PRESERVING OUR HERITAGE
By: Ralph B. Duncan
Bro. Duncan wrote the May, 1996 STB
entitled "Masonic Postcards. " At the same
time this 11-96 STB "Preserving Our
Heritage " was also submitted for consideration. The article was accepted, but, most
unexpectedly, Bro. Duncan passed away, so
this STB is being published posthumously.
Editor
The American Heritage Dictionary
defines the term "heritage" as "property
that is or can be inherited; and something
other than property passed down from preceeding generations; legacy; tradition."
There are several aspects of the Craft
which should be preserved but too often
our brethren are too close to the facts and
feel little need to preserve them. Much is
not recorded and left uncommunicated to
those to whom it is most relevant.
Seemingly inconsequential things in our
past or present become wonderful historic
finds when viewed in retrospect.
RITUAL All of us, either as a candidate or officer of our Lodge have been
involved with the ritual of our organization.
We should be concerned with the proper
words and their delivery; the understanding
of their meaning, which may differ from
current usage; and the striving to present
the work in the perfect manner which is the
ultimate desire of any ritualist. By continuing to aim in this direction, we preserve one
aspect of our heritage.
PROTOCOL Our forms of ceremony
and etiquette have set the Craft apart from
other organizations for generations. It is
one aspect of our fraternity which makes
the Craft "user-friendly." Although some of
our forms and ceremonies may differ from
one jurisdiction to another, we always feel
at home in a Lodge and know that with little effort we are able to adjust to the situation and be comfortable in our
surroundings. The officers are the same; the
structure of our business meetings are similar; the rules of authority are easily recognized and followed; we truly are a
"Brother." These aspects of the Craft have
been and should be preserved to continue to
make us one.
LODGE HISTORIES Most of what
we consider a Lodge's history is what has
been recorded by secretaries through the
years. Perhaps the Lodge in the past has
been fortunate enough to have published a
monograph or book containing its history.
If so, copies of these books should be in the
archives of the Lodge. Information about
your Lodge may also be found in the Grand
Lodge Proceedings. Some Grand Lodge
libraries keep a vertical file of material for
each Lodge, which has been donated to
them through the years. If such is the case
in your jurisdiction, remember that someone has to see that such material gets to the
Grand Lodge library. It doesn't happen
automatically; we must plan to see that it is
accomplished.
SECRETARY'S RECORDS It is often
debated whether the secretary should do his
work at the Lodge or at his home. There are
many arguments for either way. Surely a
Lodge is just as apt to be subject to fire or
disaster as the secretary's home and a loss
of material could occur in either situation.
The "horror" stories have occurred when a
deceased secretary's family disposed of
Lodge records upon his death, considering
them not to be of any importance. More
often than not the loss of some records is
due to the failure of the Lodge to retrieve
all of its records following the death of the
secretary for not wanting to disturb the
widow. Some lodges have deposited their
records in commercial bank vaults for safekeeping. Although it may have been "common knowledge" to those at the time where
the material was deposited, through the
years banks merge, lodges consolidate
and/or move out of the community and
such information becomes easily lost. YoU
are not in doubt if you wrote it out!
ARCHIVIST Each Lodge should
appoint a Lodge historian and/or archivist
who should keep track of all of the items
which the Lodge has in its possession. He
should create an inventory of such material
and check it on a regular basis. This report
should be made in writing to the Lodge and
become part of its records. Detailed intormation such as who donated the item;
where it was purchased; or who created the
material should be part of the record. A
Lodge in my area which was merging with
another decided to dispose of some of its
furniture which was no longer desired.
They discovered that had they been able to
identify the manufacturer of the goods, the
price which the dealer was willing to pay
might have been double what they actually
obtained.
PHOTOGRAPHS Each Lodge should
have an appointed photographer to record
events in the Lodge's history. Not only do
pictures better describe the events of a
Master's term of office, but they can illustrate social events which are not usually
described in detail in the Lodge records. A
photographic collection of Past Masters of
the Lodge is something which could be
started if your Lodge does not currently
have one. At least you are able to obtain
photographs of the living Past Masters
before they have passed from our midst.
Members of note in the community or
some other Masonic body might also be
taken for the archives. But, remember,
whatever the photograph is, be sure that it
is identified on the reverse in pencil. I'm
sure that each of us has a collection of family photographs which contains many
"unknown relatives" whom we wish we
could identify.
VERTICAL FILE As a Lodge you
may want to start a file which could contain
material about each Past Master; events
during his term in office; data about the
jewels presented to Past Masters and who
might have worn them previously. Written
reports, by topics, should be filed so that
future appointed committees do not have to
re-invent the wheel but have information to
refer to, rather than try to remember what
was said in an oral report to the Lodge.
MEMORABILIA Items of a Masonic
nature which are displayed by Lodges in a
case are more likely to attract additional
donations than material which is stored in
some closet, safe or attic. Artifacts can at
times provide information which is not
found in the Lodge record. My own Lodge
records are silent as to whether the members participated in an organized way in
the 200th Anniversary parade of the town.
The only way we know of their involvement is a silk badge with the name of the
lodge and the anniversary date of the town
worn by marching members and a photographic postcard which shows the lodge
glee club on a float in the parade. Both of
these items were donated by non-members
of the Lodge when they became aware that
we were looking for Lodge memorabilia.
The number of items which could be
placed upon display is limitless. Your
lodge might collect items pertaining to
your own organization or they might
include Masonic items of general interest.
EPHEMORA Printed matter of current or passing interest is often the first
item to disappear and is the most shortlived of Masonic collectibiles. Programs
and tickets tend not to be saved as we feel
that they are so prevalent our own copy is
unimportant. As most of the brethren are of
the same thinking, little of this material has
survived the years. Lodge notices or
trestleboards are an excellent source of
facts and should be retained. Have you any
idea what the dues card for your lodge
looked like forty years ago? Do we think of
keeping samples of such items? With the
lessening of the number of brothers who
are smoking, imprinted match book covers
have become a rarity. Committees should
include a copy of all of the printed material which pertains to an event with the written report filed in the Lodge to assure:
such items are preserved.
The task of preserving our heritage:
not solely with a Lodge secretary or
Historian/Archivist, but each of us may
contribute to such an effort by donating
items which we may own or by taking a
more active role on committees to preserve
items for the future. Many who are interested in history are more concerned with,
"what they did" or "who they were" than
with what we are doing in the present.
Rarely do we think our contributions or
activities are of historical importance.
We owe it to our Brethren, past and
future, to preserve what wse have been
given and not allow our future inheritance
to be destroyed.
We should all take an active part in
Preserving Our Heritage so that future
members of the Craft may proudly say,
"Come, see what our fathers have left for
us."
Free JavaScripts provided
by The JavaScript Source