USA > Washington DC > History of the Grand lodge and of freemasonry in the District of Columbia : with biographical appendix > Part 15
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At the first meeting of the Board of Managers of the Ma- sonic Temple Association, May 28, 1898, the following offi- cers were chosen: P. G. Master R. B. Donaldson, President ; P. G. Master J. Henry Small, Jr., Vice-President; P. G. Master E. H. Chamberlain, Secretary, and Bro. Samuel H. Walker, Treasurer.
On January 7, 1899, P. G. Master R. B. Donaldson, Presi- dent, resigned, and P. G. Master J. Henry Small, Jr., was elected his successor and served continuously until assumption of control by the Grand Lodge. In January 1899, P. G. Master E. H. Chamberlain having declined reelection as Secretary of the Association, he was succeeded by Bro. John R. Garrison, who served to June 4th, 1899, when he resigned owing to his
Pers donaldson
GRAND MASTER, 1869-1870.
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official duties requiring him to live in San Juan, P. R. Bro. John H. Olcott was elected as his successor and served until his last illness in July, 1907, after which time the duties of the office were performed by Bro. Geo. E. Fleming, Bro. Thos. P. Morgan, Bro. C. S. Hillyer as Assistant to the Secretary, and Bro. F. R. Underwood. In January, 1901, P. G. Master Jas. A. Sample was elected to the office of Treasurer of the Association, as successor to Bro. Samuel H. Walker, and has served as such continuously to date.
The financing of the project was inaugurated by the solicita- tion of subscriptions to stock from the various Masonic bodies and individual brethren, and this effort was materially furth- ered by holding a mammoth fair in the spring of 1898, par- ticipated in by practically all the Masonic bodies of the juris- diction.
The fair thus held netted the sum of $46,866.01 and was so encouraging that the Committee on Site were authorized by the Association to purchase, for a sum not to exceed $115,000, the site recommended by them on which the Temple now stands. It is officially known as Lots 29-30-31, parts of Lots 6 and 7 and all of Lots 8 and 9, Square 287, is located between Twelfth and Thirteenth Streets and H Street and New York Avenue, and contains 11,224 square feet.
So successful had been the previous effort to swell the fund through a fair that the enterprise was repeated in 1902, again in slightly different form and under the title of "May Fes- tival," in 1905, and also, again reverting to the original plan, in 1907, each occasion outstripping the previous one in finan- cial returns, while the final concerted effort along this line of endeavor took an entirely new form, that of a so-called " House-warming," which was held for two weeks in the new Temple, commencing September 28, 1908, and immediately following the formal turning over of the building by the con- tractors. Entertainments were given in the several auditori- ums, with dancing and refreshments within reach, all of which were well patronized by the friends of the Fraternity and netted a very comfortable sum.
II
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In the meantime, in 1901, the proceeds of the second fair enabling the Association to clear off the obligations on the site, tentative plans for the building were invited from various architects, and later those submitted by the firm of Wood, Donn & Deming were formally accepted.
While the undertaking had now reached a point where success was assured, the policy of deliberate action was still adhered to and ground was not broken until 1907, after the several fairs and other additions to the fund through sub- scription had increased it to the point where good business judgment made the venture a reasonable one.
The cornerstone of the new Temple was laid June 8, A. L. 5907, A. D. 1907. On that date the Grand Lodge in special session received as guests the officers of the Grand Chapter of R. A. Masons of the District and the following distinguished visitors : R. W. Bro. George W. Kendrick, Jr., Grand Master of Masons in Pennsylvania; M. W. Bro. Silvanus J. Quinn, Grand Master of Masons of Virginia; M. W. Bro. Kosciusko Kemper, Past Grand Master of Virginia; M. W. Bro. An- drew J. Hallock, Grand Master of Masons of Connecticut ; M. W. Bro. John H. Barlow, Past Grand Master of Con- necticut; M. W. Bro. Robert K. Stephenson, Grand Master of Masons of Delaware; M. W. Bro. William H. Nichols, Past Grand Master of Texas; M. W. Bro. Milton J. Hull, Past Grand Master of Nebraska; Bro. Francis E. Warren, representing Grand Master of Masons of Wyoming; Fred- ericksburg Lodge, No. 4, of Virginia, Bro. John P. Stiff, Mast- er, bearing the Washington Bible and square; Alexandria- Washington Lodge, No. 22, of Virginia, Bro. Thomas Brack- enridge Cochran, Master, bearing the Washington trowel; Guard of honor from Potomac Lodge, No. 5, viz: W. Bro. Lem. Towers, Jr., Master, and Bros. Richard S. Clifton and Irvin B. Moulton, bearing the Washington gavel.
An Entered Apprentice lodge being opened, the officers of the Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter proceeded to carriages and, accompanied by an escort composed of the Grand Com- mandery, the five subordinate commanderies, and about 2,000
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Master Masons, marching as separate lodges in the order of their juniority, proceeded to the site of the proposed building where a large concourse of people were assembled.
Immediately after the officers of the Grand bodies and their guests had assumed their places, Bro. Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States, accompanied by his Private Secretary, Bro. William Loeb, Jr., and special escort, Bro. William B. Hibbs, arrived, and after being invested by the Grand Master with aprons were escorted to seats on the plat- form. The following program was then rendered :
Prayer. W. Bro. the Rev. Richard P. Williams.
"America" .U. S. Marine Band and Choir. Introductory Address. . M. W. Bro. J. H. Small, Jr., P. G. M., President Masonic Temple Association.
.U. S. Marine Band.
Selection
Ceremony of Laying Corner-stone,
Grand Lodge of Masons of the District of Columbia, M. W. Bro. Francis J. Woodman, Grand Master. Address on behalf of the M. W. Grand Master,
Selection M. W. Bro. Matthew Trimble, P. G. M. U. S. Marine Band.
Address .. . Bro. Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States.
Choir.
Selection
Address Hon. Henry L. West, Commissioner, D. C. Selection U. S. Marine Band.
Addresses Visiting Grand Masters. Address Hon. James D. Richardson, 33ยบ,
Sovereign Grand Commander Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Free Masonry, Southern Jurisdiction.
Selection . Choir. Benediction ... Brother, the Rev. Joseph Dawson, Grand Chaplain. Doxology U. S. Marine Band and Choir.
In the evening the celebration was continued by a banquet at the Hotel Raleigh, at which a most distinguished gathering of Masons from this and other jurisdictions gathered and ex- changed felicitations on the happy event of the day.
Unforeseen difficulty being met with in securing a founda- tion the work was delayed but was pushed with all the speed possible, and in 1908 the magnificent proportions and monu- mental character of the new addition to the city's architec-
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tural beauty grew rapidly into evidence until the completion in September, 1908.
The dedication ceremonies took place Saturday evening, September 19, 1908, and were of the most impressive char- acter, being opened by an invocation by Bro. Abram Simon, Rabbi of the Washington Hebrew Congregation, followed by vocal selections by a Masonic octet. P. G. Master Matthew T'rimble, Vice-President of the Temple Association, in the absence of the President, P. G. Master Small, whose illness prevented his being present, delivered an oration, upon the conclusion of which the ancient Masonic form of dedication was carried out, Grand Master Augustus B. Coolidge, pre- siding. After addresses by the Grand Master and Rev. Bro. J. Henning Nelms the Temple was illuminated throughout and thrown open for inspection, the festive character of the evening being further emphasized by appropriate selections by a large orchestra.
And thus by regular gradations and measured steps the Fraternity in the District arrived at the goal of its ambition for a quarter of a century, the possession of a Temple worthy of Masonry and worthy of this city, the Mecca of every American. The commanding site permits of no future build- ing being erected sufficiently near to do violence to the har- mony of its surroundings or to mar its monumental effect and the wisdom and indefatigable labors of its promoters in the selection of the site and plans, and in carrying the work to a successful conclusion, deserve the heartiest appreciation of the Masonic world. Following is a brief description of the building :
It was the view of those engaged in the worthy project of " building the temple" that Washington, being the capital of the nation, the Masonic Temple located here ought to be of great dignity and simplicity and entirely in keeping with the classic public buildings for which Washington is well known. The architects have had these facts in mind and have designed a building which, by its proportions, is unmistakably a temple,
ISAAC L. JOHNSON,
GRAND MASTER, 1875-1876 ; GRAND HIGH PRIEST, 1877.
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but so modified as to suit the changed conditions of our time and age.
The three facades, by their several parts, convey to the mind the uses to which each part is put, the public part by large openings architecturally framed, and the secret by small openings and large, simple wall surfaces. The impression to be conveyed is that part of the building will be for public use, while a larger part will forever remain a closed book, with all its mystery, to the uninitiated.
The classic style of architecture which has been employed in this building is the most enduring and surely the one in which the Temple of the Ancients reached its greatest beauty and highest development.
The peculiar shape of the site made it possible to impress on the shortest but most important facade, facing fifty feet and eight inches on Thirteenth Street, the character of the temple so that the most ignorant might, without inquiry, know its purpose. The sides extending down New York Avenue 132 feet 6 inches and H Street 144 feet 3 inches, respectively, are a continuation of this Thirteenth Street motive, but here the windows are made much more archaic in character, and by their shape, size, and disposition lend mystic character to the structure.
The building contains five stories and a basement, with the first story about thirty feet in the main auditorium, the total height being 110 feet above the sidewalk, the greatest allowed by law on this site. It is heated by steam and has a special system of ventilation for the auditoriums, banquet hall, lodge and locker rooms. The structure is fireproof throughout, with steel-frame construction. The exterior walls, however, are self-sustaining.
The massive Indiana limestone base of the building is heav- ily rusticated. The principal entrance is marked by a large semicircular opening or doorway to distinguish it from the rectangular openings on the sides, which merely are entrances and exits to the auditorium.
The colonnade of the superstructure is flanked at either end
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by heavily rusticated piers, which complete that part of the composition.
An attic crowns the building with an elaborate cheneau, which gives an interesting silhouette against the sky.
The whole composition is designed for a light-colored ma- terial. The base is of limestone. The cornice and other ar- chitectural features, such as the caps and bases of pilasters, trims about windows, columns, balustrades, etc., are also of limestone or terra cotta to match in color, while the main body of the whole is of a selected gray brick, pleasing to the eye and in perfect harmony with the trimmings.
The main portion of the basement and vaults extending out under the sidewalks on three sides of the building is devoted to an immense banquet hall, seating about 500 people. This room is readily accessible from the main auditorium room on the first floor and by stairways and elevators from any of the lodge rooms.
In connection with the banquet hall are two entrance halls with toilet for men, toilet and dressing room for women, and coat and hat room. The service part consists of a large kitchen, store room, and pantry, to which supplies can be brought direct from the sidewalk.
The power part of the basement consists of boiler and pump room, elevator machinery, coal vaults, and fan room for supplying fresh air to the banquet hall.
A large auditorium, practically at sidewalk level, occupies almost the entire first floor, seats about 1,500 people, and carries out all the requirements of the District of Columbia government to prevent fire and casualties from false alarms and panics. The room is also designed as a music hall, for use of choral societies or oratorio concerts, as well as for especial Masonic rites.
An unusually fine floor has been provided in the auditorium for dancing, and when balls are given the banquet hall is fre- quently used as a supper room, with separate stairways, dress- ing, coat, and toilet rooms, as described.
The auditorium is well provided with exits directly to the
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sidewalk having practically an entrance at each of its four corners. Access to the auditorium can also be had from the main entrance lobby of the Temple. In addition to this lobby, which repeats on each floor, there are two elevators and a stair- way.
A mezzanine story, on a level with the gallery of the au- ditorium, contains the office of the Board of Managers of the building.
On the second floor a spacious lobby opens from the public space and gives access to the offices of the Grand Master and the Grand Secretary, the Grand Chapter and Grand Com- mandery rooms, the Library, and two ample lodge rooms, one of which is located on the south side, and the other on the north side of the building. The lodge room, including ante- rooms, on the south side, is occupied under lease by the Masonic Mutual Life Association of the District of Columbia, and the room on the north side is occupied by several Chapters of the Order of the Eastern Star. The Library room is of generous dimensions and the most modern equipment, the sectional bookcases containing an unusually large collection of works of special, fraternal, and general interest, and the walls being adorned with a practically complete set of oil portraits of de- ceased Past Grand Masters. Special attention has been paid to the comfort of the habitues in the matter of the most approved furnishings, the latter going somewhat beyond the ordinarily rigorous demands of a library and adding a touch of the freedom of the lounging-room, an experiment which, it is interesting to note, has resulted in no abridgment of the rights of the readers and students to quiet and the absence of distracting influences. On this as on all the floors ample cloak, ante, and toilet rooms are provided.
The third floor is devoted to blue lodge Masonry and con- tains two lodge rooms of slightly varying dimensions, the one on the southern side of the building, with a measurement of 31 feet by 73 feet 8 inches, being designated as " Lodge Room No. 1," and that on the northern, measuring 30 feet 6 inches by 57 feet 4 inches, as " Lodge Room No. 2." The larger room,
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which is handsomely upholstered in blue leather with appro- priately-toned carpet, is occupied by the Grand Lodge, and Lodges Nos. 1, 7, 9, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 19, while the smaller, furnished with leather upholstering, and in addition to its other attractions having a handsome pipe-organ built into a recess, is occupied by Lodges 3, 12, 18, 20, 23, 26, 31, and 32. In addition to cloak and toilet rooms, unusually com- modious ante, preparation, and locker rooms are provided, to- gether with four secluded and comfortably furnished exam- ination rooms.
The fourth floor, with two assembly rooms of practically corresponding sizes to those on the third floor, is devoted to the Capitular and Templar bodies; the larger of the two rooms being used by the Grand Commandery, and Commanderies Nos. 1, 2, and 4, K. T., and the smaller by the Grand Chapter of R. A. M., and R. A. Chapters Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7; Wash- ington Council, No. 1, and Adoniram Council, No. 2, Royal and Select Masters, and Convention of High Priests. Both rooms are handsomely furnished, the tone of the decorations in each being red and the details appropriate and elaborate. In addition to the various supplementary rooms on the floor below an Armory, a Prelate's Chamber and other apartments necessary to the proper rendition of the several Capitular de- grees and Templar orders are provided and properly equipped by the bodies interested.
The fifth and last floor is occupied largely by an auditorium, which with its gallery is capable of seating 800. A large stage is the special feature of this room. Aside from the necessary additional rooms, four dressing rooms are con- veniently placed, while upon the mezzanine floor on the gal- lery level, a commodious room adapted to use as a lounging room, together with other rooms suitable for any purpose, provide the possibility of most convenient and luxurious ar- rangement. At the time this history goes to press this entire floor is occupied under lease by the Law Department of the George Washington University.
The building throughout is fitted with a system of forced
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MASONIC TEMPLE, NORTHWEST CORNER NINTH AND F STREETS, N W. Home of the Grand Lodge and a majority of the subordinate Lodges from 1870 to 1908.
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ventilation, is equipped with the most modern assemblage of appliances for electric lighting, and is adequately heated by steam.
With the completion, dedication, and occupancy of the Tem- ple by the Craft, the question of the advisability of placing the title to the property in the Grand Lodge received early consideration by the Board of Managers of the Masonic Tem- ple Association, and at a meeting of said Board, held Novem- ber 28, 1908, in a spirit of greatest fraternity and having the welfare of Masonry at heart, and their work having been done only for the benefit and good of the Craft, the Managers by unanimous vote adopted the following resolution :
WHEREAS, The erection of the new Masonic Temple has been com- pleted, and as it seems to be the prevailing opinion among the Fraternity of this jurisdiction that the title as well as the control of the property should be vested in the Grand Lodge, therefore,
Be it resolved, That the Masonic Temple Association requests the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia to appoint a committee of five to meet with a similar committee from the Masonic Temple Association for the purpose of conferring as to the advisability and the best means to adopt in order that the title and control of the property may become vested in the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia.
Grand Master A. B. Coolidge presented said resolution to the Grand Lodge at the annual communication, held Decem- ber 16, 1908, and it was unanimously adopted. Grand Master Coolidge appointed a committee on behalf of the Grand Lodge, consisting of M. W. Bros. Lurtin R. Ginn and Walter A. Brown, and W. Bros. Albert F. Fox, William F. Gude, and Isaac Birch. The committee appointed on behalf of the Masonic Temple Association consisted of M. W. Bros. James A. Sample, William G. Henderson, and James A. Wetmore and W. Bros. Samuel R. Bond and Thomas P. Morgan.
The joint committee gave earnest consideration to the ques- tion of the transfer of ownership and control of the Temple to the Grand Lodge and at a special communication of the Grand Lodge, held November 20, 1909, the committee on the part of the Grand Lodge made an exhaustive report of the
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financial condition and operation of the Temple Association, past and present, setting out fully certified exhibits furnished the committee by the President, Secretary, and Chairman of the Board of Audit of the Association. This report will be found in the Grand Lodge Proceedings for 1909. The com- mittee, after a full discussion in its report of its reasons there- for, made the following recommendations which were unan- imously adopted with the greatest enthusiasm by the Grand Lodge :
1. That the Grand Lodge accept the management of the business affairs of the new Masonic Temple, and thereby its practical ownership, pro- vided that there shall be donated to it for such purpose at least ninety per cent of the entire stock held and owned by individuals and organiza- tions, such donation to be absolute and unconditional, and provided that the act of incorporation of the Masonic Temple Association shall be so amended as to permit such management and practical ownership.
2. That conditioned upon the performance of recommendation numbered one by the Masonic Temple Association, the Grand Lodge levy a pro rata assessment according to membership upon the several constituent lodges of the jurisdiction, under the authority contained in section nine- teen of the Constitution of the Grand Lodge, of one dollar per capita per annum pro rated according to membership on September thirtieth of each year, the first assessment to be levied and payable upon the returns of the constituent lodges for the Masonic year ending September thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ten.
3. That the Masonic Temple Association be required, for the purpose of making the aforesaid change, to secure the donation and transfer to the Grand Lodge of the requisite amount of stock, and to obtain the necessary legislation in the premises.
It it but just to the committee to say here that because of the completeness and thoroughness of the report not a single change was suggested in either the report or the recommenda- tions.
After said communication the joint committee of the Grand Lodge and the Temple Association continued its labors, and at the communication of the Grand Lodge, held May 11, 1910, the committee on the part of the Grand Lodge reported that " Through the noble and unselfish generosity of the several constituent lodges of symbolic Masonry, the Grand and con-
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stituent Chapters of Royal Arch Masonry, the Grand and constituent Commanderies of Knights Templar Masonry, Washington Council, No. 1, Royal and Select Masters, the several bodies located here of the Ancient and Accepted Scot- tish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, Almas Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Chapters of the Order of the Eastern Star, the Masonic and Eastern Star Home, and a large number of the individual members of the Fraternity, there is now in the hands of the Trustees of the Grand Lodge, donated and assigned to it unconditionally, more than ninety per cent. of the stock outstanding of the Masonic Temple Association."
The committee further reported that the following legisla- tion had been obtained :
(Public-No. 90.) (S. 3889. )
An Act to Amend an Act to Incorporate the Masonic Temple Association of the District of Columbia.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Act entitled "An Act to incorporate the Masonic Temple Association of the District of Columbia," approved the fifteenth day of April, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, be, and the same hereby is, amended by adding to and as a part of section three of the said Act the following:
At the annual election of the board of managers and at all other stockholders' meetings of the said Masonic Temple Association, each body owning capital stock of the said corporation shall be entitled to one vote for each share of stock held by it.
Approved, March 23, 1910.
The committee suggested certain changes in the Grand Lodge constitution necessary to accomplish Grand Lodge ownership, control, and management of the business affairs of the Temple thro a board of managers elected by it. Among the changes suggested was one providing for a standing com- mittee of the Grand Lodge to be known as the Committee on Masonic Temple, which should be a special board of trustees to hold in trust the shares of stock of the Masonic Temple As- sociation owned by the Grand Lodge, and to represent the
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Grand Lodge and be its proxies and vote its stock at all stock- holder's meetings of the Temple Association.
Another suggestion was that the Temple Association so amend its by-laws as to provide for a board of managers con- sisting of seven members instead of some forty-odd members as theretofore.
The amendments to the Grand Constitution suggested by the committee were unanimously adopted at a communication of the Grand Lodge, held September 24, 1910.
Grand Master Ober named Bros. Lurtin R. Ginn, Walter A. Brown, John H. Small, Jr., Albert F. Fox, and William G. Henderson, first as the special Committee on Masonic Temple, authorized at the May, 1910, communication and then as the standing Committee on Masonic Temple, authorized by the amendment adopted at the September, 1910, communication.
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