While tonight is always a special night for the Officers of the Valley of South Bend, this year it also marks the auspicious occasion of the 100-year anniversary of the Cornerstone laying of this very building. A century having passed within these walls, we gather tonight with the additional reverie of this magnificent milestone. I would like you to take a moment with me and imagine yourself in May of 1924. A gallon of milk was .28 cents. The average house was about $2500. On February 22, President Coolidge “delivered the second radio address by a U.S. president from the White House.” For fun, there were baseball cards, jigsaw puzzles, and roller skating. There were poker games, ping-pong, and pedal cars. Baseball was the national pastime, and many Americans went to baseball games, followed baseball, and played baseball. People also listened to music, read books, danced the Charleston, played the banjo, went to the movies, and even took a “Sunday drive” in their Model T Ford. It is a world that for us is often imagined in Black and white. In color it must have been a sight to behold.
On May 22nd, 1924, there was a buzz of excitement in South Bend, Indiana. It was a brisk 51 degrees outside. At this location, men and women gathered for the ceremonies of laying the cornerstone of the New Masonic Temple, and it was no small affair. The ceremonies were presided over by the 33rd Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Indiana, Dr. Charles A. Lippincott, and were witnessed by many Masons representing every Masonic Organization within a radius of 50 miles of South Bend. The ceremonies were opened with music from the Studebaker Band, and a massive floral piece was received and displayed from the Knights of Columbus, South Bend Council No. 533, as a tribute to the Masonic Lodges.
The program opened at 12:30 in the afternoon with the opening of Grand Lodge. While the opening was being performed, the various Lodges and Commanderies of Knights Templar assembled at designated points for the Parade that followed at 1:00pm. The parade moved south along Michigan Street from the Masonic Lodge on La Salle Avenue to Monroe Street, west on Monroe to Main Street, north on Main Street to the new Masonic Temple where the procession halted in “Open Order” to allow the Grand Lodge officials to pass through to the Cornerstone. The order of the procession included: A platoon of mounted police, the High School Band, Officers of the St. Joe Valley Temple Association, Grand Commandery Officers, Commanderies of South Bend, La Porte, Niles, Plymouth, Michigan City, Elkhart, Goshen and Mishawaka, The Grotto Drum Corps, 13 Masonic Lodges, the Studebaker Band and the officers of the Grand Lodge.
The cornerstone was laid in due and ancient form, while a choir of 30 voices furnished glorious music as a backdrop. Immediately after the Stone was set, Thomas R. Marshall, 33rd Degree and former Vice-President of the United States of America delivered a powerful Oration. The event closed with a Prayer from Right Reverend John Hazen White, 33rd Degree and Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana, and namesake of our Chapter of Rose Croix. After the ceremonies were finished, the parade reformed and marched back to the Masonic Temple, while the Knights Templar formed a huge cross as the band played Onward Christian Soldier.
What an incredible sight it must have been, and to garner the support and participation of the Studebaker Band, Mounted Police, the Grand Commandery, 8 local Commanderies, 13 Lodges and a Vice-President of the United States of America.
The building in an impressive edifice, and with all of its furnishings cost approx. $800,000.00 to complete. It has 160 feet of Frontage at that time on Main Street, and is 72 feet high, consisting of a basement or ground floor, a first and second floor, each with a mezzanine floor making it 5 stories high in all, and had 3 massive pipe organs. The building was finished in 1925, and it was the completion of this structure that allowed the South Bend Lodge of Perfection to be formed, thus finally bringing the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite to South Bend. There had been a desire for several years to bring the Scottish Rite to the City, but plans were thwarted by the lack of appropriate space to confer the ineffable degrees. This is a story for another day, not far on the horizon! The South Bend Tribune documented all of this, and when the Lodge was dedicated in 1926, a special “New Masonic Temple Edition” was published, with the new Temple prominently taking up the entire front page.
A powerful representation of the state of Freemasonry in 1924. And while the pomp and circumstance of the event of laying the cornerstone is cause for celebration 100 years later, there is much more to celebrate this evening. A century of Scottish Rite Freemasonry within these walls. It means so much more that the stones we set, though impressive they are. These stones, and their builders, made possible the real cause for celebration. That for 100 years, the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite has instilled into Tens of Thousands of men, our core values of Reverence for God, Devotion to Country, Integrity, Justice, Tolerance, and Service to Humanity. What incredible things have been accomplished over 100 years, by men inspired by these ancient rites, and timeless lessons. What hearts have been changed and what good has been worked in our communities, our workplaces, our families, our churches, and our governments by the values reinforced in the Brethren of the Scottish Rite. We do not celebrate just a building today, but a Century of good effects upon our fellow men. We ought to marvel at where we have come as a result, or shudder at where we might have been without it. On this occasion we celebrate you as well, for your labors today will mark the beginning of the next 100 years. How many men will benefit from what the Scottish Rite has to offer, how hard will we work to ensure that our light still shines in the world around us.
So please, take a moment and let us reflect upon a century passed, and a century stretched out before us. Let us applaud the boundless good that has been sewn by our great Craft, and join me in a celebrating the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite!
Thank you!
John A. Bridegroom, 32°
Most Wise Master
John Hazen White Chapter of Rose Croix
