Robert L. Uzzel, 32°, P.H.A.
7041 Sorcey Road, Dallas, Texas 75249
Undoubtedly, Masonic principles have inspired
Senator George McGovern's humanitarian and public service.
Ill.
George S. McGovern, 33°, and his wife, Eleanor, pose by
a fountain on the campus of Dakota Wesleyan University (DWU).
DWU's Layne Library contains the Senator George McGovern Collection.
Photo courtesy of the Sen. George
McGovern Collection Layne Library, Dakota Wesleyan University
Senator George Stanley McGovern is a 33° Scottish Rite
Mason, S.J., who has long been identified with the grassroots
of America. He titled his autobiography Grassroots and gave
the following explanation for the title: "As a product
of the Dakota prairies, my physical and spiritual heritage is
in the land and among ordinary Americans of all walks of life.
My years of building a two-party government in South Dakota
were referred to from the beginning as 'grassroots organizing.'
My campaigns for the Congress, the Senate, and the presidency
have constantly been designated 'grassroots campaigns.' So this
informal memoir is called Grassroots."1
This outstanding son of the Middle Border and global citizen
was born on 19 July 1922, in the Wesleyan Methodist parsonage
in Avon, South Dakota. His family moved to Mitchell, South Dakota,
in 1928, and Ill. McGovern graduated from Mitchell High School
in 1940. An outstanding student especially proficient in debate,
George won a scholarship to Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell.
There, he was no doubt influenced by the school's motto of "Sacrifice
or Service." As an undergraduate, he won the state oratorical
contest with a speech titled "My Brother's Keeper,"
in which he expressed a belief in the responsibility of the
individual to humankind. At Dakota Wesleyan, he met fellow student
Eleanor Stegeberg, and they were married on 31 October 1943.
The couple's five children were all born in Mitchell.2
Ill. McGovern's education was interrupted in 1943 by the call
to serve his country in World War II. As a B-24 bomber pilot
in Europe, he flew 35 combat missions and earned the Distinguished
Flying Cross.3
After completing his military service, McGovern returned to
Dakota Wesleyan, graduating in 1946. He then spent one year
at Garrett Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, before
transferring to Chicago's Northwestern University, where he
received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in History and Political
Science. From 1950 to 1955, he was a beloved and respected faculty
member at Dakota Wesleyan.4
During his time at his alma mater, Professor McGovern became
a Mason in Resurgam Lodge No. 31 in Mitchell. He was initiated
as an Entered Apprentice on 28 September 1954, passed to the
Degree of Fellow Craft on 16 November 1954, and was raised to
the Sublime Degree of Master Mason on 21 December 1954.5
Shortly after his resignation from his teaching position, he
received the 32° of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite
in Oriental Consistory, Yankton, South Dakota, becoming a Master
of the Royal Secret on 13 November 1955.6 His
devotion to the principles of Freemasonry, as expressed in his
years of public service, resulted in his being coroneted a 33°
Inspector General Honorary by the Supreme Council, 33°,
of the Southern Jurisdiction on 23 October 1969.7
Professor McGovern left the classroom in 1955 to become Executive
Secretary of the South Dakota Democratic Party. He did much
to revitalize his party in a largely Republican state. In 1956,
he was elected to Congress, and in 1958, he was reelected. In
1960, he ran unsuccessfully for the U. S. Senate. However, he
was soon appointed by newly elected President John F. Kennedy
as the first Director of the Food for Peace Program and as a
Special Assistant to the President. In these roles, he was able
to oversee the donation of millions of tons of food to developing
nations. He was then elected to the U. S. Senate in 1962 and
was reelected in 1968 and 1974. He represented America's heartland
with distinction by serving on the committees on agriculture,
nutrition, forestry, and foreign relations as well as the Joint
Economic Committee. In both houses of Congress, he spoke out
forcefully against American involvement in the Vietnam War and
on behalf of American farmers and the dispossessed. In 1972,
he was the Democratic nominee for President, the only South
Dakotan so honored by a major party.8
In 1976, President Gerald Ford, 33°, N.M.J., Grand Cross,
S.J., appointed McGovern as a delegate to the General Assembly
of the United Nations. Then in 1978, President Jimmy Carter
named him as a delegate to the UN Special Session on Disarmament.
After leaving the Senate in 1981, McGovern has been honored
as a visiting professor at numerous institutions of higher learning.
He served as President of the Middle East Policy Council from
1991 to 1998, when President Bill Clinton appointed him as Ambassador
to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome.
In this position, he has done much to combat world hunger. On
9 August 2000, President Clinton awarded him the Presidential
Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor.9
He now serves as the UN's first Global Ambassador on World Hunger.
Although he turned 80 on 19 July 2002, it appears that the word
"retirement" is not part of his vocabulary.
Over the years, McGovern has found the time to write numerous
books. One book grew out of a family tragedy. It is entitled
Terry: My Daughter's Life and Death Struggle with Alcoholism.
The royalties are used to help finance the Terry McGovern Foundation,
which was established to promote research on alcoholism and
help other families avoid the tragic loss of a loved one to
this devastating disease.10
Now, Dakota Wesleyan University is making plans to honor two
of its outstanding alumni by the construction of the George
and Eleanor McGovern Library, which will serve as a repository,
laboratory, and center for the development of servant leaders.11
Ground breaking should take place in late 2002 or early 2003.12
There can be no doubt that Ill. George Stanley McGovern, 33°,
has been greatly inspired by Masonic principles as he continues
his humanitarian and public service. May the Grand Architect
of the Universe grant him many more years to continue to exemplify
the motto of Dakota Wesleyan University: "Sacrifice or
Service."
Endnotes
1George McGovern, Grassroots: The Autobiography
of George McGovern (New York: Random House, 1977), vii.
2"George McGovern: Son of Wesleyan-Citizen
of the World," http://www.mcgovernlibrary.com
/george.htm, 1.
3Ibid.
4Ibid.
5Larry D. Carlson, Executive Director, Grand
Lodge, A.F.&A.M., of South Dakota. Personal letter. 15 February
1999.
6Don Munson, Secretary, Yankton Scottish Rite
Bodies. Personal interview. 15 January 2002.
7Records of Supreme Council, 33°, S.J.,A.&A.S.R.
8"George McGovern: Son of Wesleyan-Citizen
of the World," 1-2.
9Ibid, 1-2.
10"The Terry McGovern Foundation,"
http://www.
mcgovernfamily.org/message.htm, 1.
11"A Library for the New Millennium,"
http://
www.mcgovernlibrary.com/library.htm, 1.
12Greg Christy, Vice President for Institutional
Development, Dakota Wesleyan University. Personal interview.
15 January 2002.
|
Robert L.
Uzzel
is a member of Pythagoras Lodge No. 87, P.H.A.; Waxahachie,
Texas; Dale Consistory No. 31, Dallas, and Zakat Temple
No. 164, Ancient Egyptian Arabic Nobles of the Mystic Shrine,
Dallas. A Fellow and Director of Public Communication for
the Phylaxis Society, he holds a Ph.D. (1995) from Baylor
University in World Religions, serves as an Adjunct Instructor
at Cedar Valley College, Lancaster, and pastors Forest Hill
African Methodist Episcopal Church, Fort Worth, Texas. He
is a member of the Scottish Rite Research Society and the
Philalethes Society. Recently, Eakin Press, Austin, published
Blind Lemon Jefferson, His Life, His Death, His Legacy,
Bro. Uzzel's biography of the famous blues performer. Photo:
Samuel E. Naive, Waco, Texas |
