MASONRY IN STATUES
Washington, D. C. is filled with of famous people, many of
whom were Freemasons. MSA will be doing a series of two Short Talks
on this subject.
We would like to thank Charles S. Iversen, PGM, D. C. and SGIG
Valley of Washington, Orient of the District of Columbia, S.J, and
Hugh Y. Bernard, Jr PM. of William R. Singleton-Hope-Lebanon Lodge
#7, D.C. and Librarian Emeritus of the George Washington University
Law School for compiling the information on the statues in
Washington, D. C. that have Masonic significance. This article was
originally published in the 2000 Spring Bulletin, Scottish Rite, S.J.,
Orient of D. C.
-Editor
JOHN BARRY
(ca. 1745-1803)
(Statue in Franklin Park, 14th Street end, facing west, north of I
Street, NW-Architect was John J. Boyle)
Regarded as the "Father of the United States Navy." Commodore Barry
was the senior officer in the service when his career ended. He
commanded privateers and Navy ships which wrought havoc on British
shipping. He commanded the vessel which took Lafayette home after
the Yorktown victory (1781). He trained such later Navy luminaries
as Stephen Decatur (a Mason) and is generally revered by our Navy to
this day. Masonically, he was initiated in Lodge No. 2,
Philadelphia, October 12, 1795, but is recorded as being suspended
N.P D. in 1800.
SIMON BOLIVAR
(1783-1830)
(Statue in front of State Department, Foggy Bottom area of northwest
Washington Architect was Felix de Weldon)
In his short life span, Bolivar fought for over twenty years to free
much of South America from Spanish despotism; the present nations of
Bolivia (named for him), Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru owe
their independence to this notable warrior-statesman, called the
George Washington of South America, and "The Liberator." His long
and complex Masonic history is interwoven with his career. Though
born in Caracas, he became a Mason in Spain and entered the Scottish
Rite and Knight Templary while in France. He was also Masonically
active in England while on a diplomatic mission to London. His
Scottish Rite collar and apron are exhibited by the New York Grand
Lodge Museum. His lovehate relationship with Roman Catholicism
reflects the effect of his devotion to freedom as conflicting with
his longing for spiritual aid. But it was as a Mason that he
performed the deeds for which he is most remembered.
WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN
(1860-1925)
(Statue, in the pose of an orator, most fitting for him, at
Constitution Avenue in West Potomac Park near the former Riverside
Drive. Sculpted by the Mason, Gutzon Borglum)
Bryan, the liberal Democratic apostle of free silver and a generally
loose monetary policy during the depression-ridden 1890's, was three
times nominated by his party for the Presidency, in 1896, 1900, and
1908, only to lose each time. He is revered by proponents of a
farmer-labor populism and government activity on behalf of their
causes. Also, late in life he participated as a prosecutor in the
famous Scopes trial in Dayton, Tennessee, concerning the validity of
a statute in that state prohibiting the teaching of the evolution
theories of Darwin in public schools. Although he and his associates
won a conviction in the case, Bryan died a short while later after
being savaged by the media. He was also very active in the peace
movement during World War I, resigning as Woodrow Wilson's Secretary
of State in 1915 in a disagreement over war preparations in this
country. He is best remembered as a spell-binding orator, the "Silvertongued
Commoner." Masonically, Bryan was raised in Lincoln Lodge No. 19 in
his home state of Nebraska, April 15, 1902 and later affiliated with
Miami Lodge No. 247 in Florida, in which state he resided when he
died, July 26, 1925.
JAMES BUCHANAN
(1791-1868)
(Statue on an imposing slope in Meridian Hill Park, 16th Street,
Between Florida Avenue and Euclid Street, NW-Architect was Hans
Schuler)
Buchanan, the only President from the prominent State of
Pennsylvania, and the last President to be born in the eighteenth
century, was born near Mercersburg but spent most of his life at his
estate near Lancaster. A lawyer, diplomat (Minister to Russia
1832-34), Secretary of State under James K. Polk, US Senator, and
Minister to England from 1853 to 1856. Nominated by the Democrats to
run against the first Republican nominee (John C. Fremont), Buchanan
won the contest. Few men have entered the Presidency with such
promise and such impressive credentials. Few have left the office
under such obloquy. He was unequal to the demands placed on his
office caused by the hastening tide of disunion stemming from the
slavery and states-rights disputes that proved irreconcilable.
Masonically, Buchanan was raised in Lodge No. 43, Lancaster, PA,
January 24, 1817. Being single and interested in the Craft, he
plunged into Masonry wholeheartedly. His Masonic resume shows he was
Master of his lodge for the year 1823; and by the end of that year
was made a District Deputy Grand Master. His last attendance at his
own Lodge was in May 1865. He was also active in the Royal Arch in
Lancaster. As President, he participated in the dedication of the
George Washington statue on Washington Circle in the Capital ,City,
February 22, 1860, delivering the dedicatory address. Whatever may
have been the general opinion about his term as President, he was
revered in Lancaster. When he died June 1, 1868, his Lodge gave him
a Masonic burial at a service attended by 4,000 persons.
EDMUND BURKE
(1729-1797)
(Statue in a small triangular park at Massachusetts Avenue and 11th
Street, NW Architect was Harvard Thomas of England)
Like most strongly intellectual thinkers and writers, Burke is hard
to characterize. He was born in Ireland of a Protestant father and
Catholic mother. Reared a Protestant, Burke studied law for a while
but abandoned it for a career of writing and intense activity in
public life. Entering the Commons in 1765 as a Whig at the time of
the Stamp Act, Burke earned popularity among the American colonists
through championing their cause, along with Pitt and his associate
John Wilkes, all strongly pro-American. His career is marked by a
strong advocacy of individual freedom, emancipation of slaves, free
trade, and aid to Catholics in Ireland. His writings on the French
Revolution (which he condemned for its excesses), and his opposition
to imprisonment for libel, showed a strong bent for individual
freedom as opposed to statism and government power. Today, Burke
would be typecast as a libertarian conservative. Masonically, there
is no sure evidence of Burke's membership, though he is thought to
have belonged to Jerusalem Lodge No. 44, Clerkenwell, London,
sometimes referred to as "Burke's Lodge." Members of this Lodge made
John Wilkes a Mason while that worthy was in prison, in 1769.
His treatise on Defence of the Colonists in America was required
reading in public high schools in Washington, DC in the 1930s.
SIR WINSTON LEONARD
SPENCER CHURCHILL
(1874-1965)
(Statue in front of the British Embassy on Massachusetts Avenue, NW,
placed with one foot on British and one foot on American soil,
reflecting his dual heritage and citizenship)
Winston Churchill is such a towering giant-one of the great figures
of the Twentieth or of any century in which he could have lived,
that it is hard to compress this vigorous and intense life into a
sketch. The son of Sir and Lord Randolph Churchill and his American
wife, nee Jenny Jerome, Sir Winston was descended from the Dukes of
Marlborough. He early began an adventurous life in the Army (1895)
and served in Cuba, India, Egypt, and the Sudan; and during the Boer
War he was a correspondent. In World War I he saw service in France
in 1916. He held numerous government posts, in the Colonial Office,
President of the Board of Trade, Home Secretary, First Lord of the
Admiralty, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and finally Prime Minister
twice (1940-45 and 1951-55) as a Tory. It was during his first term
in the latter office that Churchill reached the heights. He
invigorated and inspired a nation in its darkest hour during World
War II and turned it into a fighting machine that held firm until
American aid could arrive. Not only was this brilliant man a
statesman and fighter; he was an author. Of his many books, perhaps
the most noteworthy are his History of the English-speaking Peoples
(4 v., 1956-58), and his The Second World War (6 vols., 1948-54). He
received the Nobel Prize in 1953.
Masonically, Churchill was initiated in Studholme Lodge, No. 1591,
in London; and raised March 25, 1902, in Rosemary Lodge No. 2851.
His intense activity understandably precluded his active
participation in the Craft.
Masons whose statues stand in or near Statuary Hall in the U.S.
Capitol.
Stephen A. Austin
Thomas Hart Benton
William Jennings Bryan
Henry Clay
George Clinton
Benjamin Franklin
James A. Garfield
John Hancock
Sam Houston
Andrew Johnson
Marquis de Lafayette
Robert M. Lafollette,
Sr. Robert Livingston
John Marshall Winfield
Scott John Sevier
Lew Wallace
George Washington
Joseph Wheeler
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FOCUS
MASONIC INFORMATION CENTER
A COMMUNICATION OF THE MASONIC SERVICE ASSOCIATION OF N.A.VOLUME 7,
ISSUE 1 / MAR.2000
WIRELESS FOUNDATION & NATIONAL COALITION AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
LAUNCH NATIONAL "DONATE A PHONE" CAMPAIGN - Goal is to collect One
Million Used Wireless Phones from Public
WASHINGTON, DC - The Wireless Foundation and the National Coalition
Against Domestic Violence today launched a nationwide "Donate a
Phone" campaign designed to collect one million used wireless phones
to benefit victims of domestic violence. Anyone interested in
donating a phone to the campaign can visit www.donateaphone.com or
call 1-888-901SAFE.
Wireless industry analysts estimate that there are currently as many
as 24 million inactive wireless phones in people's homes and
businesses.
"Every day, 5,000 women across the U.S. become victims of domestic
violence," said Michael Evans, Executive Director of the Wireless
Foundation. "The program's main goal is to put no-longer-used
wireless phones in the hands of women who need to protect themselves
against domestic abuse," Evans said.
Sponsored by Motorola, "Donate a Phone" is part of CALL to PROTECT,
a national program that provides domestic violence victims with
wireless phones that are preprogrammed with emergency numbers so
that they can access help at the touch of a button.
Since CALL to PROTECT began, Motorola hag donated 16,000 wireless
phones, and free airtime has been provided by 74 wireless carriers
across the United States who are members of the Cellular
Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA).
The Masonic Information Center Steering Committee, meeting in
Washington, D.C. on March 11, 2000, voted enthusiastically to
support this program. It is our hope that Freemasons, everywhere,
will see its value and want to participate. The commitment made by
the Information Center was to act in the role of coordinator,
gathering all necessary information and providing it to each Grand
Lodge in the United States. There is a real probability the program
will soon expand into Canada. Preliminary information has been sent
to each U.S. Grand Lodge encouraging them to participate in this
most worthwhile program.
LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER
The United Grand Lodge of England has been subjected to scrutiny by
the government because of false charges that indicated some law
enforcement officers, who were Freemasons, may have been involved in
a cover up of criminal activity. The Dec. 1999 Focus had an article
dealing with this issue.
The latest attack is on Freemasons in the military. The Defense
Council issued an Instruction that: "Freemasons are to be banned
from actively recruiting members from the Armed Forces or holding
meetings on military property."
An extremely well written letter from Lord Farnham to the Prime
Minister follows:
Dear Prime Minister,
I have been asked by the Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of
Antient, Free and Accepted Masons of England, HRH The Duke of Kent
KG, to write to you about a recently issued Defence Council
Instruction relating to Freemasonry. For ease of reference I enclose
a copy of the Instruction.
The Defence Council Instruction was issued on the advice of
Ministers as a response to a Parliamentary Enquiry to the Minister
of Defence from Chris Mullin MP resulting from an anonymous letter
he had received from the wife of a member of the Royal Army Medical
Corps.
The Defence Council Instruction with its references to "disparate
loyalties", "a destabilising influence", "undue influence" and to
Freemasonry being of a "secretive nature" has caused great upset and
genuine hurt to the many thousands of Freemasons who serve or have
served in the Armed Forces and know that their allegiance to the
Crown and the Service in which they serve is paramount. As
Freemasons their duties are to God, the law, their families, their
professional responsibilities and the community as a whole. Any duty
they might owe to a fellow Freemason comes after their prime duties
and only in qualified circumstances. In the process of becoming a
Freemason candidates acknowledge and declare on several occasions
that using their membership to gain an advantage for themselves or
others is contrary to the principles of Freemasonry and that if they
do so they will become subject to Masonic disciplinary procedures.
What saddens Freemasons is that this Instruction has been issued on
the basis of a purported perception to support which - in this area
as in others - no evidence has been produced other than anecdotes.
They have been angered that a request from the Grand Lodge for
clarification of certain aspects of the Instruction was rebuffed by
a Ministry of Defence official with the response that there was
little she could usefully add.
Whilst the Defence Council Instruction does not ban service
personnel from becoming Freemasons, Freemasons see it as being
discriminatory. The message it gives is that Freemasons are not to
be trusted and that joining Freemasonry would be looked at with
disfavour and could put at risk career prospects. On behalf of His
Royal Highness the Grand Master, of the 320,000 Freemasons under
this Grand Lodge and of their families I ask that the Defence
Council Instruction be withdrawn.
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