Masonic Pageantry

The Inspiration for Scottish Rite Costumes, 1867–1920

Authors

  • Aimee E. Newell Luzerne County Historical Society, Wilkes-Barre

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jrff.36815

Keywords:

Scottish Rite, United States of America, costumes, pageantry

Abstract

Between 1913 and 1920, the Supreme Council of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite contracted to have 119 costumes designed for their rituals. The Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library has a complete set of these illustrations, which include notes about their design sources. This article provides an overview of the costumes and their sources, along with some biographical information on their designers. The designs are influenced by sources from inside and outside the fraternity and serve as an example of how the fraternity did not operate in a vacuum despite its secrecy.

Author Biography

  • Aimee E. Newell, Luzerne County Historical Society, Wilkes-Barre

    Aimee E. Newell is the Executive Director at the Luzerne County Historical Society in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

References

Membership Archives, Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, Boston, MA

Proceedings of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the Year 1926 (Boston: Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, 1927).

Proceedings of the Supreme Council…of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction (Boston: Supreme Council, 1913).

Proceedings of the Supreme Council…of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction 1914 (Boston: Supreme Council, 1914).

Proceedings of the Supreme Council…of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction 1915 (Boston: Supreme Council, 1915).

Proceedings of the Supreme Council…of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction 1916 (Boston: Supreme Council, 1916).

Proceedings of the Supreme Council…of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction 1918 (Boston: Supreme Council, 1918).

Proceedings of the Supreme Council…of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction 1919 (Boston: Supreme Council, 1919).

Proceedings of the Supreme Council…of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction 1920 (Boston: Supreme Council, 1920).

Proceedings of the Supreme Council…of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction 1926 (Boston: Supreme Council, 1926).



Belloc, Hilaire. The Book of the Bayeux Tapestry. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1914.

Brockman, C. Lance. ‘Catalyst for Change: Intersection of the Theater and the Scottish Rite’, Heredom 3 (1994): 121–46.

Burgess, Richard B., Jeffrey Croteau, Alan E. Foulds, Aimee E. Newell, Jerry A. Roach Jr., and Catherine C. Swanson. A Sublime Brotherhood: Two Hundred Years of Scottish Rite Freemasonry in the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction. Lexington, MA: Supreme Council, 2013.

Glassberg, David. American Historical Pageantry: The Uses of Tradition in the Early 20th Century. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1990.

Mackey, Albert G. An Encyclopedia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences. Phila­delphia, PA: L.H. Everts & Co., 1886.

Newcomb, Warren A. Constructive Figure Drawing: A Constructive Course in Poster and Costume Designing. n.p. 1916.

Partridge Jr., E. Irving. The Rituals of the Supreme Council, 33°, for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, USA. Lexington, MA: Supreme Council, 1976.

Trexler, C. DeForrest. The Degree Rituals of the Supreme Council, 33°, AASR for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, United States of America. Lexington, MA: Supreme Council, 2008.

Published

2018-07-03

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Newell, A. E. (2018). Masonic Pageantry: The Inspiration for Scottish Rite Costumes, 1867–1920. Journal for Research into Freemasonry and Fraternalism, 6(2), 266-278. https://doi.org/10.1558/jrff.36815