President Harry S. Truman wrote this letter to the Scottish Rite Northern Masonic Jurisdiction’s Sovereign Grand Commander Melvin Maynard Johnson in 1948. It is now in the care of the Scottish Rite Masonic & Library’s archives. The text of the document reads:

August 3, 1948
I am grateful to you for forwarding with your letter of July thirteenth, copy of a document – CIVIL TRIBUNAL OF ROME – CITATION ACT.
I had been hopeful that we could arrive at an amicable adjustment regarding the Masonic property in Italy. I was, however, apprehensive after receiving Ambassador Dunn’s report, copy of which I forwarded to you.
The Citation Act, text of which you sent, particularly paragraph eight, page eighteen, is most informative. With legal complications going back more than twenty years when Mussolini ordered the dissolution of the Masonic Lodges and seized their property, I fear court action now pending will be a long drawn out process. However, I shall continue to do everything possible to bring about restoration. I know you will keep me informed of any developments which come to your attention.

Sincerely yours,
Harry Truman
Honorable Melvin M. Johnson,
1117 Statler Building,
Boston 16, Massachusetts.

As Commander Johnson noted in his 1950 Allocution, Freemasonry had “led a precarious existence” in Italy since its inception in the early eighteenth century. However, since the rise of the Fascist regime of Benito Mussolini starting in 1922, matters had only grown worse for Italy’s brethren. Throughout late 1923 and into early 1924, Fascist troops victimized Masonic lodges. Among the many losses were the temples of Lodge Giuseppe Mazzoni in Prato and Lodge Ferruccio in Pistoria, which were demolished, and the great Masonic library of Lodge Ernesto Nathan in Termoli, which was destroyed. Tensions in Italy during this period between its Freemasons and the government had risen to a boil, and the Masonic magazine The Builder reported in its September 1927 edition that a “nation-wide persecution was launched” against the supposed enemies of the state, Italy’s Freemasons and socialists.
These events and many others culminated in the passage of Mussolini’s anti-Masonic bill, Law No. 2029/1925, on May 19, 1925, which essentially banned the fraternity in Italy. Six months later, Fascist police occupied Palazzo Giustiniani, the grand sixteenth-century Renaissance building and seat of the Grand Orient of Italy in Rome. A few months later, on January 29, 1926, the ministry of public instruction declared the Grand Orient’s 1911 purchase agreement for the building null and void.
As President Truman noted in his letter to Johnson, the process to return Masonic property a “long drawn out process" after the war. The matter was finally settled in 1960 in an out of court settlement mediated by American ambassador James David Zellerbach. Starting that year, the Grand Orient of Italy regained use of a wing in the building. Twenty-five years later, in 1985, the organization moved to its current location, the Villa del Vascello on the Janiculan, a hill in western Rome.

John J. Coelho, Archivist, Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

John Andrew Frank, age 78 of Elkhart passed away on Sunday, February 27, 2022 at Elkhart General Hospital. John was born on September 30, 1943 to John E. and Margaret Frank in Elkhart, IN. John married Paula Close on August 22, 1987 in Grand Haven, MI.

John graduated from Elkhart High School class of 1961. He honorably served his country in the United States National Guard. He retired as an architect, a career he truly enjoyed. His favorite time was a new adventure building model trains and model train towns. Retirement did not slow John down, he worked at Kem Krest in Bristol with his sister Ann. He also enjoyed being part of the Kane Masonic Lodge #183 F&AM in Elkhart since 1995 where he was Worshipful Master in 2001 and he was currently on the Board of Trustees. He was a member of the Scottish Rite Valley of South Bend where he was crowned as a 33rd degree in 2013.

John is survived by his wife of 34 years, Paula Frank of Elkhart; children Jan (Chrystal) Frank of LaGrange, IN., Kristin (Bill) Boon of Athens, GA. and Kari (Brandon) Caudill of Tipton, IN; grandchildren Andrew (Lauren) Frank of MI., Brittany (Grant) Hunter, Nathan (Caitlin) Kantz, Tyler Boon, Conner Boon, Jarrod Boon, Kristian Caudill, Amanda (Ian) Nielsen; great-grandchildren  Sadie, Owen, Emma, Elijah, Gabriella, Gensen, Henry, Lyla, Jillian, Melanie, Riley and Mason; his sister Ann (Stephen) Fried of Goshen, IN., brother-in-law Martin Close of Elkhart. John was preceded in death by his parents; his son John Michael Frank.

Funeral services will be held at 6pm on Sunday, March 6, 2022 at Stemm-Lawson-Peterson Funeral Home, 1531 Cobblestone Blvd., Elkhart, IN 46514 where friends may visit from 4-6 pm Pastor Karen Koelsch from Trinity on Jackson Church will officiate. In lieu of flower memorial donations may be made to the Humane Society of Elkhart County, 54687 CR 19, Bristol, IN 46507 www.elkharthumanesociety.org Online condolences may be made to the Frank family at www.stemmlawsonpeterson.com

Check issued to Albert Hawkins, 1881 June 30. Gift of Caldwell Consistory, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, A74/002/043.

The G. Edward Elwell, Jr., Autograph Collection contains around one hundred documents collected by G. Edward Elwell, Jr., 33°, a member of Caldwell Consistory (Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania), a professional printer and Scottish Rite Mason. In 1898, the 12-year-old Elwell wrote a letter to Admiral George Dewey (1837–1917), a hero of the Spanish-American War. Dewey’s reply became the first signed document in Elwell's collection. The items in the collection span nearly 500 years of history (1489-1960), and each contains the signature of a well-known figure from American and European history.
One of the items that has always caught my eye is this check, dated June 30, 1881. President and Freemason James A. Garfield (1831-1881) signed this check, which was issued to Albert Hawkins, the White House's coachman, two days before the President was shot. The sixty-dollar check was Hawkins' monthly salary. After the death of President Garfield, his widow, Lucretia Garfield, gave the check to the historian Edward Everett Hale, who notes the history of the check on the reverse.
There is little doubt that Elwell collected this item because of its association with President Garfield, but today, we can see that it helps tell a more complete story, that of Albert Hawkins, a Black man who served as the White House's coachman under six U.S. presidents. The White House Historical Association, in writing about Hawkins, states that “Albert Hawkins was a coachman who began his service under Ulysses S. Grant. By the 1880s, he was among the most celebrated of Washington’s African American community…”
You can see a high-res image of this check at our Digital Collections website: https://digitalvgw.omeka.net/items/show/163

The Van Gorden-Williams Library & Archives is located in Lexington, Massachusetts, at the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library. 
Check issued to Albert Hawkins, 1881 June 30. Gift of Caldwell Consistory, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, A74/002/043.

By Jeffrey Croteau, Director of Library & Archives, Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

* (updated 9/7/21) 

The following policies are subject to periodic review and will remain in place until further notice. As has been the case, the CIVIC will continue to discuss our COVID plans and policies with the St. Joseph County Health Department, and we will incorporate any new guidelines as recommended.
In an effort to be fully transparent, we are announcing these updates to our COVID policy so that our CIVIC family is aware of the measures we are taking to keep them safe at our upcoming indoor performances.

Patrons:
All patrons are required to wear a mask. This includes patrons under 12. Patrons 12 and over must provide proof of vaccination at all indoor CIVIC productions.

* Patrons 12 and under will be required to mask.

*Vaccination exemptions will be considered for health concerns and/or religious convictions. If this is the case, unvaccinated patrons will be required to present a printed proof of a negative COVID test result. This test must have been performed in the 72 hours prior to the respective performance. Exempted patrons will still receive temperature checks and be required to mask at all times.

Original Source: https://sbct.org/sbct-vaccination-policy-updated-9-7-21/

THANK YOU, BACK TO REGISTRATION

The Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite holds a Supreme Council gathering every other year when the 33rd and last degree is exemplified to brethren who have been nominated and elected by unanimous consent to receive it.  Supreme Council was held in Cleveland, OH August 28-31, 2021. 

The recipients are pictured left to right:
Ill. G. Donald Laudeman, 33°
Ill. James Radeline, 33°
Ill. Geoffrey Slaughter, 33°
MWGM of Indiana, Ill. Daniel Martin, 33°
Ill. Francisco Fotia, 33°

*Ill. Eric Gutridge, 33° - deceased 

The Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library counts hundreds of photographic portraits of Freemasons in its collection. While the names of the subjects of many of these photographs are lost to time, in other cases we can uncover information about the men captured by long-ago photographers. Even brief biographies of these sitters offer a fascinating look at the Freemasons who—in big and small ways—helped shape the United States.
The subject of this photograph, Samuel Larison, is one example. Lured by the Gold Rush, he emigrated to California in 1853. A miner for a few years, Larison “met with more or less success” in the gold fields. Eventually he left prospecting and purchased land to farm near the town of Cloverdale in Sonoma County, California. There he became a pioneer winemaker, a cooper for the new wine industry in the county, and a charter member of the town’s Masonic lodge.
In the 1870s Samuel Larison (1821-1899) advertised multiple times in the local paper, bringing attention to his work with this declaration: “Wine-Growers, Attention! Cooperage of all kinds on hand and made to order….” A short article published in several California newspapers in 1874 detailed that Larison used 2,000 staves of white oak made from wood harvested in Lake County, adjacent to Sonoma County, to make wine-pipes. Each of these specialized wine barrels held 150 gallons--about 750 modern bottles of wine. Starting in 1868, Larison began cultivating wine grapes. Within fifteen years, he had planted 18 acres with Zinfandel, Burgundy, and other grape varieties. In the 1890s, a local newspaper writer observed, while visiting the Cloverdale Winery, that “a load of Burgundy grapes grown by Samuel Larison…were the best we ever saw.”
Larison had first become a Mason as a young man in Ohio. He was a member of Yuba Lodge No. 39 in Marysville from 1856 to 1857. Later he was one of the charter members of Curtis Lodge No. 140 in Cloverdale, founded soon after he settled in town. The lodge received its charter in 1860—the same year Larison served as the lodge’s Tyler. Decades later, an obituary-writer recalled Larison’s connection of over fifty years with the fraternity, describing him as “an ardent admirer of masonry….”
This photograph shows Larison wearing the regalia of a Royal Arch Mason sometime in the 1860s. His obituary stated that he was a “chapter mason,” likely meaning a member of a Royal Arch Chapter. When Larison first became a Royal Arch Mason or which chapter he belonged to is not known. Though many details about Larison’s Masonic career remain to be uncovered, this portrait of Larison in his apron suggests the pride he felt in his association with the group.
Many years after this photograph was taken, Larison continued to demonstrate his devotion to Freemasonry. In 1895 he was the oldest living member of the lodge and attended an installation of lodge officers. The local paper recorded that on this occasion, even though Larison did not travel into to town often, he did for this event as, “his fraternal love for Masonry was to[o] overpowering to resist this opportunity to meet again with his brothers.”
If you would like to see more photographic portraits from the 1800s and 1900s, please visit the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library’s website, srmml.org, where hundreds are available for viewing in our online collections database.
Many thanks to Thomas Krummell, Assistant Grand Secretary/Recorder, Grand York Rite of California, for his help in researching Samuel Larison's Masonic activities in California.

By Hilary Anderson Stelling, Director of Collections and Exhibitions
Scottish Rite Museum & Library, Lexington, Massachusetts

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