Product Description

Founded in 1801, the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry was one of the premier international fraternal orders of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. For more than two hundred years, Freemasonry in America helped define social and cultural arrangements that affected the development of civic life and philanthropic institutions.

In Valley of the Craftsmen, the story of "higher degree" Freemasonry is depicted through portraits, official papers, material objects, photographs, buildings, and stagecraft. Featuring many previously unpublished images, Valley of the Craftsmen begins with rare illustrations of the English and French philosophical sources that were projected upon an American landscape vitalized and transformed by the concept of fraternity. The story is framed by American popular culture and the serious private effort of individual men in small towns and expansive cities who were intent on developing a moral life in service to their communities.

When the Scottish Rite was officially organized in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1801, its founders and leaders were drawn almost in equal portions from Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant faith communities--an impressive early example of American values, diversity, and religious tolerance. The valley inhabited by members of the Scottish Rite, however, was not always green or free of difficulty. Touched by the first third party in American political history (the anti-Masonic Party), the Civil War, the Red Scare of 1919, the Holocaust, and the rebuilding of societies in Europe and Asia after 1945, Valley of the Craftsmen provides a pictorial history of Scottish Rite Freemasonry in America at the beginning of a new millenium.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #820933 in Books
• Published on: 2001-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 269 pages

About the Author
WILLIAM L. FOX is acting vice-president for enrollment management at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland. A graduate of St. Lawrence, Harvard, and George Washington Universities, Fox is the author of a full-scale history of American Freemasonry, Lodge of the Double-Head Eagle, and is the founding and general editor of a ten-volume series, Studies in Church History. He lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Customer Reviews

A tribute to America's foremost fraternal Order
Founded in Charleston, South Carolina, on May 31, 1801, the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite is the largest and most successful of the Masonic organizations. This magnificent, coffee table sized history traces the development of the Scottish Rite from its pre-history in England and France to the present day, in tandem with American history. The profusely-illustrated volume includes paintings, portraits and photos of Masonic ceremonies, of famous Masons (from George Washington to Michael Richards--Seinfeld's "Kramer"), of Masonic regalia (ceremonial clothing and decorations), as well as including a concise and well-written history of the Order. It is a beautiful volume which you will want to open again and again.

Excellent
I just got the book, have only unpackaged it and thumbed through it quickly but can already see this is a excellent, quality book!! It will make a fine addition to my Masonic book collection. Highly recommended.

Elite Masonic Propaganda is a Must-Have for all Conspiracy Researchers
In this book the Masons can do no wrong. They are "charitable, decent and upright," even Satanist Albert Pike! But disinformation aside, this volume is a treasure trove of rare photos from the masonic archives. Short shrift is given to the powerful, populist anti-masonic uprising that arose in the wake of the masonic assassination of William Morgan (1826), but the book nonetheless features extensive background on the masonic nature of US Presidents, "heroes" and military men, north and south, Republican and Democrat. A must-have for all anti-masonic scholars and conspiracy researchers. My favorite color photo? The seldom-seen backside of the sinister, two-headed eagle flag of the Knights Templar that Lt. Col. Edwin A. "Buzz" Aldrin carried with him to the moon. The banality of evil: Teddy Roosevelt, Harry Truman, NASA and the peculiarly American sorcery that is Freemasonry.