In the Lodge Room

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Members of Altemont Lodge, Peterborough, New Hampshire, 1861
George H. Scripture (1839-1929)
Peterborough, New Hampshire
Museum Purchase, 2001.063

A new lodge room or the election of a new group of officers at a Masonic or fraternal lodge sometimes prompted the creation of a photograph to celebrate and document the event. 

In 1861, for example, members of Altemont Lodge No. 26, in Peterborough, New Hampshire, agreed to use lodge funds to pay for a “Miniature Frame” to be made and hung in their lodge room. This frame of miniature portraits would include “every Master Mason in regular standing in town”—be they a member of Altemont Lodge or not. Masons in the area were “...invited to deposit their ambrotypes with those of the Brothers of the Lodge.”

 

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Royal Arch Officers in Regalia (Emmett B. Baker, Alex R. DeMarais, John K. Olsen, Frank E. Nelson),
1969-1970
Dwight Davis (1897-1972)
Woburn, Massachusetts
Gift of Mystic-Woburn Royal Arch Chapter, Woburn, Massachusetts, 2014.082.13a

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Emil Cruz with Companion, 1970
Pherlo Photo
Detroit, Michigan
Gift of Patricia Fé Andrews, 2016.070.20

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Members of St. James Lodge No. 23, 1872
Nathan D. Morgan (1821-1871)
Norwich, Connecticut
Gift of Valley of Norwich, Connecticut, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction,
U.S.A., 2003.018.3a-b

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Independent Order of Odd Fellows Officers, 1860-1900
Thomas Rice Burnham (1834-1893)
Boston, Massachusetts
Museum Purchase, 2001.070.2