In follow-up to last week’s chat about Lodge histories, and based upon the Rummer & Grapes conversation last evening:
When our Lodges create a memorial scroll for a Mason who has passed on, should we include a brief biography of the man to file away with the scroll in the Lodge archives? Should we include notes about any personal reflections about him that were shared in the Lodge?
Should our Lodges include brief reports about any interesting Lodge events along with our archived meeting minutes?
Should our Lodges make an effort to do brief video interviews with our members, perhaps a small number each year on an ongoing basis?
All of this for the benefit of that Mason of a future generation who might want to write the history of our Lodge. Right now, it seems, at least in the Lodges I am a member of, that we retain little information that would be helpful to future members who might want to know what it was that we did.
Are there other items that we should include in our Lodge archives but don’t?
Let’s chat about it…
Our earlier chat about Lodge history, can be found at:
“When our Lodges create a memorial scroll for a Mason who has passed on, should we include a brief biography of the man to file away with the scroll in the Lodge archives?” It certainly cannot hurt; in the future, a Brother might want to compile a history of the Lodge, and such information would be tremendously helpful. Chehalis Lodge did that for their 100th Anniversary in 1978, and it sounded like it was quite a challenge for the Brother who authored it.
“Should we include notes about any personal reflections about him that were shared in the Lodge?” That can be a tough call; I know of some quite prominent brothers from the past who, while making positive contributions to the Lodge, had personalities that were quite abrasive and surly. They were well-respected, but not well-liked. But then, perhaps that’s just part of who they are, and part of the history of their Lodge?
“Should our Lodges include brief reports about any interesting Lodge events along with our archived meeting minutes?” Yes! I can even remember my home Lodge adding event programs into their archives along with Lodge minutes.
“Should our Lodges make an effort to do brief video interviews with our members, perhaps a small number each year on an ongoing basis?” I think they should, if they have a member, or members, who have the know-how and the resources to get it done. I’m certainly glad our Grand Lodge had made efforts to do this with our Past Grand Masters lately. This will be a treasure trove of Masonic Knowledge for decades to come.
“All of this for the benefit of that Mason of a future generation who might want to write the history of our Lodge. Right now, it seems, at least in the Lodges I am a member of, that we retain little information that would be helpful to future members who might want to know what it was that we did.” I can tag this along with the Masonic Grave Markers that Centralia Lodge does every Memorial Day weekend. There are hundreds of headstones out in those cemeteries, and with the exception of one section that contains deceased Brothers that I knew when I joined, it’s only a rough guess as to the character of these Brothers of the past. We can do research and find out what occupation they had, or what positions they held in the Masonic Lodge, but other than that, we can only wonder what Freemasonry in our Lodge was like back in the day. The above ideas can help to immortalize Freemasonry from this point forward.
“When our Lodges create a memorial scroll for a Mason who has passed on, should we include a brief biography of the man to file away with the scroll in the Lodge archives?” It certainly cannot hurt; in the future, a Brother might want to compile a history of the Lodge, and such information would be tremendously helpful. Chehalis Lodge did that for their 100th Anniversary in 1978, and it sounded like it was quite a challenge for the Brother who authored it.
“Should we include notes about any personal reflections about him that were shared in the Lodge?” That can be a tough call; I know of some quite prominent brothers from the past who, while making positive contributions to the Lodge, had personalities that were quite abrasive and surly. They were well-respected, but not well-liked. But then, perhaps that’s just part of who they are, and part of the history of their Lodge?
“Should our Lodges include brief reports about any interesting Lodge events along with our archived meeting minutes?” Yes! I can even remember my home Lodge adding event programs into their archives along with Lodge minutes.
“Should our Lodges make an effort to do brief video interviews with our members, perhaps a small number each year on an ongoing basis?” I think they should, if they have a member, or members, who have the know-how and the resources to get it done. I’m certainly glad our Grand Lodge had made efforts to do this with our Past Grand Masters lately. This will be a treasure trove of Masonic Knowledge for decades to come.
“All of this for the benefit of that Mason of a future generation who might want to write the history of our Lodge. Right now, it seems, at least in the Lodges I am a member of, that we retain little information that would be helpful to future members who might want to know what it was that we did.” I can tag this along with the Masonic Grave Markers that Centralia Lodge does every Memorial Day weekend. There are hundreds of headstones out in those cemeteries, and with the exception of one section that contains deceased Brothers that I knew when I joined, it’s only a rough guess as to the character of these Brothers of the past. We can do research and find out what occupation they had, or what positions they held in the Masonic Lodge, but other than that, we can only wonder what Freemasonry in our Lodge was like back in the day. The above ideas can help to immortalize Freemasonry from this point forward.