Joby E. Dixon, 32°
Austin Scottish Rite Bodies, 207 West 18th Street, Austin, Texas 78701-1308
jobydixon@yahoo.com

A black cap organization can be a tremendous asset and source
of energy for your Valley, as it is for ours.

Black cap organizations are service organizations for 32° Scottish Rite Masons, hence the title "black cap." The primary duties of these organizations vary from Valley to Valley but share common purposes: to give 32° Scottish Rite Masons a place to become active in the Bodies and to provide leadership training and experience for new Scottish Rite Masons. These groups use different names-including the Order of the Thistle, the Knights of St. Andrew, the Black Knights-but share a common organizational structure and emphasis on the themes and story of the 29°.

Starting a black cap organization can appear to be a daunting task. The rewards for your Valley are well worth the effort! As Founding Venerable Master of the Valley of Austin's Order of the Thistle Chapter, I have worked with several Chapters of black cap organizations during their creation. There are many common issues and challenges that emerge during the creation of a Chapter, and this article will address a few of these in hopes it will be helpful to members of Valleys considering chartering a Chapter.

Defining The Chapter's Mission

The first step is to work with your Valley's Personal Representative and General Secretary to develop a core group of interested members who will assist in creating the vision and reality of your Chapter. Each Chapter serves the particular needs of its Valley, and how you envision the needs of your Valley will determine many of the details of how your Chapter operates. The leaders of your Valley will be very helpful in determining where a Chapter can be of service. New members can also be an excellent source of innovative ideas. The creation of a new service organization can serve as a forum for a fresh exchange of thoughts that is very healthy for your Valley.

Choosing Your Membership

Choosing how membership will be selected is a very important decision. Many Chapters began with a core group of members and have an open admissions policy that allows members of the Valley to petition for membership. Once their dues have been paid, the members are accepted and join the Chapter.

Other Valleys choose to limit the number of members to ensure that close connections and strong friendships grow among members. In the Austin Chapter, we chose to limit the initial membership to 32 and the total active membership to 50. New members are selected by nomination of a current member and elected by vote of the membership. We chose this method to avoid the problems related to becoming "just another Masonic organization" for which enthusiasm fades after a short time. Being a small, elected body develops strong ties between members and the pride in membership that foster long-term success and commitment.

Creating Uniforms, Chapter Insignias, And Member Regalia

This is one of the largest and most time-consuming aspects of forming a Chapter. Each Chapter develops its equipment according to its own design. Creating banners, lapel and sash pins, and other equipment requires time, patience, and creativity. Finding an artisan to design and manufacture unique, small-batch regalia is quite a challenge. If requested, I can provide contact information of a Scottish Rite Freemason who does superior work at reasonable prices for any interested Chapter. Each Chapter should also designate appropriate dress for the membership for its Stated Meetings and those of the Bodies of its Valley.

Numerous models for membership insignia exist. Pins consisting of the crest of the Chapter with a tartan swatch below are common. These are pinned to the shoulder of each member's coat during meetings. In the Austin Chapter, tartan sashes are used. The sashes are draped from the right shoulder across the body in front and back, and are pinned at the left waist. Each Chapter should choose its own distinctive tartan in order to distinguish it from other Chapters. For example, the Austin Chapter uses the tartan of the Austin/Keith clan. The modern version is used for active members, and the ancient form is used to designate Past Venerable Masters. Some Chapters have adopted a Scottish balmoral as part of their uniform; others have elected to keep their black caps. Considerable attention should be given to creating the Chapter insignia and regalia, as this is where the unique nature of the Chapter can be fully expressed.

Maintaining Balance

Many of the members of your black cap organization will be highly involved in numerous Masonic Bodies and activities. Keep this in mind when developing the meeting schedules, duties, and responsibilities for your Chapter. The best guideline for doing this is to try and achieve maximum impact for your Valley while incurring minimum stress on your membership.

Obtaining The Assistance Of Other Valleys

Gathering and utilizing resources and materials, such as copies of constitutions and bylaws, from other Valleys will greatly speed the development of your Chapter. Each Chapter should develop its own unique set of traditions, but using materials and ideas successfully implemented by other Valleys as a guideline when creating your own Chapter will greatly reduce the amount of time and stress involved. The Austin Chapter was greatly aided by the efforts of the Fort Worth Chapter and is now supporting the start-up efforts of other Chapters. In addition to making things easier on the team starting a Chapter, such communication and mutual help also create bonds between members of neighboring Valleys. As a service, I would be happy to assist any Valley by providing information and materials.

Black cap organizations represent a very powerful way to strengthen participation and involvement in Scottish Rite Valleys. They can provide important links to Scottish Rite traditions while providing a way forward into a bright future. Starting a Chapter is a great experience that is well worth your time. Your Chapter will be a source of pride and enjoyment to you and a service to your Valley.

Joby E. Dixon is a doctoral candidate in Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in organizational design and development and entrepreneurship. He is Founding Venerable Master of the Order of the Thistle of the Knights Commander of St. Andrew and Assistant Reunion Director for the Valley of Austin. He is also a member of Gaston Lodge No. 263 in Dallas, North Carolina, and Parsons Lodge No. 222 in Austin, Texas, as well as the Scottish Rite Research Society, Austin York Rite Bodies, the Royal Order of Scotland, and numerous other Masonic Bodies. He will complete his doctoral work in May 2003.