FLETCHER.891     P 8

Education  The Route To Our Future

by Richard E. Fletcher   MPS

James Smithson endowed the Institu-
tion which bears his name with these
words "To found an establishment for
the increase and diffusion of knowledge
among men. "

He also wrote that " every man is a
valuable member of society who by his
observations, researches, and experi-
ments procures knowledge for men. "

Today the Smithsonian in Washington,
D.C. stands as a lasting tribute to this
man' s vision and to his unwavering
belief in the importance of knowledge
and education.

To the Masonic Fraternity, knowledge
and its quest, is quite simply, the most
important thing we do! Make no mis-
take about it - nothing - repeat - noth-
ing else comes close! Freemasonry and
education, which is the accumulation of
knowledge, have become so intertwined
as to be inseparable.

Historically, Masons have not only
stressed the importance of knowledge
within our Fraternity but have also been
some of its staunchest supporters
without!

For example:

1. The oldest Academic Honor Society
in this nation was founded in 1776 at the
College of William and Mary in Willi-
amsburg, Virginia. It was modeled on
Freemasonry but in the 1800s, ceased its
Secret Rites and became strictly an Aca-
demic Honor Society. Today, there is no
greater evidence of academic achieve-
ment than to wear a Phi Beta Kappa key.

2. There is conclusive historical evi-
dence that at least 100 Lodges in early
Texas had the first floor of their Lodge
buildings used as Public Schools!

3 . One of the greatest Masonic charities
is that of scholarships made available to
deserving young people in many of our
Grand Jurisdictions.

Why are these kinds of commitments
important?

Samuel Eliot Morison; Henry Steele
Commager, and William E. Leuchten-
burg co-authored a book entitled "A
Concise History of the American Repub-
lic" in which they said:

" America was the first country in mod-
ern history where each generation had
more education than its forebears - an
elementary consideration which goes far
to explain that child-centered society
which puzzled foreign observers. The
familiar process of enlarging both the










base and the height of the educational
pyramid was greatly accelerated in the
years after the Second World War. Pros-
perity, the G.I. Bill of Rights, the urgent
demands for expertise - all of these com-
bined to give a powerful impetus to edu-
cation. By 1960 the college occupied
about the same position in the edu-
cational enterprise as the high school in
1920 and the junior college in 1940. Be-
tween 1920 and 1960, the total number
of students at institutions of higher edu-
cation grew from less than 600,000 to 3.6
million, a critical development in the en-
largement of the middle class. "
 It is no overstatement to say that the
development of our country was due,
in very large part, to a highly educated
population.
 Yet, sadly, today we graduate from
High School students who are function-
ally illiterate! The trend seems to be
turning, but what a boost modern edu-
cation would receive, to know that the
Freemasons support the effort for im-
provement.
 As Lord Brougham once observed:
 "Education makes a people easy to
lead, but difficult to drive; easy to
govern, but impossible to enslave. "



And as Disraeli told the British House
of Commons in 1874:

"Upon the education of the people of
this country the fate of this country de-
pends. "

Can Freemasonry really make a
difference?

You bet it can - Let me give you an
example:

Lt. General Robert D. Springer

On September 11, 1987 in the Masonic
Temple in Philadelphia, Lt. Gen. Robert
Springer was made a Mason-atSight.
This is a special ceremony only rarely
used and then to honor someone whose
life has been exemplary.

The background of Gen. Springer is not
only of hardship and suffering but also a
bit of " Horatio Alger. " General Springer
spent much of his youth at the Patten
Home located in Pennsylvania. This
home was sponsored for orphans, by the
Freemasons in Pennsylvania.

Needing help, as dld so many young
people, the Masons provided care and
the opportunity for schooling to thou-
sands of these young people over a period
of many years.

Gen. Springer used the educational
facilities available to build the base for an
outstanding life of achievement. From
an orphan, with nothing, to Lt. General
in the United States Air Force is no small
accomplishment. Freemasons can be
very proud that at a crucial time in a
young man's life they were there to help!
Members of our Fraternity never know
when or how they will help to shape the
life of a young person.
 But we can be proud in the knowledge
that it does happen!
 From Freemasonry in the community,
let's now focus our thoughts on Masonic
Education within the Craft. Let's talk
about Masonic knowledge both "Un-
known" and "Known."
 First: Unknown;
 Ignorance and neglect represent our
"unknown" knowledge. How many of
our Lodges and members have old
books, minutes and other papers Iying
around in closets, boxes, bags, trunks
and other similar containers. How many
realize what these old books and papers
contain? How often do we see these old
items turn up in flea markets where the
seller doesn't even know what the items
mean or are all about?
 Masonry has no greater enemies that
the ones we self-impose: tgnorance and
neglect!
 We simply have no excuse for not rec-
ognizing our own historical documents
and treasures.
 It would seem to me that the Philalethes
Society can continue to play an impor-
tant role in developing ways in which we
can recognize Masonic papers of histori-
cal significance. At least to know how to
recognize something that might be
potentially important.

Secondly: Known

We also have a wealth of " known "
material stored in our libraries,
museums, Lodge-rooms, and in the
minds of many of our members. This
"known" knowledge forces us to con-
front one of Freemasonry's greatest
problems! How do we concentrate Ma-
sonic knowledge and present it to the
Masonic community in useable format?
How do we stir interest in our own mem-
bers to want to share the wealth of infor-
mation that is available?

Realistically another question must be
asked: If we were to double Masonic
membership would we have more active
members or instead twice as many stay-
ing away?

Membership is not our problem. Lack
of interest by our present members is our
problem! We simply are not challenging
the majority of Masons to learn about
our Fraternity. Freemasonry has a beau-
tiful heritage of history, quality of
thought and sincerity of purpose - and it
is not being properly communicated.
The challenge is to develop ways of
turning Masonic knowledge into formats
that are of enough interest to be used!

How about recording the thoughts and
memories of the "old timer" in every
Lodge. Printed material is of great im-
portance but we also need to do more in
film and videotape. Film for the larger
audience and videotape for the sma,ler
group or one on one training that is so
urgently needed! In short, we should be
taking more advantage of modern tech-
nology.

None of this can happen without
people! It is my opinion that no challenge
faces the Masonic Fraternity of greater
importance than the development of a
new generation of Masonic thinkers and
writers. Since Robert Burns or Rudyard
Kipling who has written poetry about
Masonry? Who is the author such as
Mark Twain using Masonry in their sto-
ries? Who is the Mozart writing music
with Masonic overtones? Who in the arts
uses Masonic references? Of more recent
vintage, we are losing a generation of
Masonic writers and thinkers and who
are the replacements in sight?

If we as Masons only realized the enor-
mous wealth of talent within our own
Fraternity and knew how to harness and
channel that talent we would quickly re-
turn to the status we once held in our
communities. We must not delude our-
selves into thinking talent is not available
in our Fraternity. It most certainly is.

Our job is to find and use that talent!

Our job is to use the resources available
in our Masonic libraries, museums and
any other source of stored knowledge we
have, to prepare, in useable format, a
program of Masonic Education.

Our job is to retrieve lost or ignored
records and restore them either into local
use or broader repositories of Masonic
history.

Our job is to be alert to and advance a
new generation of Masonic writers and
thinkers .

Our job is to communicate with Grand
Lodge about the urgent need for funding
Masonic Educational projects.

"Man must seek though he but partly f inds
He must build, though it too shall be
destroyed
He must live, though he shall surely die
He must strive for memory, though he shall
be forgotten
and the deathless words of Solomon
in Ecclesiastics thunder through the ages,
even the vanity of wisdom hard pursued

Ledmund Parsons
from "The Alexandrian Library"

The Philalethes, August, 1991
