simply treasured the images that I already had and requested additional photographs depicting the scenery installed for the Santa Fe Scottish Rite Masons on Water street to get an understanding of the collection’s scope.
Jump ahead to the fall of 2018. I am carefully adding the research files of Professor Emeritus Lance Brockman to my own files. Years earlier, I had already added the research of Larry Hill, who thoughtfully sent me boxes of slides and past research about historic scenery, stage machinery, and panoramas upon his retirement. As I tucked Brockman’s “McAlester Scottish Rite file” in with my own, I quickly flipped through the contents. In one manila folder, there was a color copy of a 1995 letter from Rhett Bryson at Furman University (Greenville, South Carolina). It an old newspaper clipping. Bryson also traveled with Brockman and Hill across the country, documenting Scottish Rite scenery during the 18980s and 1990s.
The first 2” x 3” color image pictured in the letter was recognizable as the scenery behind the degree team for the 1904 McAlester Scottish Rite degree team photo. This was huge! Rhyson indicated that there were thirteen drops clearly marked “So. McAlister” on the back. This meant that the original scenery created for the McAlester Scottish Rite was used by the Santa Fe Scottish Rite and then shipped to and used by the Charleston Scottish Rite. The scenery had three lives! I was curious to see what I could find about the Scottish Rite stage in Charleston that used the scenery.
Part 693: The Scottish Rite Rivalry between Little Rock and Portland
By 1902, Sosman & Landis studio had delivered Scottish Rite scenery and stage machinery to the Southern Jurisdiction Scottish Rite Valleys in Little Rock Arkansas (1896, 1898, 1902); Oakland, California (1896); Wichita, Kansas (1898); Guthrie, Oklahoma (1900); Fargo, North Dakota (1900); and Salina, Kansas (1901). In 1902 another Scottish Rite scenery collection was contracted for installation the western region of the United States. The Portland, Oregon, Scottish Rite began the construction of their new home that would later be dedicated in 1903. Portland was just one on many Scottish Rite buildings to include a theater with scenery for degrees in the Southern Jurisdiction at this time, yet they are the only one to remain, as installed during this period..
In 1904, New Age Magazine published an article written by Charles E. Rosenbaum about the Albert Pike Consistory Temple in Little Rock, Arkansas. At that point, a rival began between Portland and Little Rock; Little Rock was getting a little too much attention throughout the Southern Jurisdiction.
Charles E. Rosenbaum pictured in the 1904 article in “New Age” about the Albert Pike ConsistoryAlbert Pike Consistory stage and scenery pictured in the 1904 article in “New Age” written by Charles E. Rosenbaum
Here is the article, “Rivalry in Scottish Rite. Mr. C. E. Rosenbaum Speaks for Arkansas and praises Oregon,” as published in the Daily Arkansas Democrat::
The New Age, a splendid new magazine published under the auspices of the Supreme Council, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, at Washington, D. C., contains the following article in its current number:
Fraternal Rivalry.
Our editorial in the November number of this magazine on “Fraternal Rivalry” has brought us a letter from Brother Charles E. Rosenbaum, 33 degree, S.G.I.G. Arkansas.
He says that if the Oregon brother who made a complaint about the statements inn his article about “Albert Pike Consistory” were incorrect had read his article carefully, and had been as familiar with affairs in his own jurisdiction of Oregon as he thought he was, he would have found no ground for complaint.
He declared that his statements were correct and are easily proven. He did not say that Albert Pike Consistory in Little Rock was the largest of the most expensive building in the country, for there are others which are larger and more expensive. What he did say, and he reiterates it, was that their building is the “most perfect in its equipment and in its arrangement,” and that “it is the only building in America erected and used for the sole purpose of Scottish Rite Masonry.”
Commenting on the Oregon brother’s statement that the Scottish Rite building in Portland is “much the largest and most complete yet constructed for the sole use of the Masonic fraternity,” Brother Rosenbaum says, “That it is larger than ours I frankly admit, but it is not the largets yet constructed;” and again he says, “That it is the most complete I beg to dispute, because I know of my own personal knowledge that their equipment is not near so complete as ours either in robing, stage scenery, or other paraphernalia.” Not only this, but he was informed by the “Recognized official head of the government power of the building,” while on a visit as the representative of the Sovereign Grand Commander, that, “the reason for building the auditorium with some of its special features was to permit the renting of it for lectures, concerts, and other high-class entertainment; that the reason for finishing the banquet hall on the plan adopted was that it could be rented for dancing purposes to social clubs and other organizations.”
So, “if it is to be used exclusively for Scottish Rite Masonry, then they have enlarged their plans since June, 1903,” says our contributor, and he adds: “In the light of the statements made to me while in Portland, the statement that I made should not be questioned.”
Our correspondent then continues, paying this handsome tribute to the bodies and to the brethren of the Rite in Oregon:
Now as to the Portland building and the brethren there. After maintaining my position in the article, permit me to say that in Portland they have a building which would be the pride in any city or set of Scottish Rite bodies which might be fortunate enough to possess it.
It is a beautiful building, and larger than ours, much mmore expensive in its construction, I think, and, so far as it had been equipped, the very best that could be produced has been installed. Its furnishings are not only tasteful, but of the highest quality, and it is indeed worthy of a place in the history of progress in the southern jurisdiction. The brethren themselves are enthusiastic, earnest, and energetic. That they are loyal to the organization is evidenced by the fact that the brother so promptly champions their cause in the article which I have referred.
Between Oregon and Arkansas there is no rivalry, not even a friendly one, for there is nothing that we could do to be of any service to Brother Malcom and his associates that we would not cheerfully and promptly try to do. I am sure that he and his loyal and lovable brotherhood would gladly render us any possible service that they could.
I trust that the same kindly feeling may always exist between us, and so far as it is in own power to maintain it we will do so, and I feel sure they too will maintain the same brotherly regard for us.
Another thing, which has no particular bearing on this subject, is well worth noting because it is so very unusual. When we opened the building for the first class we had to initiate in it, we had a bonded debt, all held by our own membership, and which bore interest at four percent. These bonds aggregated nearly forty thousand dollars. We had, in addition, accumulated outstanding open accounts for stage equipment, furnishings, and a balance on various contracts, amounting to about fifteen thousand dollars. We have now called in the last of these bonds, and checks have been drawn for the payments we should be so fortunate as to be able to discharge the last obligation with this magnificent enterprise within a trifle over two years from the time it was completed and opened.
Our contributor has answered clearly and definitely his anonymous critic. The tone of his reply is admirable, and we hope this letter will result in a signed reply from our critic, accompanied by a full description of the Portland Scottish Rite building.”
Scottish Rite in Little Rock, Arkansas, built in 1902Scottish Rite in Portland, Oregon, built in 1903
Part 692: The Kansas City, Kansas, Scottish Rite, 1904
In 1904, Kansas Scottish Rite Masons constructed two new homes in Fort Scott and Kansas City. The Kansas City, Kansas, Scottish Rite was designed by architect W. W. Rose at the corner of 7th and Ann.
Postcard depicting the 1904 Kansas City, Kansas, Scottish Rite.The 1904 Scottish Rite building in Kansas City, Kansas.Postcard of the 1904 Scottish Rite building in Kansas City, Kansas.The 1904 Kansas City, Kansas, building. Notice the fly tower at the rear of the building.
On April 1, 1904, The Lincoln Journal included the article “New Temple. Kansas City Scottish Rite Masons Open Splendid Edifice With Big Reception.” Here is the article in its entirety:
“The new and very fine temple of the Scottish Rite Masons of Kansas City was opened for the first time Wednesday night, when the members tendered an elegant reception to their wives and friends. The building has been furnished in every detail and is fully complete, except for some changes in the lighting, and more than 1,500 persons accepted, the invitation sent out for the affair, that they might have a look at what is termed the palace of secret society work in the west. The building spacious as it is, was so crowded at times during the evening that it was badly congested, and lies of members had to be formed to keep the throng all moving one way, especially on the stairs.
The new building is well adapted for social purposes. One on entering steps into a spacious hall and finds the secretary’s office on the right, while on the left is a large parlor. Beyond the secretary’s office is the director’s room and back of all these is the great banquet hall, finished with a polished maple floor for dancing. Still in the rear is a perfectly appointed kitchen so that social functions may be given in the building without the necessity of calling upon a caterer.
On the second floor of the building one first enters a candidates’ room and passes from thence to the great cathedral, their sessions. This is a splendid room, with a beautiful ceiling, lighted in a novel fashion, and a gallery on three sides, including and organ and choir loft. The stage, which was concealed last night, is thirty-two feet deep and thirty seven feet to the gridiron and has a full equipment of scenery and appointments including a switchboard, which controls every light in the room from the stage. To the rear of the cathedral is the blue room, for smaller bodies, all fitted up in blue, in which is hung a fine portrait of the later Albert Pike.
All these apartments were thrown open to guests. The rooms were lavishly decorated with flowers and flags; in the banquet hall Zeiler’s orchestra played and a mandolin orchestra furnished music in the cathedral, while a pianist did the same in the blue room. In these three rooms were also booths from which punch was dispensed.
Every member of the order in Kansas City was a committee of one to show his friends through the new structure, and all callers were taken care of in good fashion. The music, lights and flowers, with women in pretty gowns and men in somber evening attire formed a delightful picture, and it was late when the affair broke up.
The 1904 Scottish Rite building is now the home of the Seventh Street Casino, run by the Wyandotte Nation.
The 1904 Scottish Rite building in Kansas City, Kansas, is now a casino.
Part 689: M. C. Lilley & Co. Lighting for Scottish Rite Stages
Any painting can be destroyed in an instant with poor lighting. It does not matter how beautiful the composition, or the painted aesthetic; if the person designing ot running the lights does not understand two-dimensional scenes it doesn’t matter.
Lighting for the Scottish Rite stage in Austin, Texas.
During a 1913 New York Dramatic Mirror interview with scenic artist Ernest Albert, he explained that a scenic artist’s function did not cease until the scenery was all installed and the lighting arrangements completed. He commented, “Lighting is within his province, just as groupings are in a measure. An unexpected orange light on violet, for instance, will produce a russet brown that will make everything look dirty. It is true that in the days of gas lighting much softer effects were possible, but I will sacrifice all of the advantages of mellow light for safety…Anyway, we are now avoiding many of the hard qualities of the electric light by greater use of ambers, straw colors, and pinks.”
A pamphlet produced by the M. C. Lilley & Co. for Scottish Rite stages during the early twentieth century commented, “The lighting equipment of a stage used for Scottish Rite purpose is very important. No matter how well the scenery may be executed, much of its effect will be lost without proper lighting. The equipment should be complete and in no department should a false economy produce a lack of capacity.”
In 1900, the following lighting equipment was delivered to the Scottish Rite stage in Guthrie, Oklahoma.
Four (4) Borders
Four (4) portable ground rows
Two (2) Strip rows
Two (2) Bunch lights
One (1) Slate switch board, full fused, containing 1 main, 3 Service and 32 subordinate double contact knife switches – 36 switches in all; connections on board all made
In 1912, the following lighting equipment was delivered to the Scottish Rite stage in Santa Fe, New Mexico:
Part 688: The American Reflector and Lighting Co., 1900
Yesterday, I examined some correspondence about footlights between Frank A. Derr, of the Scottish Rite in Guthrie, Oklahoma, and Charles E. Rosenbaum, of the Scottish Rite in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The original stage lighting for Guthrie was listed in a contract between the Guthrie Scottish Rite and E. A. Armstrong Mfg. Company of Chicago, dated April 28, 1900. The Armstrong company was located at 300-302-304 Wabash Avenue, Chicago, and listed as “Manufacturers of Secret Society, Military and Band Supplies.” The lighting, scenery and stage work for the new Guthrie stage was provided by through M. C. Lilley and Co. The companies western sales manager, well-known Mason Bestor G. Brown, subcontracted the new work to Sosman & Landis.
In 1900 the Guthrie Scottish Rite hired E. A. Armstrong Manufacturing C. of Chicago to outfit their new stage, lighting was included in the purchsse. The Scottish Rite bodies spent a total of $694.50 on lighting for the stage, the equivalent of $20,811.19 today.
Here is what the contract specified:
STAGE LIGHTING
Four (4) Borders, each 24 feet long, each containing 60 lights wired for three color; sockets and wiring complete but no lamps-
Four (4) portable ground rows, each 10 feet long, each containing 15 lights, wired for three colors, sockets and wiring complete – but no lamps-
Two (2) Strip rows, each 16 feet long, each containing 24 lights, wired for three colors; sockets and wiring complete but no lamps-
Two (2) eight light, porcelain lined, swing head, iron stand bunch lights; complete with extension cord and plug, but no lamps-
Six (6) cast iron floor pockets
Twenty-four (24) Slate receptacles
Fourteen (14) Plugs for receptacles
Fourteen (14) Plugs for receptacles, three lights attached to each of ground rows and one each to bunch lights-
Four (4) 40 Ampere dimmers, German silver wire wound
Three (3) 20 Ampere dimmers, German silver wire wound
One (1) Slate switch board, full fused, containing 1 main, 3 Service and 32 subordinate double contact knife switches – 36 switches in all; connections on board all made
Sockets all of Edison pattern
MISCELLANEOUS LIGHTING APPARATUS
One (1) lamp and chaser
One (1) 4,000 c/p focusing lamp and reflector, stand and rheostat included.
Large and small carbons – no charge
One (1) Lighting box, Complimentary
NOTE- Goods packed and shipped by American Reflector and Lighting Co. Charges collect, but to be paid and applied on bill.
For Scottish Rite theaters in 1900, scenery and lighting went hand in hand. The same would be true over a decade later, as the scenic studios still had great influence over the lighting systems used to light their painted scenery on Scottish Rite stages. Sosman & Landis were involved with the manufacture of painted scenery, stage machinery, and rigging for the stage. They were also heavily invested in the lighting industry. They designed and manufactured electric scenic theatres, electrical floats and other spectacular electrical effects for a variety of performance venues.
The American Reflector and Lighting Company opened its doors just before the Columbian Exposition. On March 24,1893, the “Chicago Inter Ocean” listed Perry Landis as one of the company’s incorporators and Charles Landis as the treasurer. Joseph S. Sosman was a major investor for the enterprise.
A floor pocket produced by the American Reflector and Lighting Co. found at the Scottish Rite theater in Yankton, South Dakota.
In 1894, the Sosman & Landis studio catalogue offered stage hardware and lighting for other projects than the stage. Actually, an entire page was devoted to the American Reflector and Lighting Company in their catalogue. They offered “a full line of improved lighting fixtures for electricity, gas or oil, specially adapted for the lighting of theatres, halls, assembly rooms, and churches.”
The American Reflector and Lighting Co. salesroom was located at 271-273 Franklin Street where the company advertised 150 styles of reflectors for users of electricity, gas and oil. Their products included lighting fixtures for art galleries, display windows, orchestra shades, street lights, stage dimmers, theatre lamps, silver plated mirror reflectors for incandescent cluster with prisms, and many other products. Their lighting fixtures used crystal glass lined with pure metallic silver to provide “the best practical reflecting surface.” The company advertised that their reflectors, for both indoor and outdoor lighting, “promised that the power of light was fully utilized, as its rays are saved from waste, strengthened and thrown in the desired direction.” In 1904, the American Reflector Co. was located at 199 Van Buren St. in Chicago. By 1914 various advertisements listed a new address for the company at 517 Jackson Blvd.
In addition to standard lighting for the stage, the Guthrie Scottish Rite ordered fifteen special lighting fixtures that included:
Four fixtures, two lights each – one above the other-
Four fixtures, four lights each, each fixture the shape of a circle – 12 inches in diameter-
Three fixtures, nine lights each, the lights in each fixture arranged in the shape of three equilateral triangles with the apexes joined – 18 inches square
One Fixture containing nine lights, eight in the shape of an octagon, and the remaining light in the center fixture 18 inches.
One Fixture containing three lights in the shape of an equilateral triangle – 12 inches
One Fixture of seven lights, arranged in the shape of a triangle, four in the bottom row, three in the next, two in the next, and one in the apex.-fixture 32 inches-
One fixture of five lights in the shape of a square, 5th light in the center.
With the foregoing fixtures are 116, 8 candle power 110 volt frosted, and colored lamps, also 7 receptacles.
NOTE: – Foregoing is billed at $31.25 less than the estimate.
The price for the above-listed special light fixtures was $419.75, making the total lighting purchase of $1114.25, todays equivalent of $33,389.30.
In 1910, the Guthrie Scottish Rite border lights were mentioned in a letter from Bestor G. Brown (western sales representative for M. C. Lilley & Co.) to Frank A. Derr (Secretary of the Oklahoma Consistory, in Guthrie, Oklahoma). Guthrie was enlarging the stage in their existing building, a project that necessitated the purchase of new scenery, stage machinery, and lighting equipment. The used stage systems were being returned for credit on the purchase of a new scenery collection. On July 26, 1910, Brown wrote, “I shall probably go to Lawrence some time within the next few days and if I can dispose of your electrical equipment, I will be very glad to do so. It is old and will not pass inspection. The borders have a wooden strip on the top and that disqualifies them under the present regulations. If the Lawrence people want to buy them with the full knowledge of the facts, I shall be very glad indeed to see them get them.”
A lighting fixture by the American Reflector and Lighting Co. included in the “American Electrician,” Vol. 16A lighting fixture by the American Reflector and Lighting Co. included in the “American Electrician,” Vol. 16
Lighting was an integral part of the Scottish Rite stage. In past posts, I have touched on the subject of lighting and its control by scenic artists during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. In 1913 many scenic artists still maintained control over the lighting of their work. This aspect of the commercial stage was noted by well-known scenic artists Ernest Albert in 1913. In an interview with Arthur Edwin Krows of the “The New York Dramatic Mirror, ” Albert explained his own design process for the stage. He explained that a scenic artist’s function did not cease until the scenery was all installed and the lighting arrangements completed. He commented, “Lighting is within [the scenic artist’s] province, just as groupings are in a measure. An unexpected orange light on violet, for instance, will produce a russet brown that will make everything look dirty.”
For the next few posts, I am going to examine some lighting characteristics apparent in early twentieth-century Scottish Rite theaters, starting with footlights. Some Scottish Rites installed footlights in the early twentieth century and others did not. In 1904, the Scottish Rite stage in Duluth included a series of retractable footlights, allowing the performers to easily access the steps at the front of the stage as they were not permanently up.
Footlights at the Scottish Rite theater in Duluth, Minnesota.
In 1916, a letter from Charles Rosenbaum of Little Rock to Frank A. Derr of Guthrie, Oklahoma, addressed the use of footlights in Scottish Rite theaters. Derr had asked Rosenbaum about the need for footlights in a previous letter, noting that the Scottish Rite in Memphis Tennessee employed the use of footlights for their degree productions. Derr was considering the value of installing footlights at the Scottish Rite in Guthrie, Texas.
Rosenbaum responded to Derr’s query on June 10, 1916:
“I note what you say about footlights, but what use are they? In our old synagogue [the Albert Pike Cathedral in Little Rock constructed in 1896], we had footlights, we found them sort of a nuisance, when we built on 8th and Scott [the Albert Pike Consistory Building of 1902] we left them out entirely.
While in New York several years ago talking to Stage expert equipment people they showed me foot light equipment they were building for a High School building and it had a nice disappearing arrangement which was all right.
I asked what was the necessary for foot lights, and why they were used.
The answer was —You have to have them to throw up the light on the people on the front of the stage to light up or destroy the rawness of their makeup, which means the paint and stuff they use on their faces, they said you can’t get along without them for that reason.
I said —Suppose there is no makeup, and I described out use of a stage, and they said it would be foolish to have footlights at all, and only in case we rented the building for theatrical purposes would it be necessary, because when Actors and Actresses made up the necessity would it be evident.
So —as we don’t rent for any such purpose and don’t make up our faces, and have no business very far out to ward the front of the stage, or for that matter in front of the curtain line, we have no use for ‘feet lights, to high light our faces and they have no use for them in Memphis [Memphis Scottish Rite] either unless they rent for shows of one kind or another.’”
There are a few things to consider about subjects touched upon in Rosenbaum’s letter. The first is that the participant’s in degree productions on Scottish Rite stages do not wear makeup. Costumes and wigs were part of the normal degree production, but not stage makeup. This makes sense as many of the degrees were not solely contained to the stage area and they would frequently break the curtain line, getting within a very short distance of the audience; there was no need for stage makeup. The apron of a Scottish Rite stage often transitioned into three steps, allowing the actors to easily move the action out into the auditorium. Again, there was not fixed seating in the first part of the auditorium floor as this area was used for degree work.
Retractable footlights at the Scottish Rite in Duluth, Minnesota.Retractable footlights at the Scottish Rite in Duluth, Minnesota.Retractable footlights at the Scottish Rite in Duluth, Minnesota.
A second thing to consider is the mention of disappearing footlights. This is the same type of footlights at the Duluth Scottish Rite and other Scottish Rite Valleys. They allow the stage action to easily transition to and from the stage, a common aspect to some degree productions. This is all dependent on the individual interpretation of a particular Scottish Rite valley.
The final point concerns the Scottish Rite stage being used by non-Masonic groups. This was an option many Scottish Rite stages from the onset; consider Masonic opera houses, Temple theaters and shared stages often provided much the needed revenue for Fraternal building expenses. Just a retail shops supported Masonic lodge rooms located on the top floors of a Masonic building, so did stages provide revenue for Masonic edifices. Some were specifically planned and constructed for the Fraternity, as it was another viable source of income that paid for the basic operation of the building. Some Masonic complexes even had two theaters; one solely for Scottish Rite purposes and the other for the general public. Masonic buildings in Detroit, Michigan, and Cincinnati, Ohio, are only two examples.
I am in the midst of examining the progression of Scottish Rite stage construction in the Southern Jurisdiction, before I return to the life and times of Thomas G. Moses in 1909. 1908 to 1910 is when Sosman & Landis reach their peak production period of fraternal theater production and Brown’s special system. There is little documented evidence of degree productions in the Southern Jurisdiction before 1896, with the earliest stages being constructed in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Oakland, California, much flew under the official radar.
The major aspect to the evolution of theatrically interpreted degree work in the Southern Jurisdiction is a systematic marketing plan by a relatively small number of individuals that included Bestor G. Brown as the spokesman for the movement. Brown created demand for a particular product manufactured by Sosman & Landis studio. The development of Brown’s special system directly increased the amount of painted scenery that was able to be installed in a Scottish Rite theaters. Although Sosman & Landis scenic artists and stage carpenter David Austin Strong (1830-1911) was credited by Thomas G. Moses (1856-1934) as the “Daddy” of Masonic design, the theatrical staging of degree work had long been occurring in the Northern Jurisdiction for decades before the Southern Jurisdiction.
Before moving forward with the expansion of Scottish Rite stages throughout the Southern Jurisdiction, from 1896 onward, here’s a brief recap of what was already occurring in the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction (NMJ) of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. Keep in mind that the NMJ is located east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio River. At the time the geographical demarcations were established, the NMJ included many of the United States’ major metropolitan areas, including Boston, and Philadelphia. These were vibrant theatrical hubs during the mid-nineteenth century when the NMJ began staging portions of their degree work, not to mention the Masonic Opera Houses that were constructed during the time.
The Baldwin Building used by the Indianapolis Scottish Rite in 1873The Indianapolis Scottish Rite remodeled a pork slaughterhouse to include two stages for degree work in 1882.
In the 1860s the Indianapolis Scottish Rite Bodies used movable scenery and a small stage in their 1863 space of the Yohn Building, before moving to the Baldwin Building in 1873. Increasingly elaborate stage productions of degrees continued until 1882 when the Indianapolis Scottish Rite purchased and remodeled an old pork slaughterhouse, installing two stages for degree work. Originally a five-story brick building, the back half was raised an additional story to accommodate a theatrical fly system. Theatre spaces occupied both the fourth and fifth floors and were of similar size, each including galleries on three sides with 450-seat capacities. The fourth-floor and fifth-floor auditoriums measured approximately forty by eighty feet. The fourth-floor auditorium included a twenty-eight foot proscenium opening that was primarily used for scenic effects in connection with the conferring of degrees. The fifth-floor proscenium stage opening was twenty by thirty feet and included a forty-five-foot high fly loft.
Despite the popularity of Scottish Rite stages, the Southern Jurisdiction did not follow suit because of Grand Commander Pike. The same year that the Indianapolis Scottish Rite building was completed, Grand Pike addressed the dissimilarity of degree work in each jurisdiction in his 1882 Allocution, stating, “The Rite in this jurisdiction is a Rite of Instruction, and not of scenic pomp and stage-show. We do not indulge in melodrama or pantomime. It is the firm conviction of hundreds of our zealous workers that our books are well worth being studied, and that the Rite, as developed in our Degrees, is destined by God to be in our future one of the chief benefactors of humanity…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 æsthetic taste and please the imagination, like the pageantry of cardinals and orioles. It is not Masonry.”
The 1886 Cincinnati Scottish Rite stage with scenery painted by E. T. Harvey.
As in Indianapolis, Cincinnati also constructed a series of early stages before building a full Scottish Rite cathedral. Cincinnati’s first Scottish Rite cathedral was destroyed by fire during 1884. The New Scottish Rite Cathedral was described in the Masonic Column of Cincinnati’s Commercial Gazette on July 5, 1885. The article boasted, “When fully completed the Cathedral will constitute the most complete and elegantly fitted building devoted to any one branch of Masonry in the World.” It was competed by 1886 at a cost of $82,500. (Democratic and Chronicle, 16 May 1886, page 2). The Cincinnati Scottish Rite auditorium contained a three-tiered balcony and a thirty-two-foot proscenium opening. The entire scenic installation for their newly constructed Scottish Rite building was credited to E. T. Harvey. His scenery included a tomb, interior palace, palatial chamber, landscape, fiery underworld, ascension of Christ, and a cathedral interior to name a few. As an itinerant artist, Harvey worked at a variety of theatres throughout the region, including Heuck’s New Opera House where the Scottish Rite scenery had been painted. E. T. Harvey would create 18 new sets of scenery for the Cleveland Scottish Rite in 1901 too after they suffered the loss of a previous building to fire (Cincinnati Enquirer, 31, Oct 1901, page 3). Harvey (1843-1918) was an Englishman who immigrated to America in 1860 and worked extensively as a scenic artist in the east. He also worked at the Grand Opera in Cincinnati for 25 years. Harvey was a member of the Scottish Rite and Shrine, as many of the first scenic artists to create Masonic scenery,
Painted scene by E. T. Harvey for the Cincinnati Scottish Rite.Painted scene by E. T. Harvey for the Cincinnati Scottish Rite.Painted scene by E. T. Harvey for the Cincinnati Scottish Rite.Painted scene by E. T. Harvey for the Cincinnati Scottish Rite.Painted scene by E. T. Harvey for the Cincinnati Scottish Rite.
In 1886, the same year that the second Cincinnati Scottish Rite Cathedral was completed, another one was finished in Columbus, Ohio. The “Fort Wayne Daily Gazette” included an article “Gorgeous Quarters. The Magnificent Scottish Rite Cathedral at Columbus, Ohio” (5 Dec. 1886, page 8). The Third Street Universalist church was purchased and remodeled for $12,000. The renovation included a stage and property room. At the time, the newspapers proclaimed the building to be “one of the most complete in the country.” Indianapolis, Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati were only a few examples of a wave sweeping through the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction a full decade before the first small Scottish Rite stages appeared in Little Rock and Oakland.
