Universal Freemasonry in Our Nation’s Capital

As a result of inquiries concerning the beginnings of international Freemasonry in Washington, D.C., I have been requested to write an article reciting briefly its history. Apparently I was chosen to take on this chore because I served as Grand Master of Masons in 1990, the year it started.

Our nation’s capital is the logical place for this concept to bear fruit, being the center of international activity in our country. During the last two decades of the 20th Century the diplomatic corps, as well as foreign related organizations, agencies and commissions, both public and private, grew exponentially. Among the thousands of employees of these international bodies, many were Master Masons from foreign countries.

One of the most dedicated Masons of this large group was Robert B. Heyat, now Deputy Grand Master of our Grand Lodge. For quite some time he had explored the feasibility of forming a regular lodge in Washington for the many Iranian refugees living in this area who were Masons in Iran before the revolution. In addition to them were many who would likely petition to become Masons if a Farsi speaking lodge were created.

Most Worshipful Brother Heyat’s idea was to establish a lodge under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia that would be permitted to confer its degrees pursuant to the emulation ritual 1 used in earlier days in Iran. When he discussed his idea with me, it sounded very appealing. So Most Worshipful Brother Stewart W. Miner, then Grand Secretary of our Grand Lodge, and I researched the method of creating a new lodge, no new lodge having been chartered in the District of Columbia for 44 years. After researching the records and old minutes, procedures were developed, but it was first necessary to amend a portion of the Grand Lodge constitution in order to accommodate the use of the emulation ritual in this jurisdiction.

At the May 1990 semi-annual communication of the Grand Lodge a motion to amend the constitution was made and passed. Although Arminius Lodge No. 25, a German speaking lodge, had existed continuously since Charles S. Iversen, Past Grand Master

1876, the concept was a departure from the past practices in our jurisdiction with regard to the emulation ritual. So I explained to the delegates that I planned to issue a dispensation to the Iranian brethren to form a lodge, the first step towards a potential petition by them for a charter as a regular lodge. In order to bolster my intentions, I asked for a non-binding vote of the delegates to determine whether there was opposition to the concept of a bi-lingual lodge using a ritual foreign to our jurisdiction. There appeared to be very little opposition.

Thereupon, a dispensation was issued for the establishment of Mehr Lodge U.D., and a committee of three delegates was appointed to observe the operations of the lodge and to assist as needed. Lodge meetings were held and two degrees were conferred on candidates using the emulation ritual of Iran in the Farsi language. Late in the year, the brethren petitioned the Grand Lodge for a charter as a regular lodge.

The petition was on the agenda of the annual communication of our Grand Lodge in December 1990. After a most favorable report by the committee and a after a brief discussion, the motion to grant a charter was passed by an overwhelming vote. The charter was issued as of that date and the new lodge was consecrated in January 1991 in The Georgetown Masonic Hall by me, at the request of the then Grand Master, MWB Darwin A. Brock, and the officers were installed by MWB Robert B. Heyat.

The primary reason that a charter was granted was the outstanding leadership of Mansour Hatefi, the Master appointed for the lodge. MWB Hatefi later served in the year 2000 as Grand Master and is presently the Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge. Then as charter Master of Mehr Lodge No. 90 he guided its affairs so successfully that other Masons approached the ensuing Grand Masters for dispensations to form more bi-lingual and English speaking lodges. With the help of MWB Robert B. Heyat, several Grand Masters issued their dispensations for new lodges, and all of them ultimately were granted charters as regular lodges.

The lodges chartered starting in 1990 and over the next 15 years were:

1. Mehr Lodge No. 90 (Farsi - Emulation Ritual) (1990)

2. Alianza Fraternal Americana Lodge No. 92 (Spanish - Emulation Ritual) (1992)

3. La France Lodge No. 93 (French - Emulation

Ritual) (1993)

4. Sojourner-Kilwinning Lodge No. 1798 (English

Language - Scottish Constitution Ritual) (1992)

5. Hayastan Lodge No. 94 (Armenian - Emulation

Ritual) (1994)

6. Magnolia Lodge No. 53 (English - DC Ritual) (1996)

7. Lodge of the Nine Muses No. 1776 (English - DC

Ritual) (1997)

8. Massis Lodge No. 99 (Armenian - Emulation

Ritual) (1999) (traveled to Armenia and became

Massis Lodge No. 1 when the Grand Lodge of

Armenia was formed by our Grand Lodge in cooperation with the Grand Lodge Nationale Française and the Grand Lodge of Russia)

9. Nur Lodge No. 2000 (Turkish - Emulation Ritual) (2000)

10. George C. Marshall Lodge No. 55 (English - DC Ritual) (2000) (Charter recalled in 2004)

11. Fraternity Lodge No. 54 (English - DC Ritual) (2000)

12. Fiat Lux Lodge No. 1717 (English Language - English Constitution Ritual) (2001)

13. Italia Lodge No. 2001 (Italian - Emulation Ritual) (2001)

14. Azerbaijan Lodge No. 2002 (Turkish - Emulation Ritual) (2002)

15. Cincinnatus Lodge No. 76 (English - DC Ritual) (2003)

An average of one lodge per year has been chartered starting in 1990, eight of the fifteen being bi-lingual. All are regular lodges. The German speaking lodge, Arminius Lodge No. 25, has existed for 130 years, making the grand total of nine bilingual lodges.

As a consequence, the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia has become a microcosm in Washington, D.C. of universal Masonry in the world. This phenomenon has been eminently successful. The success has benefitted our appendant bodies of Freemasonry as well. Take, for example, the fact that of the 160 new members taken into our local Scottish Rite in 2001, one third of them were from the new fifteen lodges chartered starting in 1990.

1 The emulation ritual was derived from the ritual of the United Grand Lodge of England.

Harmony

My, brethren, I desire to impress upon you the great importance of harmony in all of your actions. As individuals, I am afraid we are all too prone to criticize the actions of others; too slow in adopting and acting on good suggestions, and too apt to oppose every effort, no matter how commendable, if not proposed by ourselves. Every brother seems to feel (and perhaps it is a natural feeling) that his own plan for accomplishing a particular end is better than any other that can be proposed, and, consequently, he is unwilling to yield his opinions and prejudices, even when opposed by a majority of his brethren, and thus often prevents that united action which might result in great and lasting benefit to the fraternity. “Know Thyself” is the hardest lesson we have to learn. None of us are infallible. We can all learn from each other; and, if we would accomplish any great good, we must act in harmony. In the great Masonic field of labor, harmony in all things should be the predominant feature. Then, my brethren, I again exhort you to cultivate the spirit of harmony. Lay aside self, and act together for the best interest of our great brotherhood.

— Extracted from the address of MW E.G. Davis to the Grand Lodge of D.C. on November 13, 1878