6 minute read
Growing Together
The Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library opened on April 20th, 1975, five years after the first issue of The Northern Light was published. Since its opening, the Museum & Library has contributed dozens of articles about collections, exhibitions, and events to the magazine. As The Northern Light celebrates its 50th anniversary, we take a look back at a few of the extraordinary objects highlighted in the publication over the years.
Foxy Grandpa January 1980
A January 1980 issue featured a printed cloth “Foxy Grandpa” doll from the collection in an article titled “Was Foxy Grandpa a Mason?” The Art Fabric Mills Company of New York manufactured the doll, associated with a comic strip of the same name, in the early 1900s. On some models of the doll, originally sold in printed sateen sheets to be cut out, sewn, and stuffed by the buyer, Grandpa wears a Masonic fob attached to his vest. Though he was never touted as a Mason in the comic strip, this model of the doll did and still does beg the question: was Foxy Grandpa a Mason? The doll was included in the 1980 SRMML exhibition “American-made Dolls, 1850-1979,” which featured over 100 dolls, doll furniture, and memorabilia lent by the Massachusetts doll club, the Yankee Doodle Dollers.
“Foxy Grandpa” Masonic Doll, 1903-1912. Art Fabric Mills Company, New York. Museum Purchase, 77.36.
Masonic Trench Art Lamp February 2014
A trench art lamp, featured in a February 2014 issue, was made from a shell “probably a naval artillery shell” and converted to an attractive lamp intended for use in a Masonic lodge. A brass plaque on the base of the lamp explains that Robert T. Woolsey (1893- 1944) presented the lamp to his lodge, Union Lodge No. 31, in New London, Connecticut, on December 25, 1922. Woolsey, born in Appleton, Missouri, in 1893, enlisted in the Navy in June 1917. After the war, he moved to Connecticut and joined Union Lodge No. 31, in March 1922. During and
Trench Lamp with Masonic Symbols, 1922. France or United States. Museum Purchase, 2000.059.8. Photograph by David Bohl.
by Ymelda Rivera Laxton, Assistant Curator, Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library From Masonic Dolls to Masonic Lamps: Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library Collections in The Northern Light
after World War I, soldiers and civilians made or bought decorated shell cartridges as souvenirs. Sometimes they were made into household items. Union Lodge No. 31 used this particular lamp to let brothers know which degree the lodge was working.
All-Star Masonic Baseball Game May 2018
This 1935 photograph, titled, “AllStar Masonic Baseball Game,” commemorates a game played in Trenton, New Jersey, between National League and American League players. The photograph, one of the most popular objects in the collection, was featured in a May 2018 issue. The Tall Cedars of Lebanon, Trenton Forest No. 4, sponsored the game, played on October 13, 1935, at Wetzel Field. The National League beat the American League 7-6. The game was part of a fundraising event that included a banquet and entertainment at Crescent Temple and benefited the Masonic Tall Cedar Hospital Endowment Fund. The photograph features several Baseball Hall of Fame members, including Arthur “Dazzy” Vance and James “The Beast” Foxx, wearing their respective fraternal headgear. The wife of New York Yankees third baseman Robert “Red” Rolfe gave a copy of this photograph to nephew Don Randall. Randall later donated the photograph to the Museum & Library in 1990.
Armchair February 2015
This armchair, made in England or France between 1780 and 1800, is in the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts’ collection on loan to the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library. It was featured in a February 2015 issue and in the Museum exhibition, “‘Every Variety of Paintings for Lodges’: Decorated Furniture, Paintings and Ritual Objects from the Collection.” The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts purchased this elegant armchair for its collection in 1938 from a “non-Masonic source.”
All-Star Masonic Baseball Game, 1935. Moyer, Trenton, New Jersey. Gift of Donald Randall, 90.42.
With the striking arrangement of Masonic symbols on the back, it is possible that it may have been used as a Master’s chair in Europe or America at some point. The painting on the back of the chair bears similarities in content and style to tracing boards from the 1700s and 1800s.
Armchair, 1780-1800. England or France. Loaned by the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, GL2004.0793. Photograph by David Bohl.
To see a gallery of museum objects featured in The Northern Light publication visit https:// www.flickr.com/photos/digitalsrmml/albums. If you have any questions or comments or are interested in donating objects to the collection, please email Ymelda Rivera Laxton, Assistant Curator, at YLaxton@srmml.org or call 781-457-4123.
John Glenn Scottish Rite 33° Ring 1998
While never before included in The Northern Light, this gold ring, a nod to this very special Golden Anniversary, has proven to be one of the most popular objects in our collection, and for good reason. This 33° degree ring, owned by astronaut and Freemason John Glenn (1921-2016) made a trip into space! The first American to orbit the earth, in 1962, Glenn circled the planet three times in the Mercury capsule Friendship 7. Glenn later represented Ohio in the United States Senate for 25 years. The Grand Master of Ohio made John Glenn a Mason at sight in 1978. In 1998, soon after Glenn received the Scottish Rite’s 33rd degree, he wore this ring when he returned to space in the shuttle Discovery. On the journey, he became the oldest American to participate in a NASA mission.
These objects are just a snapshot of our collection. The Museum is grateful to the many readers of The Northern Light who, inspired by articles about the Museum’s collection and exhibitions, have donated objects and photographs. We are also appreciative of all who have offered their insights about objects in
fun fact:
MOST FEATURED OBJECT 1847 portrait of George Washington by Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860). Donated to the Museum in 1975 by John Bartholomew Webster. Featured in 1975, 2005, and 2010 issues.
the collection over the years. We thank the readers of The Northern Light for making our collection better and look forward to the future. To find out more about the items featured here and about our collection, visit our website at www.srmml.org/collections.
George Washington, 1846. Rembrandt Peale, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Gift of John Bartholomew Webster, 75.6.
Masonic Scottish Rite 33° Ring, 1998. Irons and Russell Co., New York. Gift of John H. Glenn Jr. in memory and honor of Vern Riffe, a good friend, 33° Mason, and the longest serving Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives in history, 2000.018a. Photograph by David Bohl.
