American Freemasons: Three Centuries of Building Communities

American Freemasons: Three Centuries of Building Communities

by Mark A. Tabbert
American Freemasons: Three Centuries of Building Communities

American Freemasons: Three Centuries of Building Communities

by Mark A. Tabbert

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Overview

An overview of the mysterious history of the Freemasons and their presence in American society

With over four million members worldwide, and two million in the U.S., Freemasonry is the largest fraternal organization in the world. Published in conjunction with the National Heritage Museum, this extravagantly illustrated volume offers an overview of Freemasonry’s origins in seventeenth-century Scotland and England before exploring its evolving role in American history, from the Revolution through the labor and civil rights movements, and into the twenty-first century. American Freemasons explores some of the causes for the rise and fall of membership in the fraternity and why it has attracted men in such large numbers for centuries.

American Freemasons is the perfect introduction to understanding a society that, while shrouded in mystery, has played an integral role in the lives and communities of millions of Americans.

Copublished with the National Heritage Museum.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780814783023
Publisher: New York University Press
Publication date: 10/01/2006
Pages: 262
Sales rank: 928,354
Product dimensions: 8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Mark A. Tabbert is Director of Collections at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia and the former Curator of Masonic and Fraternal Collections at the National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Massachusetts. His work has appeared in The Northern Light, Heredom, and American Studies.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
Chart of American Freemasonry
Introduction
Chapter 1 Enlightenment
Freemasonry in Britain and Europe, 1600–1800
Chapter 2 Peaceable Citizens
Freemasonry in Colonial and Revolutionary America, 1730–1800
Chapter 3 Act Honorably
Freemasonry and Federalist America, 1800–1835
Part Two Building Freemasonry and American Community,1835–1920
Chapter 4 The Foundation of Every Virtue Masonic Self-Improvement, 1835–1870
Chapter 5 Safely Lodged
Secret Rituals and Freemasonry, 1870–1900
Chapter 6 Relieve the Distressed
Mutual Benefit in the Industrial Age, 1870–1900
Chapter 7 From Labor to Refreshment
Fraternal Fun, 1880–1910
Chapter 8 Powers and Properties of Magnitudes
Tensions in the Lodge, 1900–1920
Part Three Adorning American Communities, 1920–2000
Chapter 9 Plain Dealing
The Rotarian Age and Freemasonry’s New Personality, 1920–1941
Chapter 10 One Family
The Masonic Good Life, 1942–1965
Chapter 11 They are All Exhausted
Freemasons’ Service for New Communities, 1966–2000
Notes
Suggested Reading
Index
Photography Credits
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