The Scottish Rite Journal

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Arturo de Hoyos, 33°
Grand Archivist & Grand Historian
The Supreme Council, 33°, Southern Jurisdiction, USA

Left to right: The House of the Temple, the Washington Monument,
the Scottish Rite Valley of Washington, D.C.

Photos: © Maxwell MacKenzie, Washington, D.C. (left)
Elizabeth A. Williams, The Scottish Rite Journal (middle and left)

In mid–November 2004, the highly successful motion picture National Treasure became Hollywood’s latest feature to thrust Freemasonry before the public eye. Although fictional, the film nonetheless includes hints of authentic information on our Fraternity, and the movie–going public is now aware that many of our Founding Fathers were Freemasons. Unfortunately, the film also perpetuates some common myths and notions, such as the mistaken beliefs that Freemasons are the heirs to the Knights Templars and that emblems alleged to be Masonic symbols are hidden in our national currency. At one point in the film, the Square and Compasses are discovered on the back of the Declaration of Independence! Beyond these romantic but fanciful notions, there are indeed genuine Masonic symbols and locations of interest in and around our nation’s capital. The Octagon Museum exhibit of May-November 2005, mentioned in the November–December 2004 issue of the Scottish Rite Journal (“The Initiated Eye: Secrets, Symbols, Freemasonry, and the Architecture of Washington, D.C.” by Ill. Bros. George R. Adams and Akram R. Elias) will showcase Freemasonry’s contribution to the art, architecture, and symbolism around the District of Columbia.

Left to right: George Washington Masonic National Memorial (GWMNM), the George Washington Museum at the GWMNM, detail of "George Washington Laying the Cornerstone of the United States Capitol, September 18, 1793"

Photos: Arthur W. Pierson, 32°, Pierson Photography, Falls Church, Va. (left and middle); [Detail] John D. Melius, 33°, Valley of Washington, D.C. (right)

What’s of interest to the Mason traveling in the immediate Washington, D.C., area? To begin, consider the United States Capitol building. On September 18, 1793, President and Brother George Washington participated in a Masonic cornerstone laying ceremony which has been memorialized by several artists. One of these is a famed mural by Allyn Cox in the “Capitol Collection” on the vaulted hallway ceiling in the eastern north–south corridor of the Capitol’s House of Representatives wing. Benjamin Henry Latrobe, one of the Capitol’s principal architects, was a Freemason, and the building includes many details which attract our attention. The Capitol abounds in columns in the Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian Orders of Architecture which, according to our Blue Lodge ritual, represent Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty denominated “the three principal supports of every well-governed Lodge.” Latrobe’s design for the House of Representatives included a canopy with skylights, the “starry canopy” we denominate the “covering of the Lodge.” The columns in the Senate vestibule have chapiters depicting corn, while the vestibule itself leads to a winding stairway. The pediment over the east entrance to the Senate wing, entitled the Progress of Civilization, includes sheaves of wheat, as symbols of plenty. Constantino Brumidi’s fresco, The Apotheosis of Washington, in the eye of the Capitol rotunda, depicts a teacher employing the compasses. Also noteworthy is Thomas Crawford’s and William Rinehart’s magnificent relief of the cornerstone laying adorning the left valve doors of the United States Senate. It depicts Washington in his Masonic apron.

Ill. John D. Melius’s painting of the cornerstone ceremony, commissioned by the Supreme Council in celebration of the Capitol’s bicentennial, is on public display in the George Washington Memorial Banquet Hall of the House of the Temple. I might be partial, but I consider the Scottish Rite’s headquarters as deserving the title of “Most Masonic Building” in the immediate metropolitan area. Although architect John Russell Pope was not a Mason, his plans naturally integrated much Masonic symbolism. The beauty and grandeur of the Temple Room and the Executive Chamber of the Supreme Council rival any Lodge Room in the Masonic world.

The George Washington Masonic National Memorial of Alexandria, Virginia, is definitely on the must-see list. The Memorial’s front lawn boasts the world’s largest Square and Compasses. It is clearly seen from the air when approaching Reagan National Airport. Entering the building in the Memorial Hall, one stands in awe at the massive bronze statue of Brother Washington in his Masonic regalia. On either side, he is flanked by two enormous murals by Allyn Cox. One depicts the Capitol cornerstone laying, and the other shows Washington with his Brethren, dressed as Masons, attending a St. John’s Day Observance, Christ Church, Philadelphia, December 28, 1788. Among the many Masonic rooms and museum spaces is the beautiful and recently updated George Washington Museum sponsored jointly by the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction and Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite. Another museum is a Replica Lodge Room, furnished as it would have been in Washington’s time. Resting on Shooter’s Hill, the George Washington Masonic National Memorial provides an unrivaled view of Old Town Alexandria and, on a clear day, you can see the Washington Monument and other landmarks in the nearby District of Columbia.

The headquarters of the International Order of the Eastern Star (above) stands near Dupont Circle at the intersection of 18th Street and New Hampshire Avenue, NW, in Washington, D.C. The wrought-iron fence surrounding the building (below) contains the Order’s logo, a five-pointed Star of the Incarnation, a medieval symbol whose downward-pointing ray commemorates the Nativity.

The original design of the Washington Monument called for a 600-foot obelisk centered on a circular colonnaded pantheon, 100 feet high and 250 feet in diameter. Over the entrance was to be a sculpture of Washington, dressed in a toga, driving a chariot; and between its columns were to be 30 spaces to be gradually filled with the statues of significant Americans. From a bird’s-eye view, the monument resembles a point within a circle, of which our Blue Lodge ritual states “the point represents an individual Brother; the circle is the boundary line, beyond which he is never to suffer his prejudices or passions to betray him.” If nothing else, the symbol may suggest the high esteem with which Brother and President Washington was regarded. But the monument conceals much more. Within its interior are twenty-two Masonic memorial stones, gifts of Lodges and Grand Lodges, to the Washington National Monument Society. The stones, which may be seen when descending the long interior staircase, depict a variety of Masonic emblems.

Much ado has been made about the “Masonic” street plans of the District. It may be fun to play connect the dots or trace lines along streets, between buildings and monuments, to create a Square and Compasses, a Pentagram, or an “All-Seeing Eye.” In the end, however, I don’t see any value to this fanciful exercise. Pierre Charles L’Enfant is not known to have been a Mason, and in many cases, in addition to using Paris in his native France as a model, he appears to have followed the furrows and trails crisscrossing the terrain now occupied by the District of Columbia when he planned the streets of the Federal District.

But if you’re looking for purely Masonic sites in the Federal City, then also consider the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia (Library and Museum open by appointment), the Scottish Rite Valley of Washington, D.C. (just a few blocks directly north of the House of the Temple; or the Eastern Star Headquarters. These are all true Masonic treasures which will make your visit to our nation’s capital more interesting.

Arturo de Hoyos is the Grand Archivist and Grand Historian of the Supreme Council. A well-known author, he has written extensively on Masonic ritual, early Scottish Rite history, and anti-Masonry. With Ill. S. Brent Morris, he co-authored Is It True What They Say About Freemasonry? This important book, originally published by the Masonic Information Center in 1994, was updated, expanded, and republished by M. Evans and Co., Inc., in 2004.