St John's Lodge of Boston presented this jewel to James Dickson in 1812 in recognition of his service as Master of the Lodge in 1812.
:For centuries, Freemasons around the world have adhered to the principles of fraternity, charity and truth laid out in the circa 1390 Regius manuscript. Cloaked in mystery for nearly as long, Freemasonry is the subject of new scrutiny and explication in the exhibit "The Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts: Celebrating 275 Years of Brotherhood."
The exhibit, on view at the National Heritage Museum, traces the history of Freemasonry in the Western Hemisphere through related objects and artifacts gathered over the three centuries of its existence, highlighting its people, places and events.
Masonic symbology and rituals, viewed as arcane by many, are actually drawn from elements of daily life, based largely on the guild system of the Middle Ages, although documentation exists tracing the origins of Freemasonry to ancient Egypt and to the construction of King Solomon's Temple. While much of its custom relates to the construction of the temple, Freemasonry's discernible origins are generally assumed to have been in the English and Scottish guilds of stonemasons who built the grand cathedrals and other remarkable structures of the Middle Ages.
Now celebrating 275 years in the Western Hemisphere, Freemasonry explores its own American history through its artifacts and opens itself to clarification. Because so many early patriots were Masons, Freemasonry and early American history are intertwined.
Modern Freemasonry began with the 1717 establishment of the first Grand Lodge in London. Under the modern rules, membership was no longer restricted to working stonemasons and the former guild evolved into a fraternity based on moral edification, charity, leadership and truth. Members were known as "speculative" or "accepted" Masons. The influence of the Enlightenment was large: Freemasons espoused the brotherhood of man under God; they also looked toward the freedom of man.
The 1812 engraving "A Meeting of Free Masons for the Admission of Masters” by Thomas Palser of London reveals the interior of a lodge meeting room, furnishings, clothing and jewels.
Freemasonry arrived in the Western Hemisphere in 1733 when the Boston tailor Henry Price, a Freemason in his native England, was appointed "Provincial Grand Master of New England and Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging" by the Grand Master of Masons in England. With that, he established the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts in Boston. All subsequent state Grand Lodges in the Western Hemisphere in the Eighteenth Century were established under the aegis of the Massachusetts organization. They were located in Canada (Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Quebec) and the Caribbean (Antigua, Surinam, Barbados and St Kitts). Whalers and merchant mariners spread Freemasonry even further, and lodges under the Massachusetts lodge opened in Valparaiso, Chile, in 1853, in Shanghai, China, in 1863 and in 1912 in Panama.
Although state lodges were chartered by the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, they were not subject to the authority of the Massachusetts lodge. Each state or country has its own Grand Lodge under which lodges within the state are organized. Membership was open to men of good character who believed in a supreme being, although African Americans were not permitted to join the lodge until Prince Hall of Boston established the African Grand Lodge of North America in 1791.
After his death in 1807, the lodge became known as the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. By 2006, there were 44 Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodges, 44 lodges and some 300,000 Prince Hall Masons. Women were not allowed to become Freemasons, although they supported a man's membership because they believed it improved his character. The Order of the Eastern Star was formed in the mid-Nineteenth Century to admit women.
