January-February 2012

Ill. C. Fred Kleinknecht, 33°
February 14, 1924 – December 1, 2011

Annual Report to Our Membership 2011

As a service to its members, the Supreme Council is providing this report of its financial resources and stewardship for 2010. The resources outlined in this report are used to support a membership of 209,000, over an incredibly broad geographic area, including Orients across the southern and western United States, stretching westward through the Pacific [...]

Grand Commander’s Message: Our Evolving Legacy

I write on a gray rainy day in December. It’s early morning, and the sun is struggling against low clouds which portend a dreary day in Washington. However, the House of the Temple is quite busy at this early hour. We are preparing for the funeral service of Past Sovereign Grand Commander C. Fred Kleinknecht, [...]

In Memoriam: Christian Frederick Kleinknecht

By Dr. S. Brent Morris, 33°, Grand Cross Scottish Rite Journal IN DEO FIDUCIA NOSTRA FROM THE GRAND ORIENT OF HEREDOM AT WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 1, A.L. 6011 To all the Bodies and Brethren of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States: SORROW! SORROW! SORROW! DEAR BRETHREN: A great [...]

Bro. John Will Harris: An Adopted Son from Texas

By Luis A. Otero-Gonzalez This year, 2012, the Inter American University of Puerto Rico is celebrating its one-hundredth anniversary of service to the island of Puerto Rico. This centenary institution was the dream of John Will Harris an adopted son from Texas, a visionary who was an outstanding educator, a Presbyterian Minister, and a Freemason. [...]

2012 Scottish Rite Photo Contest

The Supreme Council, 33°, SJ, is having its third annual photo contest. We are looking for photos that feature Masonic people and activities from your hometown. Did you attend the reunion and get one of that brother in his costume? Or, how about backstage when Bro. Joe was sleeping on the job? The brethren at [...]

A National Treasure Preserved: Freemasonry and the Confederate War Records of Mississippi

Christopher M. Reid, 32° With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, the Confederate States of America struggled with implementing standardized administrative policies regarding its military forces. Although the Confederate Congress delegated administrative control to the War Department, it granted tactical command to the Confederate President. This dichotomy proved troublesome and led to [...]

Where Are They? A Brother-To-Brother Story

By Dean Alban, 33° and Stan Dodd, 33° Membership Services Many of you have shared your positive experiences about calling “lost” brothers in our Brother to Brother Program. It is one of the reasons we are so convinced that Brother to Brother can and will positively change the Scottish Rite. Reaching out to a brother [...]

Reenacting the Laying of the Cornerstone

Jeri E. Walker The Scottish Rite Journal Exactly one hundred years after the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia and the Supreme Council laid the cornerstone of the House of the Temple, we celebrate their monumental endeavor by reenacting that auspicious event. On October 18, 2011 the Supreme Council hosted a ceremony reenacting the [...]

Whither Are We Traveling? An Update on the Rebuilding the Temple Campaign

Matthew T. Szramoski, 33° Director of Development Exactly twelve months ago in the Scottish Rite Journal, Grand Commander Seal announced our efforts to restore the House of the Temple through the Rebuilding the Temple Campaign. He said that it was a time for action—for each of us as Scottish Rite Masons to step up and [...]

Current Interest: Korean Brothers Make First Payment of $10,000 Pledge to RTTC Campaign

The Valley of Seoul, Korea, has pledged $10,000 to the House of the Temple’s Rebuilding the Temple Campaign, making them the first valley outside of the continental U.S. to make a pledge! During the Biennial Session in Washington, D.C., this past August, Ill. William M. Alexander, 33°, Secretary of the Valley of Seoul, Korea, presented [...]

Current Interest: Alabama Lodges Destroyed by April 2011 Tornado Merge and Start Afresh

On April 27, 2011, a tornado ripped through Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and destroyed the lodge buildings of Rising Virtue Lodge No. 4 and Von Bayer Lodge No. 699. The members were not inclined to let a little “bad weather” get them down, so they set out a path to recovery. They continued their meetings in J. [...]

Current Interest: New Portrait of George Washington as a Mason

Parsons Masonic Lodge No. 222, Austin, Texas, celebrated its centennial year 2010–2011. Bro. Richard Everett Fox, 32°, painted an extraordinary portrait of Bro. George Washington and presented it to the lodge as part of the ceremonies. Gilbert Stuart would have smiled!Measuring 61ʹʹ × 38ʹʹ, oil on canvas, Bro. Fox’s painting depicts George Washington as our first Masonic [...]

Current Interest: The Life Masonic: A Master Craftsman Podcast

On August 21, 2011, the Supreme Council introduced The Life Masonic, a Master Craftsman podcast, and since then we have released four episodes that have been downloaded over 7,000 times. For those unfamiliar, a podcast is like a radio show but over the Internet. You can download episodes and listen to them off-line later, or [...]

Current Interest: West Virginia State Historical Society Supports Scottish Rite Temple Renovation

On Friday, July 22, 2011, in the Great Hall of the Science and Cultural Center on the Campus of the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston, the West Virginia State Historical Society presented a $68,000 check to Dr. Joseph W. Myers, 32°, of the Valley of Wheeling, W.V., for half of the installation of a [...]

Current Interest: Newport News Has 17 New Master Craftsmen Graduates!

The Valley of Newport News, Va., started a Master Craftsman class after the 2011 Spring Reunion. The class was facilitated by Bro. Patrick C. Murphrey, 32°, with the assistance of Master Craftsman Program graduates Bros. Bill Green, 32°, and Page Neale, 32°. The class met monthly until the program was completed. Certificates of completion and [...]

Current Interest: Fulton Lodge No. 216 Gives Books to Atlanta RiteCare® Clinic

A ring and capping ceremony for the fourteen members of the William M. Hutcheson, 33°, Class was held by the Scottish Rite, Valley of Atlanta, Georgia, on August 4, 2011. General Secretary Bill Milles, 33°, presented patents, Personal Representative MW Al Garner, 33°, introduced each candidate and his lady, and SGIG Leonard E. Buffington, 33°, [...]

Current Interest: American Military Scottish Rite Bodies Hold Reunion and Support Temple Campaign

The American Military Scottish Rite Bodies, Europe, held a reunion and honors ceremony on October 7–8, 2011 in Vicenza, Italy, hosted by Ill. Johnny Ledford, 33°, Pisa, Italy. Nine brothers received the rank and decoration of a Knight Commander of the Court of Honour, four were coroneted Inspectors General Honorary, one received his blue cap [...]

Notes from The Northern Light: January-February 2012

A Banner Project The Scottish Rite Masonic Museum and Library received a grant from the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services to support conservation treatment for fraternal banners in its collection. The IMLS grant is particularly important to the museum because of the nature of its Masonic and fraternal collections. Many of the objects [...]

Book Reviews: “He has Lived! The Fruits of His Labors Live After Him.”

James T. Tresner II, 33°, Grand Cross Book Review Editor Pike, Albert, Morals and Dogma, edited by Arturo de Hoyos (Washington: Supreme Council, 2011) hardbound, illustrated, annotated, new index, 1,116 pages, available in two bindings, traditional cloth for $75 or bonded leather with bound-in cloth markers, gilded edges, and decorative stamping for $135 (SRRS discount [...]

The Scottish Rite Journal (ISSN 1076-8572) is published bimonthly by the Supreme Council, 33°, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of the Southern Jurisdiction, United States of America, 1733 Sixteenth St., NW, Washington, DC 20009-3103.