stb-1993-02
GEORGE WASHINGTON MASONIC
NATIONAL MEMORIAL
Proud Memorial or Forgotten Legacy?
By Donald M. Robey, P.G.M.
The important question being asked in
this Short Bulletin is "Proud Memorial or
Forgotten Legacy?"
Faced with increasing costs and
decreasing income the George
Washington Masonic National Memorial
is now in serious trouble.
This STB was prepared with the intent
of telling the story of the Memorial's
plight so that Masons everywhere may
know exactly what the situation is!
There is a short history of the Memorial
and than a discussion of its financial
situation. While a solution is
suggested,the Memorial would welcome
any other suggestions as to how to
overcome this most serious problem!
MSA thanks Don Robey, PGM of
Virginia and a member of Alexander-
Washington Lodge # 22 for preparing this
Short Talk Bulletin.
-Editor
Just ten years after we entered the
Twentieth Century the Grand Lodges of
the United States united in a great
National Masonic undertaking. They
formed an Association to erect a
Memorial to our most distinguished
Mason Brother George Washington.
The period between 1910 and 1922 was
utilized to have the building designed and
to get the fund raising operation
underway to finance the construction of
this massive undertaking. We must
remember that during this time in our
history the world was in a turmoil of
controversy which resulted in World War
One. On June 5, 1922 a small party of
Masons and friends climbed to the top of
Shooters Hill, on the West side of
Alexandria, Virginia and after a short but
formal ceremony, Col. Louis A. Watres,
Past Grand Master of Pennsylvania and
President of the Association and Charles
H. Callahan, who became known locally
as the founder of the Memorial, officially
broke ground.
The Cornerstone ceremony for the
Memorial was held on November 1, 1923.
Among the honored guests present for the
ceremony were President and Mrs.
Coolidge, Chief Justice Taft, Gov Trinkle
of Virginia, almost all of the Grand
Masters and many Past Grand Masters of
the 48 states and many members of
Congress and government officials. The
list was indeed endless!
The trowel used by George Washington
when he laid the cornerstone of the
United States Capitol in 1793 was
permitted to be taken from the archives
of Alexandria-Washington Lodge and
used at this cornerstone laying ceremony.
President Coolidge spread the first
cement and each of the Grand Masters
present advanced, one by one, and placed
a small dab of cement on the resting
place of the stone.
Construction continued during the
1920's and the outer facade of the
building was completed in early 1932.
1932 was also the Bicentennial
Anniversary of the birth of George
Washington. Although the interior of the
Memorial was far from complete, the
Association decided to hold a Dedication
Ceremony on May 12, 1932 to coincide
with the Bicentennial celebration which
was being observed throughout the
country. All of the Grand Masters from
the Forty-Eight Grand Jurisdictions in the
United States were present for the
Dedication Ceremony. It was indeed a
proud day for all Freemasons to so great
an American as George Washington.
Housed within this magnificent edifice is
a Replica Lodge Room with the actual
furnishings used by Washington while
Master of his Lodge. Through the
generosity of the two late Misses Patty
and Anne Washington, and Alexandria-
Washington Lodge No. 22, the
Association has the deed to Mount
Vernon, the Washington family Bible
(with the record of the births, baptisms,
marriages and deaths), a portion of the
library from Mount Vernon, many
priceless oil paintings of historic
significance, Washington's Lifeguard Flag
and two original battle flags of Virginia
Regiments of the Revolutionary War.
The Washington Museum on the fourth
floor was sponsored by the two Scottish
Rite Jurisdictions as a joint effort. The
Library on the sixth floor was furnished by
the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and
contains well over six thousand volumes
on Freemasonry. The A. Douglas Smith
Lodge of Research, which meets in the
Memorial, has volunteered to sort and
catalogue the Library collection with the
intent of making the Library available, in
the near future, to Masonic scholars who
wish to do research at the Memorial.
Any Freemason who visits this beautiful
Memorial cannot help but swell with pride
in the fact that this building was
constructed entirely with voluntary
contributions from members of the
Masonic Fraternity. The Memorial
Association is the only unified effort of all
of the Grand Lodges in the United States.
The construction of this beautiful, awe-
inspiring Memorial was the single most
important 2Oth century endeavor by the
entire Masonic fraternity. Each Grand
Lodge is a sovereign body in its own
territorial jurisdiction but the love and
reverence for George Washington by the
Masons in this country is amply demon-
strated by the collective effort of all of the
jurisdictions to keep this Memorial to
Washington the Mason a living reality.
All this is history. Today the Association
has a major problem: To establish this
Memorial on a sound economic basis. We
have an Endowment Fund of something
under $7,000,000; but:
(1) Annual cost of operating this Memorial
is about $700,000
(2) Annual income from the Endowment
Fund is about $36,000.
(3) Annual contributions from Grand
Lodges is about $140,000
(4) Annual contributions from Appendant
Bodies is about $70,000
(5) Annual income from use of the
building is about $15,00
The Executive Committee of the
Association has been struggling for several
years to work within the income provided
and yet maintain this Memorial in a
manner befitting the memory of our
greatest American Freemason, Brother
George Washington.
All but eight of the fifty-one Grand
Jurisdictions, which are members of the
Association, have adopted a $5.00 per
new initiate contribution to support the
maintenance and operation of the
Memorial With the decline in the
number of new initiates into our Lodges
in every Grand Jurisdiction, the Memorial
is faced with steadily declining income to
support the operation and maintenance of
the building.
Many members of the Grand Lodges in
this country see an entry in the annual
budget of their Grand Lodge indicating an
amount for support of the George
Washington Masonic National Memorial.
Many think this is money from the per-
capita tax, paid to the Grand Lodge from
each member's dues to their subordinate
Lodge, but this is not the case. A few
Grand Lodges already have the necessary
legislation in progress but no Grand
Jurisdiction has a fixed per-capita tax to
support the Memorial.
The 1992 edition of the "List of Lodges
Masonic" indicates that there are
2,500,000 members in the fifty-one Grand
Jurisdictions in the United States. Just
five years ago in 1987 this same
publication reported that there
were 2,750,000 members. This represents
an average loss of nearly 1,000 members
per year in each Grand Jurisdiction during
this span of five years. The number of
new initiates in each Jurisdiction is
following a similar trend.
If each Grand Jurisdiction had just a
$0.15 per-capita tax pledged to support
the operation of the Memorial this would
be more than double the amount now
received from the $5.00 per new initiate
plan utilized in most Grand Jurisdictions.
Many Grand Jurisdictions have a State
Chairman to represent the Memorial in
their respective jurisdiction. Each State
Chairman has brochures on the
Memorial available for distribution to
Lodges, and each State Chairman has a
set of color slides which can be brought to
individual Lodges for a program about the
Memorial. Unfortunately few Lodges take
advantage of this resource for a program
about the Memorial. A concentrated
effort is being undertaken to improve
awareness about the program and to
make more Lodges aware of the
Memorial.
It should never be forgotten that this
Memorial is a project of all of the Grand
Lodges of the United States. It is now
over 80 years since the Sovereign Grand
Jurisdiction in this country united in this
great enterprise to honor the memory of
our greatest american and most well
known freemason, George Washington.
We have created a proud Memorial to
a great man. I fear that as we face
uncertain economic times in this Country
and in our Grand Lodges, we tend to
forget the sacrifices our forefathers made
in getting this Memorial erected and
dedicated. The greatest task we face today
is to keep alive those dreams our
predecessors had for this fraternity that
we all love, and want to see continued for
years to come. This Memorial stands for
more than the memory of George
Washington. It also stands for the hard
work and contributions of millions of
people who believe Freemasonry has a
continuously important place in our nation
and society!
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