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Mantel Clock, 1800s, France, Scottish Rite Masonic Museum and Library , gift of Mrs. Willis R. Michael, 85.108.10a-b. Photograph by David Bohl.
Mantel Clock, 1880–1890, Theodore B. Starr (1837–1907), New York, New York, Scottish Rite Masonic Museum and Library, gift of Mrs. Willis R. Michael, 85.108.3a-b. Photograph by David Bohl.
Masonic Doorstop, late 1800s, United States or England. Museum Purchase, 2009.072. Photograph by David Bohl.
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Ongoing
From a plastic cowboy hat made for Lyndon Johnson’s campaign from president, to Masonic items from the Civil War, to handsome shelf clocks, a new exhibition at the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library sheds light on what the Museum collects and why. The Museum actively works to improve and refine its collection of over 17,000 objects through gifts and purchases—adding items to the collection that tell an engaging story about American history. The new exhibition, “Collecting at the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library,” features 16 objects new to the collection, and 12 clocks from the Willis Michael Clock Collection. The installation is ongoing.
The Museum’s primary strength is its American Masonic and fraternal items. As one of the largest groups of objects of this kind in the United States, the Museum’s holdings include over 400 fraternal aprons, over 2,500 fraternal badges and pieces of jewelry, and more than 1,000 items of Masonic and fraternal regalia. The symbols on a, 1800s Indiana cupboard, one of the new items on view, suggest that the local Order of the Eastern Star group organized their papers in one section, while the town’s Masonic lodge used the other two. A new Masonic building was constructed in Madison in 1871 and the cupboard may have been made or purchased around that time.
The Museum also collects material related to American history. The cowboy hat on display reflects Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 campaign image of a born-and-bred Texan. A number of rare Masonic objects dating from the Civil War years are also on view. The pins and chevras worn by soldiers indicated their Masonic membership on the battlefield.
A number of notable acquisitions from the Willis Michael’s Clock Collection are highlighted. The passion and generosity of collectors like Willis and Ruth Michael have enhanced the Museum’s holdings and allowed us to tell a wide range of stories. Starting in the 1970s, Ruth Michaels’ gift of more than 140 clocks, watches, and tools from her husband’s collection formed the core of the Museum’s timepiece holdings. She donated the items in honor of the many friendships Mr. Michael had formed through his life-long participation in Freemasonry. On view are stunning clocks including one featuring Mnemosyne, the Greek goddess of memory and time, and a charming and whimsical timepiece in the shape of an owl.
The Museum’s collection helps inform visitors about American history, especially the wide variety of fraternal groups that have been part of our national story, and demonstrate the role that Masonic and fraternal organizations have played—and continue to play—in American life. Visit the Museum’s website at www.nationalheritagemuseum.org to read blog posts about the collection, and to access a searchable database of selections from the collection. To discuss a donation of objects or archival materials to the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, please contact the Museum at 781-861-6559.
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Bowl, 1796-1800, Liverpool, England. Museum purchase through the generosity of Stanley N. Howard Sr., Roland B. Greenley, M.R. Langdell, and the Harvey Leggee Collection of Shrine and Fraternal Material, 2010.052. Photograph by David Bohl.
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Masonic Civil War ID Pin, ca. 1861, United States. Gift of Jacques Noel Jacobsen Jr., 2009.021.24.
Photograph by David Bohl.
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