COMMEMORATING CORNERSTONES

by Chetin Durak | Junior Grand Warden

For well over 200 years, Freemasons have laid the cornerstones of notable publics buildings and places of worship. As each individual mason is a cornerstone of their lodge, so are cornerstones of public institutions meant to set their institution’s course to benefit society and the common good. Most commonly placed in the northeast corner, the cornerstone sits between darkness and light. Just as the Entered Apprentice is placed in the northeast corner of the lodge, the cornerstone is representative of birth or a point of beginning and a progression from ignorance to knowledge. Furthermore, the cornerstone also serves to represent the soul’s immortality, as it is often the one remaining element of an edifice following its eventual decay. The square nature of the cornerstone is essential in providing a sound foundation for an institution’s mission, while its symbolic meanings of morality and truth are critical to the continuation of its mission even when the physical structure may no longer be intact. A cornerstone ceremony therefore also includes the examination of the stone using the ancient tools of the square, level, and plumb, as an edifice constructed on a poor foundation cannot be sound. This symbolically tests the virtues of an institution. Finally, we come to the consecration, or anointment ceremony, of the stone where the wages of our operative ancestors, notably corn, wine, and oil are placed on the stone as symbols of nourishment, refreshment, and joy.

The Grand Master of Masons of Washington, DC, Most Worshipful Brother Annas Fadludeen Kamara, accompanied by Officers of the Grand Lodge, Visiting Dignitaries, and Brethren of the jurisdiction recently had the opportunity to commemorate two notable cornerstone anniversaries. The first was the centennial of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, where the cornerstone was laid on November 1, 1923, while the second was the 120th commemoration of the National War College’s cornerstone, laid at Roosevelt Hall on February 21, 1903.