The 2003 Contributing Member, Fellow, and Albert Gallatin Mackey Awards were conferred during the Scottish Rite Research Society's General Membership Meeting held in the George Washington Memorial Banquet Hall of the House of the Temple in Washington, D.C., at 10:00 am on Tuesday, October 7. Previously, Ill. William B. Brunk, 33°, President of the Research Society and S.G.I.G. in North Carolina, had announced the 2003 Contributing Member and Fellow Awards in the Fall Plumbline, the quarterly newsletter of the Society. The title of Contributing Member is presented to SRRS Members upon their first publication for the Society. The recognition involves the presentation of a personalized certificate and a badge consisting of a bar engraved with the recipient's name, a magenta ribbon, and SRRS logo medal engraved with the year of the award.

In 2003, ten authors have published articles in Heredom, the Plumbline, or in SRRS bonus books that qualify them as Contributing Members of the Scottish Rite Research Society. They are:

Chip Berlet

  • Heredom, Vol. 10, "Anti-Masonic Conspiracy Theories: A Narrative Form of Demonization and Scapegoating"

William B. Brunk, 33°, S.G.I.G.

  • Plumbline, Vol. 10, No. 4, and Vol. 11, No. 1, "Tracing Origins and Meanings, Ruminations on the 14°," Parts I and II

Richard E. Fletcher, 33°

  • Plumbline, Vol. 10, No. 2, "Freemasonry and the Industrial Revolution"

Jack E. Hightower, 33°, S.G.I.G.

  • Plumbline, Vol. 10, No.3, "Masonry, the Texas Supreme Council, and the Law of Texas"

Jay M. Kinney, 32°

  • Heredom, Vol. 10, "Is Freemasonry Afraid of Its Own Shadow? Masonry's Love/Hate Relationship with Esoteric Traditions"
  • Plumbline, Vol. 11, No. 2, "Albert Pike in Perspective"
  • Plumbline, Vol. 11, No. 3 and No. 4, "Albert Pike and the Aryan Question," Parts I and II

Gary Leazer, 32°

  • Plumbline, Vol. 9, No. 4, "Can We Live in Two Communities?"
  • Plumbline, Vol. 9, No. 2 & 3, "Morals and Dogma, A Closer Look at Chapter One"

Ralf Melzer

  • Heredom, Vol. 10, "In the Eye of a Hurricane: German Freemasonry in the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich"

Jimmy P. Smith, 33°

  • Plumbline, Vol. 10, No. 2, "Scottish Rite Masonry in Early Georgia"

Mark A. Tabbert, 32°

  • Heredom, Vol. 10, "Presenting Freemasonry through a Public History Exhibition"

Major Gaylord Z. Thomas, 32°

  • Plumbline, Vol. 9, No. 4, "May One Command Who Does Not Know How To Obey? A Personal Reflection on the Fourth Degree"

The title of Fellow of the Scottish Rite Research Society is presented to SRRS Members who have contributed a minimum of five articles as primary author to Heredom or the Plumbline or written a bonus book as primary author. The recognition is the same as for a Contributing Member, but the ribbon is magenta and gold. In 2003, two authors have qualified for the title of Fellow of the Scottish Rite Research Society. They are:

Paul M. Bessel, 32°, K.C.C.H.

  • Plumbline, Vol. 4, No. 1, "Gavels in Freemasonry"
  • Heredom, Vol. 5, "U.S. Recognition of French Grand Lodges in the 1900s"
  • Plumbline, Vol. 7, No. 4, "Ten Steps to Interesting Masonic Research"
  • Heredom, Vol. 9, "The 'Jack the Ripper' Murders: An Examination of Alleged Masonic Connections"
  • Heredom, Vol. 9, "An Evaluation of Grand Masters Classes in the District of Columbia"

R. William Weisberger, 32°

  • Heredom, Vol. 7, "J. T. Desaguliers: Newtonian Experimental Scientist"
  • Heredom, Vol. 7, "The True Harmony Lodge of Vienna"
  • Heredom, Vol. 8, "The Career of J. T. Desaguliers: A Bibliographical Essay"
  • Heredom, Vol. 9, "Freemasonry as a Source of Jewish Civic Rights in Late Eighteenth-Century Vienna and Philadelphia"
  • Heredom, Vol. 10, "Parisian Masonry, the Lodge of the Nine Sisters, & the French Enlightenment"

Receiving the 2003 Albert Gallatin Mackey Scholar Awards for Excellence in Masonic Publication (gold ribbon, ruby gem) were Lisa Kahler, "Scottish Definitions and Transitions," Heredom, Vol. 9, 2001, and Ralf Melzer, "German Freemasonry in the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich" Heredom, Vol. 10, 2002.

The 2003 Albert Gallatin Mackey Scholar Award for Lifetime Achievement (gold ribbon, diamond) was posthumously awarded to Kent Logan Walgren (died June 2, 2003) in recognition of his many works about Freemasonry, in particular his recently published 12-year study, Freemasonry, Anti-Masonry and Illuminism in the United States, 1734-1850. Name plates for Mackey Scholars are permanently displayed on a large bronze Scottish Rite Research Society plaque in the Library of the Supreme Council, 33°.