Masons

Freemasonry is the world’s oldest and largest fraternity that teaches a learning system designed to build character by using symbols and allegory and expressed through rituals and ceremonies.

Freemasonry is not a religion. It is a secular organization. However, it does have a religious component. All members of the fraternity must profess a belief in a Supreme Being, but it is left up to each individual member to believe in that Supreme Being in the way he chooses. In fact, Freemasons are not allowed to discuss religion nor politics at their meetings, because these topics tend to be divisive and often interfere with developing relationships based on universal virtues in which all humans can agree. Therefore, it is common to find members of the fraternity with varied religious and political views working together for the greater good despite their differences.

To become a Freemason, one joins something called a “lodge”. A lodge meets in a “lodge room”. Lodge rooms are housed in Masonic Halls, Masonic Temples, or Masonic Centers.

Below in the black & white photo are the Dias chairs in the first masonic building located in the Fox building in 1895 in Grand Rapids Michigan.  When the Masonic meeting areas were planned for by Cotton Fox 32° at the corner of North Ionia and Louis streets, an offer was made that if all the Masonic bodies would take long time leases the upper stories of the seven story building would be constructed with special reference to the needs of Masonry for those floors and that the building should be called the Masonic Temple (but the bottom floors would be leased out to other purposes and businesses). That building was soon constructed and was completed in 1895. The Masonic bodies took possession of their quarters on October 15, 1895. They soon outgrew their leased space and had designed and had fund raisers for a new Masonic Temple. When the new Masonic Temple was built in 1915 the Dais chairs were transferred to the New Temple located on Fulton and Lafayette streets to be used in one of the lodge rooms. Below in the color photos are the same chairs from 1895 still being used today in the 1915 Masonic Temple as we continue to serve masonry as we provide meeting space and activities for members.

The Grand Rapids Masonic Center was built in 1915 and only used for fraternal purposes until the mid-1980s. Though much of the Grand Rapids Masonic Center building is now rented out to a variety of tenants, it still has designated lodge rooms where a number of the active masonic lodges of the Grand Rapids Freemasons meet.

The United States Masons (also known as Freemasons) originated in England and became a popular association for leading colonials after the first American lodge was founded in Boston in 1733. Masonic brothers pledged to support one another and provide sanctuary if needed.

George Washington, a young Virginia planter, becomes a Master Mason, the highest basic rank in the secret fraternity of Freemasonry. The ceremony was held at the Masonic Lodge No. 4 in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Washington was 21 years old and would soon command his first military operation as a major in the Virginia colonial militia. (more information on Brother George Washington at: https://gwmemorial.org/pages/george-washington-the-mason  and at https://scottishritenmj.org/blog/george-washington-freemason)

George Washington Laying U.S. Capital Building Cornerstone 1793.

Freemasonry evolved from the practices and rituals of the stonemasons’ guilds in the Middle Ages. With the decline of European cathedral buildings, “lodges” decided to admit non-stonemasons to maintain membership, and the secret fraternal order grew in popularity in Europe. In 1717, the first Grand Lodge, an association of lodges, was founded in England, and Freemasonry was soon disseminated throughout the British Empire. The first American Mason lodge was established in Philadelphia in 1730, and future revolutionary leader Benjamin Franklin was a founding member.

Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. was initiated into Freemasonry on September 30, 1949, in Grand Rapids Michigan at Malta Lodge No. 465 located at 233 Fulton Street East, the Masonic Center. He was 40th Vice President of the United States from December 1973 to August 1974 and the 38th President of the United States from August 1974 to January 1977. He spent 25 years in Congress from 1965 to 1973 serving Michigan’s 5th congressional district which was Southwest Michigan Grand Rapids area. He was House Minority Leader. He grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan and had four children: Michael, John, Steven, and Susan. Starred on the University of Michigan football team and played center on two national-championship football teams and was the team's most valuable player in 1934. Went to Yale, where he served as assistant coach while earning his law degree. World War II he attained the rank of lieutenant commander in the Navy. Masonic History Initiated: September 30, 1949, Malta Lodge No. 465 (now merged into Doric Lodge No. 342), Grand Rapids, Michigan at the Masonic Center on Fulton; along with his half-brothers Thomas Gardner Ford (1918-1995), Richard Addison Ford (1924-2015) and James Francis Ford (1927-2001). The Fellowcraft and Master Mason Degrees were Conferred by Columbia Lodge No. 3, Washington, D.C., on April 20 and May 18, 1951 (became a master mason), as a courtesy to Malta Lodge.

He became a member of the Scottish Rite in the Valley of Grand Rapids, A.A.S.R., Northern Jurisdiction, in 1957. Brother Gerald Ford was made a Sovereign Grand Inspector General, 33° Scottish Rite Mason, and Honorary Member, Supreme Council A.A.S.R. Northern Jurisdiction at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, on September 26, 1962, for which he served as Exemplar (Representative) for his Class.

Brother and President Gerald Ford was unanimously elected an Active Member of the International Supreme Council, Order of DeMolay and its Honorary Grand Master at its Annual Session held at Orlando, Florida, April 6-9, 1975. Brother Ford held this post until January 1977, at which time he became a Past Honorary Grand Master, receiving his Collar and Jewel on October 24, 1978, in Topeka, Kansas, from the Hon. Thomas C. Raum, Jr., Grand Master, Order of DeMolay.

Ford received the degrees of York Rite Masonry (Chapter and Council degrees) in a special ceremony in the Oval Office on January 11, 1977.

During his term as President of the United States in 1975 he stated, "When I took my obligation as a master mason—incidentally, with my three younger brothers—I recalled the value my own father attached to that order. But I had no idea that I would ever be added to the company of the Father of our Country and 12 other members of the order who also served as Presidents of the United States."  

Brother Ford was also a Shriner of Saladin Temple at Grand Rapids Michigan. Brother Ford was the last President to be a Freemason.

In white Master Mason apron.     Shiner Fez hat.     Scottish Rite 33rd Degree Mason White hat.   Sitting in Oval Office.     

More on information on Brother Gerald Ford at:  https://scottishritenmj.org/blog/gerald-ford-scottish-rite-freemason

Learn more on Michigan Masonry: https://michiganmasons.org/about-michigan-masons/history/

Main Page of Michigan Masons: https://michiganmasons.org/