Description: |
Anniversary Lodge of Research No. 175
Free and Accepted Masons
Grand Lodge of New Hampshire
Constituted 20 May 1964
About Anniversary Lodge of Research
Research Lodges exist in many jurisdictions. These special-purpose Lodges typically do not work degrees, but accept members through affiliation. They concentrate on the historical and philosophical aspects of the Craft. New Hampshire’s Anniversary Lodge of Research No. 175 was founded in 1964, as part of the celebration of the 175th Anniversary of the founding of the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire in 1789, hence the name and the number 175. The charter members of the Lodge included a number of prominent Masonic historians and writers:
Herbert E. Kimball
Carl A. Buswell
Ralph L. Sloan
Harold O. Cady
Melvin B. Dunbar
Stanley A. Johnson
Robert H. Danelson
Thomas W. Hood
Carroll M. Fogg
Roger E. Hopkins
Raymond A Ellis
Ellis W. Howard
Carroll H. Ingalls
Leslie F. Murch
Harold C. McAllister
George B. Ward
The Lodge has its Annual Meeting and Installation on 8 July, on the anniversary of the founding of our Grand Lodge, at the William Pitt Tavern in Portsmouth’s Strawbery Banke. The Lodge has four additional meetings during the year. Most meetings are visits to other New Hampshire Lodges, where the members typically provide educational programs, but there is an occasional Table Lodge or Ladies at the Table event. Since its founding, Anniversary Lodge has published several volumes of papers by its members, and in 1992, the Lodge assisted in the publication of a book, First American Born: The Life and Journal of Jonathan Belcher, the First-Known American-Born Freemason, by Brother David Crockett of Concord, NH. In 2000. it began the publication of a Quarterly Newsletter.
The by-laws of Anniversary Lodge establish two classes of members. Regular Members, who may vote and hold office, must also be members of a Constituent Lodge in New Hampshire, while Associate Members must be members of Constituent Lodges in jurisdictions in amity with the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire. Today, Anniversary Lodge has over one hundred members, from all over New Hampshire, from the other New England States from other States and Canadian Provinces, and from England and Australia. At this time, membership in Anniversary Lodge does not require the submission of a research paper, although that is certainly encouraged. All members receive the publications of the Lodge, and the publications are also sent to a number of Masonic libraries and similar organizations.
Membership in Anniversary Lodge of Research is particularly recommended for Masons with an interest in the history and philosophy of Masonry. It provides an excellent opportunity to see one’s work in print, to converse with like-minded Masons and to learn about the activities of other Research Lodges. |
