We have seen from a distance and driven near many times this very interesting looking building in Alexandria, Virginia. Our understanding from this distance perspective is that it was a Masonic Temple and we just figured we couldn't go in. Amazingly, that is not the case. There is no charge for a tour but donations are accepted. So we drove to this beautiful building and took a tour.
George Washington and many of the other founding fathers were Masons. George Washington was a Master Mason and head of his lodge at one point.
So that I get this part right, this is from material we received at the museum:
The movement to erect a Masonic Memorial started at a meeting held in Alexandria, Virginia, on February 10, 1910. Upon invitation of Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22, the representatives of 18 Grand Lodges assembled in the sacred precincts of the Lodge Room of the city Hall of Alexandria to consider the subject in all its details. The following year, February 22, 1911, 27 representatives of 27 Grand Jurisdictions assembled and organized the George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association. The association unanimously adopted and approved a resolution to erect a Masonic Temple as a memorial to George Washington, under the auspices of the Lodge. The financial policy of the Association from the very beginning has been "pay as you go", so that there is no indebtedness in connection with its construction. Ground was broken June 5, 1922.
The edifice is designed in the classic architecture of Greece and rome. Situationed on a 36 acre tract of land, it rises 333 feet from its foundation, and contains 9 floors.
The records of the Lodge are virtually an unbroken chain of historic Masonic events from 1783 to the present time. All of the records, most of the original furniture, the Master's Chair--presented to the Lodge by Washington and occupied by in 1788-1789 while Master--the original portait of Washington by Williams, as well as several other items are still in possession of the Lodge.
Now...back to my words:
The original location of the Alexandria-Washington Lodge was in Old Town Alexandria. This beautiful city sits right on the edge of the Potomac River. It is subject to frequent flooding. The original lodge went through several of these floodings, losing many of the original pieces of furniture to water damage, and then moved all their things to the location on a hill overlooking downtown Alexandria and the Potomac River.
Because it sits on a hill, you must walk up several steps to the entry. Inside the front porch (I'm sure there is technical name here but front porch is all I can come up with.) on either side of the door are inlaid dark marble carvings of two quotes by George Washington to other Lodges about his feelings about being a Mason. You enter enormous doors and are in a grand hall with 4 huge columns down each side. These support the weight of this structure and are also symbolic in meaning. At the far end of the hall is an enormous statue of George Washington wearing his apron. Behind each of the sets of four columns are murals. On one side is a mural of George Washington laying the cornerstone of the National Capital on September 18, 1793. On the other side is a mural of George Washington and brethren in St. John's Day observance at Christ Church Philadelphia on December 28, 1778. In each of these murals the men are all wearing their aprons. These murals are the entire length of this hall, front to back. Above them in the windows are stain glass pieces of art of famous Masons. Above you on the ceiling are 3 large geometric shapes with paintings of the sky and clouds. It is a beautiful room.
Our tour guide was a very young, college age student, and obviously very bright, well read, articulate and passionate about his membership and participation in the Free Masons. Jake would have enjoyed a conversation with this young man. I bet he even reads Lord Byron like Jake.
- I'm not sure what I'm supposed to capitalize and not so I'll err on the side of capitalization of words.
- I took oodles and oodles of pictures but will only put a few in this blog for sake of space.
The tour guide took us first to a room called the 'artifacts room'. He told us about many of the things in this room and then let us ask any question we wanted. I asked 2 questions. The first was about the little brown items sitting on the floor by the chairs. These were spitoons and he was amused by the question. The second was about some black and white framed items on the front wall. He was more impressed with this question than amused. They turned out to be documents used to get the authority to form the Lodge and set up business in Alexandria. The chair at the front of the room encased in plexiglass was the Grand Master's chair. This was donated by Washington as well as the other chairs and furniture in the room. This chair is still used on certain special occasions.
Our tour guide's favorite painting of Washington is displayed in this room. It was done by a man named Williams. Washington asked that Williams paint him as he really was. Washington wanted a painting that really showed him and was not embellished in any way to show him more than he was. The result is the painting below. You can see the wrinkles in Washington's face, the mole under his right ear, his chest is almost sunk in instead of full and broad. Washington was pleased with this painting.
Also housed in this room was a sash used in Washington's burial. It was stretched out along the lower edge of a display window. It was embroidered with different symbols used by the Masons. One that Claude noted and pointed out to me was a beehive with lots of bees surrounding it. Our tour guide told us that many symbols that the Mason's use are taken from history and have a meaning behind them important to the Mason's. One tourist noted the swastika design along the ceilings as you enter the building. Our tour guide pointed out that this is a very old symbol and pre-dates Hitler. Hitler just used it himself and it has come to mean evil to most people today. He noted that architecturally it has been used many times. He said that the building across from the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC proper has this same pattern carved into it's entrance. There is also a replica of Washington's Masonic apron and the tools used at the cornerstone laying of the capitol.We then went back to the grand entry hall and were told about the design of this room. Then we took the elevators to the 2nd level of the building. We would now go up the tower portion of the museum.
This level has items relating to George Washington, the man and his life. There is a balcony of sorts going around the outer wall. On this balcony are Masonic items. One the main level was a statue of George Washington. One either side of him were two banners. These were Scottish Rite banners. The guide explained that as years past some of the Masons wanted to have some meetings that were not as serious and focused on studying ancient texts and philosophy. So there began to be groups of Mason's who focused on others things than the basic Masonic beliefs. Some of these are the Shriner's who dedicated their time and means to assist the disadvantaged. You know them by the fez hats they wear and the little cars they ride in parades. You may have also heard of Shriner's Children's hospitals located across the country. Another group are the York branch. They focus on Biblical studies and you must profess a belief in Diety and a afterlife to belong to this group. Another group is the Scottish Rite. They focus on studying philosophy and writings of the ancients. Our tour guide only participated in the regular Free Mason meetings and also belonged to the Scottish Rite portion. Hence the great vocabulary and immediate sense he was really well read.
While there were many interesting artifacts and items of note on this level, I particularly loved the silk scarf with the plethora of Masonic symbology on it. It was beautiful. I was also taken with the set of weights and measures made in England and donated to the Fairfax area. Our tour guide pointed out the need for us to look for a key to the Bastille. Lafayette came to the colonies from France as part of France's aiding the colonies during the American Revolution. Lafayette and George Washington became very good friends. He presented Washington with a key to the Bastille. Also included in this rooms exhibits was a Masonic apron replica of the one that Lafayettes wife embroidered and gave to George Washington.
The 3rd level of the building is devoted to the York group of the Mason's. They actually take the 3rd & 4th level's of the tower of the building.
The 3rd level focuses on the Old Testament. There were colorful murals painted on all the walls of Old Testament events. On one end of the room was a mural of a temple that had crumbled. This represents man and his fallen state. The state from which he must work and purify and strengthen his life. At the other end of the room were replicas of things found in the Holy Place (menorah, box of incense and shewbread) and in the Holy of Holies (ark of the covenant). On the other 2 walls were doors that opened into tiny rooms with the walls full of coins. Between the 2 doors on each of these walls were paintings of 5 Masonic symols.
The 4th level focuses on the New Testament. There were 2 coats of armor for knights, a podium with the scriptures open to Isaiah, a banner for the Knights Templar and on the higher part of the walls these four stained glass windows. They represent Christ teaching the people, Christ healing the sick, the crucifixion and the ascension after showing the prints in his hands and feet.
The 5th level took us to a room with remaining Old Testament artifacts. There was a baptismal font mounted on 12 oxen, a painting of the temple (but an adobe-like version) with workers performing their tasks about it, and the elevator doors had written in Hebrew on stones the color they would have been in the High Priests clothing the names of each of the 12 tribes and next to that the symbol depicting that tribe. There were doors on 2 sides of this level that let you go outside to a walkway built around the outside. You could see view of the entire landscape of Maryland, Virginia & Washington, DC. It was a beautiful day and you could see forever. I'm posting two pictures. The first is of Alexandria, Virginia with the Potomac River in the background. The 2nd is of National Airport, Washington, DC and the Potomac River.
Claude and I totally enjoyed this tour. It was full of information and understanding. We don't know everything about being a Mason (of course) but we sure felt a lot more informed as we left.
Then it was off to Arlington, Virginia and the Italian Store to get Milanos!!!
