Here in Washington we have two Research Lodges, one on each side of the State. I think that most US Jurisdictions have at least one.
Freemasonry
I know that our Research Lodge in Seattle used to publish papers, making them available to the wider craft, but I haven’t seen a new one for a long time. I’m not sure if the Research Lodge in Spokane used to publish or not, I haven’t seen anything.
I am a member of the Scottish Rite Research Society, and they do publish. A quarterly newsletter that always contains a paper, and the larger collection of papers published once per year. I always look forward to receiving that, and have learned a great deal from it.
In the past, publishing was an extremely costly endeavor. Printing books is certainly not cheap.
But today, it can be very low cost. Platforms like write.as offer great publishing abilities at an extremely low cost. Platforms like blogger, while seemingly outdated still work very well and are without cost.
In Washington at least (unless this changes at a future Annual Communication) our Research Lodges are privileged in that their membership is not subject to the Grand Lodge’s per capita fees. I presume this was done in the past because it was felt that by doing research and publishing findings they were providing value to the craft as a whole.
I’m wondering, and I’d like to discuss:
Where Research Lodges exist, do they have a duty to publish?
And a second question:
Given the technology of today, how can they best publish easily and cheaply, yet reach the maximum number of Freemasons?
Apr 1, 2023·edited Apr 1, 2023Liked by Cameron M. Bailey
Outside of Masonry, "publish or perish" environments exist, colleges, laboratories, etc, and while these entities produce a lot of good work, the pressure to publish can result in publishing rubbish. So, I would tend to encourage, not require. What I think is fair is for our research Lodges, in exchange for exemption from the per capita, provide presentations and programs based on their existing research. Not necessarily in person, or live, but programs that could be presented in local Lodges and I think an annual at Grand Lodge presentation would also be fair. Maybe we could have a 'research lunch' and the best research of the year could be presented?
Apr 1, 2023·edited Apr 1, 2023Liked by Cameron M. Bailey
The research lodge here in Western Washington is a good one and they have a strong list of papers that are published. Unfortunately, you cannot access them online. There is no direction on how to acquire or read these items, which makes them basically useless. What good are these if they are not readily available?
I just returned home from my second research lodge meeting in five days. It was The American Lodge of Research on Tuesday night, and New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 today. I’m Junior Warden of the former, and a Past Master of the latter.
I like research lodges.
The “duty to publish” depends on the lodge’s bylaws. I would be surprised if such a lodge existed and did not have a requirement to publish its transactions, be it annually or within another specified period. These books pretty much are the benefit of paying dues.
Regarding reaching “the maximum number of Freemasons,” again, it’s usually about serving the members in good standing. There’s always the option of publishing the work online for all to see, but that interferes with the sole material benefit of paying dues.
At both my research lodges, we are egregiously behind in printing books (more than a decade in both), largely due to a paucity of material to work with. Both are rectifying that currently in different ways.
Concerning expense: Bro. Danny McHale leads the publishing effort at Georgia Lodge of Research. His books are gorgeous, with dark green hardcover and gold embossing. He wanted to enlist my lodges as clients, but at this time, our dues structures wouldn’t justify the high cost per copy. It’s worth it, but it’s financially out of reach for us at this time.
Research lodges in the United States typically ask $25 per year in dues. If you’re lucky, you have about 90 members, so there isn’t a big pile of money to work with. We’d have to increase annual dues to make functioning in modern times feasible. In fact, at The ALR in New York City, we voted Tuesday to tie annual dues to the Consumer Price Index, so the dues will increase gradually and consistently to allow us to manage affairs.
Lodges of research and education probably are the least popular activities in Freemasonry. They are meritocracies, so no one accumulates titles and jewels without first producing results. Just like the Masonic metaphor for labor and wages. In my experience, it is rare for research lodges to enjoy any support from their grand lodges. The research lodges become cultic, existing for their members. The happy few who likewise spend time reading and writing about Freemasonry are welcome to join, if they can accommodate the often unusual timing of the lodge meetings.
Your idea of using write.as would work fine and the Pro $6 per month, billed yearly version is a good price for doing what they say you can do https://write.as/
I think the entire execution of lodges of research seems a little wonky. I am a firm believer in the free exchange of ideas and information. Part of what the internet was originally envisioned. How it’s turned into everyone attempting to monetize it is just wrong, especially when dealing with Freemasonry.
If the research and papers are meant for the betterment of our craft, why wouldn’t they be available for everyone?
I'm on the fence concerning Lodges of Research. I know Brothers that belong to them, but have never read a paper published by one.
Maybe the Grand Lodge should have an electronic file of these papers on a site like Grandview for all Brothers to read. Or maybe it's there already and I just need to find it.
I would agree. Here’s another idea. Why not create a database of academic papers and put on an online password protected site. I do this with my grad and postgraduate students. Make it available to all brethren in our jurisdiction and legit researchers vetted by the research lodges.
Apr 3, 2023·edited Apr 3, 2023Liked by Cameron M. Bailey
I'll be in the East shortly for the Western New York Lodge of Research. I'm actually writing a book on this subject and hoping to publish sometime this Masonic year (before next May). From what I have surveyed thus far, almost all Lodges and bodies of Research publish at least some newsletter or an occasional book. Many are going virtual and digital most or all of the way.
I’m a “member” of a variety of Research Lodges that have varying structures/experiences.
Louisiana has one research lodge, it was formed in ~1989 and has dues of $20. It has <50 members and cannot conduct degrees. They hold one meeting a year (which is open to all Masons), at the annual communication, where one of the members presents a paper and does Q&A. They publish transactions of the Lodge on an intermittent basis based on having enough material to put into a book. Getting the book is the benefit of paying dues.
The Scottish Rite Research Society gets enough love here I’ll just add my agreement that it is an amazing value and provides great stuff.
I’m a member of the Quator Coronati Correspondence Circle, which provides access to some interesting papers every year, plus the annual transactions volume, that while more focused on English/Continental Masonry is fantastic. I highly recommend it if the topics they cover are of interest to you.
The Southern California Lodge of Research puts out an outstanding monthly magazine and an annual book for a relatively low cost. They’ve gone mostly digital at this point for the monthly, and I look forward to getting that in my email every month https://www.theresearchlodge.com/
I wanted to make a separate point here, I think the question is less about Research Lodges having a duty to publish and more about Members of Research Lodges having a duty to Write. If the members don’t write anything the Lodge has nothing to publish.
I’m guilty of this in some regards myself. Pre-pandemic I usually had at leas 5-6 in progress essays of various lengths and topics working through my writing process, but moving across the country combined with the pandemic and the general disconnection I felt from almost everything put a damper on that. I’m trying to get back to writing, but so far more casting about on topics than actual writing. Oddly writing in the comments section here seems to be helping remind to write at least!
I am on vacation and will comment on this when I get home April 16
Outside of Masonry, "publish or perish" environments exist, colleges, laboratories, etc, and while these entities produce a lot of good work, the pressure to publish can result in publishing rubbish. So, I would tend to encourage, not require. What I think is fair is for our research Lodges, in exchange for exemption from the per capita, provide presentations and programs based on their existing research. Not necessarily in person, or live, but programs that could be presented in local Lodges and I think an annual at Grand Lodge presentation would also be fair. Maybe we could have a 'research lunch' and the best research of the year could be presented?
The research lodge here in Western Washington is a good one and they have a strong list of papers that are published. Unfortunately, you cannot access them online. There is no direction on how to acquire or read these items, which makes them basically useless. What good are these if they are not readily available?
Greetings brethren!
I just returned home from my second research lodge meeting in five days. It was The American Lodge of Research on Tuesday night, and New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 today. I’m Junior Warden of the former, and a Past Master of the latter.
I like research lodges.
The “duty to publish” depends on the lodge’s bylaws. I would be surprised if such a lodge existed and did not have a requirement to publish its transactions, be it annually or within another specified period. These books pretty much are the benefit of paying dues.
Regarding reaching “the maximum number of Freemasons,” again, it’s usually about serving the members in good standing. There’s always the option of publishing the work online for all to see, but that interferes with the sole material benefit of paying dues.
At both my research lodges, we are egregiously behind in printing books (more than a decade in both), largely due to a paucity of material to work with. Both are rectifying that currently in different ways.
Concerning expense: Bro. Danny McHale leads the publishing effort at Georgia Lodge of Research. His books are gorgeous, with dark green hardcover and gold embossing. He wanted to enlist my lodges as clients, but at this time, our dues structures wouldn’t justify the high cost per copy. It’s worth it, but it’s financially out of reach for us at this time.
Research lodges in the United States typically ask $25 per year in dues. If you’re lucky, you have about 90 members, so there isn’t a big pile of money to work with. We’d have to increase annual dues to make functioning in modern times feasible. In fact, at The ALR in New York City, we voted Tuesday to tie annual dues to the Consumer Price Index, so the dues will increase gradually and consistently to allow us to manage affairs.
Lodges of research and education probably are the least popular activities in Freemasonry. They are meritocracies, so no one accumulates titles and jewels without first producing results. Just like the Masonic metaphor for labor and wages. In my experience, it is rare for research lodges to enjoy any support from their grand lodges. The research lodges become cultic, existing for their members. The happy few who likewise spend time reading and writing about Freemasonry are welcome to join, if they can accommodate the often unusual timing of the lodge meetings.
It’s hard to get traction, but we persist.
C&F,
Jay
Your idea of using write.as would work fine and the Pro $6 per month, billed yearly version is a good price for doing what they say you can do https://write.as/
I think the entire execution of lodges of research seems a little wonky. I am a firm believer in the free exchange of ideas and information. Part of what the internet was originally envisioned. How it’s turned into everyone attempting to monetize it is just wrong, especially when dealing with Freemasonry.
If the research and papers are meant for the betterment of our craft, why wouldn’t they be available for everyone?
I'm on the fence concerning Lodges of Research. I know Brothers that belong to them, but have never read a paper published by one.
Maybe the Grand Lodge should have an electronic file of these papers on a site like Grandview for all Brothers to read. Or maybe it's there already and I just need to find it.
I would agree. Here’s another idea. Why not create a database of academic papers and put on an online password protected site. I do this with my grad and postgraduate students. Make it available to all brethren in our jurisdiction and legit researchers vetted by the research lodges.
I'll be in the East shortly for the Western New York Lodge of Research. I'm actually writing a book on this subject and hoping to publish sometime this Masonic year (before next May). From what I have surveyed thus far, almost all Lodges and bodies of Research publish at least some newsletter or an occasional book. Many are going virtual and digital most or all of the way.
I’m a “member” of a variety of Research Lodges that have varying structures/experiences.
Louisiana has one research lodge, it was formed in ~1989 and has dues of $20. It has <50 members and cannot conduct degrees. They hold one meeting a year (which is open to all Masons), at the annual communication, where one of the members presents a paper and does Q&A. They publish transactions of the Lodge on an intermittent basis based on having enough material to put into a book. Getting the book is the benefit of paying dues.
The Scottish Rite Research Society gets enough love here I’ll just add my agreement that it is an amazing value and provides great stuff.
I’m a member of the Quator Coronati Correspondence Circle, which provides access to some interesting papers every year, plus the annual transactions volume, that while more focused on English/Continental Masonry is fantastic. I highly recommend it if the topics they cover are of interest to you.
The Southern California Lodge of Research puts out an outstanding monthly magazine and an annual book for a relatively low cost. They’ve gone mostly digital at this point for the monthly, and I look forward to getting that in my email every month https://www.theresearchlodge.com/
The Vancouver Lodge of Research host Grand Masonic Day every year to present papers and provide the transactions of the Lodge. It’s coming up on April 29th this year. Some of their past proceedings are available here https://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/vgmd/vgmd.html and information on this years event can be found here https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/grand-masonic-day-2023-featuring-andrew-hammer-and-professor-scott-kenney-tickets-491359307917
I wanted to make a separate point here, I think the question is less about Research Lodges having a duty to publish and more about Members of Research Lodges having a duty to Write. If the members don’t write anything the Lodge has nothing to publish.
I’m guilty of this in some regards myself. Pre-pandemic I usually had at leas 5-6 in progress essays of various lengths and topics working through my writing process, but moving across the country combined with the pandemic and the general disconnection I felt from almost everything put a damper on that. I’m trying to get back to writing, but so far more casting about on topics than actual writing. Oddly writing in the comments section here seems to be helping remind to write at least!