George Washington Masonic Memorial

Have you ever been a tourist in your own city? How often do we tell ourselves that we need to go and do or see something, but don’t because we live here and will get around to it someday? The Masonic Temple was one of those things I just put off until this weekend. I live less than a mile from it and pass it every day. yet, I have not ventured to drive up to it and explore.

This past weekend, we played hosts to Aaron’s childhood friend and his wife, Brent and Becca – two beautiful people. And we had the chance to explore our surroundings a bit more. I guess sometimes it takes a tourist to really make you want to be one too 🙂 So, off we went to discover this temple (with a few other well-informed people who had the same idea.) The weather was great for walking around and taking pictures, and knowing me, I did just that.

Brief History:

* The Lodge at Alexandria, VA was first warranted in 1783. In 1784, George Washington was made and Honorary Member of the Lodge. In 1788, he was asked to be the Charter Master for the Virginia Lodge and he agreed. In 1789, he was inaugurated as the First President of the United States. In other words, he was the Master Charter of a very large organization in Virginia and he was the President at the same time.
* When George Washington died in 1799, the Lodge was renamed Alexandria-Washington Lodge. It was a repository of many invaluable artifacts of Washington and the Washington Family. However the Lodge rooms were inadequate for the display and a fire in the Lodge in 1871 destroyed many of these artifacts.
* Ten years after the first official meeting, the concept of a memorial was approved. The site was selected to follow the ancient traditions of constructing temples on hilltops or mountains. It was also familiar territory to Washington as it was once proposed by Thomas Jefferson to be the site for the nation’s Capitol.
* The groundbreaking ceremony took place in 1922. The Association was determined not to borrow money and so the projects went forward only when they had collected the money for it. In 1923, the cornerstone was dedicated in a Masonic ceremony, where Pres. Calvin Coolidge and former president Taft performed it in front of thousands of freemasons from around the country.
*In 1932, the memorial was dedicated. By 1970, the George Washington Masonic Memorial was completed.

The George Washington Masonic Memorial

The view from the steps of the temple looking toward the Potomac River, along King Street.

The room that held several paintings and artifacts of George Washington and the Lodge.

This chair belonged to George Washington and he had to bring this chair to the Lodge since most men at the time were, at their tallest, 5 feet 8 inches. Washington was 6 feet 5 inches and there was no chair that he could sit in comfortably, sometimes, for hours, while they conducted their business in this room. So when he became the Charter Master, he brought this chair from his estate on Mt. Vernon and it has remained at the Lodge ever since, and each new Charter Master sits in it, very carefully when he is made the Master. One time, one of the masters who was a fairly large man, sat in it and the back legs broke right off. The chair is about 250 years old.

This painting is very special because although there are several paintings of Washington in his Masonic regalia, this is the only one he ever actually sat for. He detested sitting for a portrait painting and when this was done, he was quite old, and therefore, even more irritated at having to sit still for so long. Washington had several pockmarks on his skin and a rather large, unsightly mole just below his right ear, that people would stop and stare at it. In order to be taken more seriously and wanting people to hear what he had to say and to not be distracted, he would don very heavy makeup when he went out in public. Makeup in those days were wax-based, so can you imagine when the weather was humid and he had to spend hours crammed in a room full of people for hours! This is where the expression, “losing face” comes from, because one would quite literally lose their face, as their makeup slid right off with their perspiration.  For this portrait, Washington decided not to wear any makeup and to just be himself, which makes this a unique painting. The other things to notice is that his mouth is a bit slack. This is because he is not wearing his dentures. He suffered from tooth decay and gum disease all his life, and had to have several sets of teeth custom made for him to wear. Again, being true to form for this painting, he went without them. (Amazing what I can remember from hearing the tour guide speak.)

The chairs lined up on the side of the room. Notice how tiny the two chairs in the corner are and you will understand why Washington needed his own chair.

The Bible that belonged to George Washington.

George Washington established the Badge of Military Merit in 1782 when he was a General. After the Revolution, the records were lost. It was not until the Bicentennial of Washington’s birthday, that John Fitzpatrick, a custodian of documents in the Library of Congress, found the records and coined the name “Purple Heart”. In 1932, President Hoover directed an order to be issued to revive the Purple Heart as George Washington had intended it. It became the first US Military decoration and the second oldest such decoration in the world.

The ceiling in the Main Hall.

A large, imposing, bronze statue of George Washington. The main hall was designed to honor Washington and to surround him with all those whom he knew well and loved, like his doctors, his friends like Benjamin Franklin, etc. These people are depicted in the stained-glass windows that surround the top part of the main hall.

You can see the stained glass windows in this picture along with a large mural. This mural and all other murals in this memorial were painted by Allyn Cox, the same painter who painted the colossal paintings that hang in the rotunda of the nation’s Capitol Building.

A picture of Brent, Becca, Aaron and I taken by a tourist, who generously cut Washington at his knees, while taking this picture. If you had not seen the previous picture of Washington’s statue, this could just be us in front of some very big legs of a statue.

This mural depicts the laying of the cornerstone of the Capitol building. The dedication was performed in a Masonic ceremony and you can see Washington, wearing his apron and so are several others in this painting. He is also holding the trowel, one of the many masonic symbols, to spread the cement on the cornerstone to hold it in place.

I thought this was very interesting. If you notice towards the bottom of the picture, you will see the name James Taylor Senior. What you are looking at is the Minute Book of the Journeyman’s Lodge No. 8, where the secretary of that Lodge would take the meeting minutes and record the names of the brothers of the Lodge who had immigrated to America. This was from Edinburgh, Scotland, circa 1794. Pretty amazing because Aaron’s grandfather’s name is James Taylor. There may not be any connection at all, but still pretty neat!

This jug looks like an ordinary jug from the 1790’s. In fact, it contains many or all of the masonic symbols in the engravings on it, as you can see. There are many similarities that can be seen  today in the Latter Day Saint temples, such as the “eye”. The next picture took me by surprise.

In the banner in this picture on the jug, are the words: Holiness to the Lord. Where else have you seen that phrase? Exactly! On the walls of the entrance of the temples of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was incredible to see that, knowing it was made in 1790 and the Church had not come into being till 1830.

One of the Masonic aprons.

Hope you enjoyed a mini tour of the Memorial. If you live here and have not seen it, you should. If you are visiting, make sure you add this to your list of places to see. You will not be disappointed.