Today is International Nurses Day so let’s look back to when a key part of masonic history was caught on camera, as Her Majesty the Queen left hospital in 2013. The distinctive belt buckle worn by the nurse shows that she trained at what was the Royal Masonic Hospital in London. King George V and Queen Mary opened…
Category: Freemasonry
Famous Freemason: Brad Paisley
Country music star Brad Paisley is a proud Freemason. He’s a member of Franklin Lodge No. 7 in Tennessee, as well as a Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner. He’s used his star power to promote and support both the Shriners Hospitals for Children and the Masonic youth group DeMolay International.
The Gavel
In Freemasonry, the gavel is the tongue of the lodge and the emblem of authority of the Worshipful Master presiding in it. But did you know that the use of gavels in modern day legislatures and courts may have started with the Freemasons? Gavels were commonly used to rule Masonic Lodges, dating back to the…
Dr. Charles H. Mayo
The Mayo Clinic is one of the most famous hospitals in the United States. Did you know it has Masonic roots? The founder, Dr. Charles H. Mayo, was a Mason, as were his Brothers and his son. The clinic actually began in the Masonic Temple building in Rochester Minnesota and, for years, the Grand Lodge of Minnesota maintained a…
Freemasonry in Iran
The Grand Lodge of Iran, established in 1969 in Tehran, existed in the country prior to the Islamic Revolution of 1979. At its height, it counted 43 Lodges and at least 1,035 members. Since the Revolution, Freemasonry has been banned in Iran; a “Grand Lodge of Iran in Exile” was created to provide a home…
Texas counties named for Freemasons
Of the 254 counties in Texas, 102 are named for Freemasons. Among them are Stephen F. Austin, Robert Emmett, Bledsoe Baylor, James Bowie, David Crockett, George M. Dallas, Rev. John B. Denton, Jack Hayes, Sam Houston, Anson Jones, Mirabeau B. Lamar, James Madison, Pat Neff, James K. Polk, Sam Ross, Adolphus Sterne, Edward H. Tarrant,…
Famous Freemason Friday: William H. Taft
Shown here is an innocuous visitors slip from Masonic Lodge No. 43 in Lancaster, PA. But, look closer. You’ll see that it dates from the fall of 1917 and the signer is Bro. William Howard Taft. By the time that Taft visited Lodge 43, he had already served as President of the United States. At…
Famous Freemason Friday: Johnnie Walker
Here are some things you (probably) didn’t know Scotland’s best-selling whisky, with sales of 9-litre cases topping 18m last year, has a long and illustrious history. Synonymous with Scotch, the brand is known all around the world. Here are a few things you might not know about Johnnie Walker Whisky. 1) John [Johnnie] Walker began…
Lodge Alley
Lodge Alley was a street in Philadelphia that ran from the west block of 2nd Street, between Chestnut and Walnut Streets, connecting to Smith’s Alley. As you might have guessed, Lodge Alley was so named because the first Masonic Lodge building in Philadelphia stood at the corner of 2nd St. and Lodge Alley. Today, this…
Brother Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr.
Today in Masonic History Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. passed away in 1932. Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. was an American Broadway producer.Ziegfeld was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 21st, 1867. He began his career in entertainment when his father, who ran the Chicago Musical College, opened a nightclub. The nightclub was less than successful despite Ziegfeld’s father’s…