Advocates for the Admission of Women

[Tamrin]

THE USE AND ABUSE OF FREE-MASONRY
A WORK OF THE GREATEST UTILITY TO THE BRETHREN OF THE SOCIETY,
TO MANKIND IN GENERAL, AND TO THE LADIES IN PARTICULAR.
BY CAPT. GEORGE SMITH, INSPECTOR OF THE ROYAL MILITARY ACADEMY AT WOOLWICH;
PROVINCIAL GRAND-MASTER FOR THE COUNTY OF KENT; AND R.A.

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[Excerpt - London: Printed for the Author, 1783][/center]

From what has been advanced, not one doubt remains but the ladies may, and have an undoubted right to be admitted as members of the most ancient and most honourable society of Free and Accepted Masons; neither can any brother or set of brethren be accused of violating his or their obligation, in aiding or assisting at the initiation of the ladies, or in forming female lodges. Hence many advantages will arise to the society in general, and among the rest, that of assisting the widows and orphans of deceased Freemasons, to which the Grand Lodge of England gives no relief.

Therefore let all Freemasons unanimously sing aloud:-

Open ye gates, receive the fair who shares
With equal sense our happiness and cares:
Then, charming females, there behold
What massy stores of burnish'd gold,
Yet richer is our art;
Not all the orient gems that shine,
Nor treasures of rich Ophir's mine,
Excel the Mason's heart;
True to the fair, he honours more
Than glitt'ring gems, or brightest ore,
The plighted pledge of love;
To every tie of honour bound
In love and friendship constant found,
And favoured from above.

Wellins Calcott, 1847, The Golden Remains of the Early Masonic Writers,
Vol. II, "Principles and Practices," Richard Spencer, London, pp.255/257.

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THE MASONRY OF ADOPTION:
MASONIC RITUALS FOR WOMEN
COMPLETE WITH THE VERBATIM DEGREE LECTURES AND THE "SECRET WORK"
BY GENERAL ALBERT PIKE,
MUSICIAN, TEACHER, PIONEER, JOURNALIST, LAWYER, PHILOSOPHER AND POET,
SOVEREIGN GRAND COMMANDER
OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33rd DEGREE, SOUTHERN JURISDICTION

[Except - Degree of Apprentice - c.1865]

The first condition of any institution intended for your sex, and bearing the name of Masonry, is, in order for it not to be a fraud upon you, that it should offer you the opportunity of working with Freemasonry toward a common end.... It is only by becoming one of our co-workers, and by meeting in your Lodges for the same purposes for which we meet in ours, by encouraging, cheering, inciting, and if need be shaming us, you can feel that you are not mocked with an unreality, when what is conferred upon you is called Masonry.

James T. Tresner II, 1995, Albert Pike: The Man Beyond the Monument, M. Evans & Co. Inc., N.Y., p.91

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RIGHT THOUGHT, RIGHT SPEECH, RIGHT ACTION
THE INITIATION OF MADEMOISELLE MARIA DERAISMES,
RESIDENT OF PARIS, OF 52, RUE DE CLINCHY.

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[Excerpt - Minutes - Lodge Les Libres Penseurs du Pecq, 14th January 1882][/center]
Dr. Georges Martin, on being asked to speak, declared:

As a supporter of all the undertakings that can be effected in the interest of progress, I can only congratulate the Lodge of Libres-Penseurs on the courageous initiative just taken and especially the courageous attitude maintained throughout the difficult circumstances.

I sincerely hope that the example given today will not be wasted and that this soon results in a well-deserved reward.

If you had not taken this step forward, my Brn., we would still have been far removed from the time when women could be admitted into our Lodges.

This step will call for a second step and then a third step and I am convinced that this example will soon be copied.

I congratulate you once again on the initiative you have just taken and the example you have given today to other Lodges.

Dr. Georges Martin

Earlier the W.M., Bro. Houbron, had said:

If some Brn. should wish to reproach us for our manner of thinking in contemplating Freemasonry, and in respect of our disciplinary duties, we would reply that we consider passive obedience to discipline as antagonistic to liberty and all the more dangerous in our Society, as it can result in resistance to the course of progress, which always has been and always will be the banner of Freemasonry.

[Tamrin]

FREEMASONRY: ITS AIMS & IDEALS

by John Sebastian Marlow Ward [Excerpt - 1923]

...I was myself forced to face mentally the problem of women in Freemasonry by the remark of a highly respected and very prominent Grand Lodge Officer. I had been arguing with him that Freemasonry was a great worldwide organisation with a glorious heritage from the past, and a great spiritual lesson for the human race. To my surprise, for he was a very keen Mason, he tried to discount all I said—in short, to belittle Freemasonry! Knowing that he had practically devoted all his life to Freemasonry, I could not understand his attitude, till suddenly he looked me straight in the face, and, with a significant expression said: “Don’t you see where your arguments are leading you? If Freemasonry is the great institution with the wonderful spiritual meaning which you think it has, what right have we to exclude women?” His question gave me a start. The logic was complete!

Most Rev. J.S.M. Ward

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FREEMASONRY IN OUR CHANGING ENVIRONMENT

by Rev. K. Grahame Hamill, 1999

[Excerpt - Studies in Masonry - The Victorian Lodge of Research - p.131]

In conclusion, permit me to mention a matter close to my heart. My wife and I have been members of the Order of the Eastern Star for more than 20 years. This order is similar to Freemasonry in many ways. It is officially recognized by the Grand Lodge. Although two-thirds of its members are the sister, wife or mother of a freemason many of its members are masons. It is a great pleasure to be able to take your wife with you, sit with her, and hear her doing better ritual than yourself. In view of the changes that are occuring in our society I would think it highly likely that at some time in the future, Freemasonry will have to address the question of admitting women into our ranks. Yes we know that society is changing and no doubt these changes will bring about some changes to the way that Freemasonry operates, however the basic strength of our institution will continue to lead and inspire in ages to come. We may be fewer members, but as long as we insist on quality in our candidates and teach them to enjoy the craft, we shall survive.

[Tamrin]

WOMEN AND FREEMASONRY

[Excerpt- by N.B. Cryer, A Masonic Panorama: Selected Papers of the
Reverend Neville Barker Cryer, 1995, p. 33: And, Did You Know This, Too?, 2005, p.17]

Lastly, I am sure, the new social atmosphere in which husbands and wives naturally share more of their time, possessions and interests than was the case even 50 years ago, will — unless women are allowed to participate and learn more fully about our Movement — result in fewer candidates, much more heartache and unnecessary antagonism. What is needed is a broader mind, some inventive programmes and the awareness of what Speculative Freemasonry sought to achieve at the very outset — to enable those who might otherwise have remained at a perpetual distance to be drawn into regular fellowship.

That once referred to sects and political opinions; now it also includes gender.

Rev. Neville Barker Cryer

[Tamrin]

Black Women Freemasons
Gender, Race and Fraternalism in American Society
The ultimate test of social change in America?

by Paul Rich and Guillermo De Los Reyes

Draft: Mid Atlantic PCA and ACA, Philadelphia, October 1996

[Excerpts - Linked Above]

The irony of white Masonry's claims to brotherhood in the face of the adamancy with which it has remained resolutely segregated has largely been ignored by Masonic scholars, just as the fact that Brother George Washington owned slaves is ignored when his Masonic leadership and high-mindedness is praised. That, as the year 2000 approaches, the matter of Masonic Jim Crowism has finally become a major embarrassment to the white grand lodges in the United States deserves neither gratitude nor commendation, any more than does any other simple act of decency and honesty. It is akin to praising motorists for not running over pedestrians at intersections. Should one really gives awards for members of a moral and altruistic organization actually behaving according to its precepts? In any event, much of the concern and motivation on the part of white Masonic bodies is not over the hypocrisy of running fraternities without brotherhood but rather anxiety about keeping tax exemptions and avoiding scandal in the press that will force members in public service to resign.

That history is used selectively to discredit the role of Prince Hall or to misinterpret the role of women in the lodges should not be surprising. Masonic historiography is not exempt from the prejudices displayed by historians in general. Indeed, it suffers from all the problems in extenso.

In this series, the reader will note the resemblance between female Masonry's difficulties with historians with axes to grind and the difficulties of blacks in Prince Hall Freemasonry in dealing with white Masons.

A point which needs emphasis is that while fraternal lodges were certainly involved in male initiation and white male bonding, they have also involved women and black women. Moreover, the Masons see their rites as opening the door to philosophic and intellectual knowledge, teachings which contrast with the primeval male knowledge that Bly wishes to impart. His successful initiate "increases his tolerance for ashes, eats dust as snakes do, increases his stomach for terrifying insights, deepens his ability to digest the evil facts of history, accepts the job of working seven years under the ground, leaves the granary at will through the rat's hole, bites on cinders, learns to shudder, and follows the voice of the old mole below the ground."

Masons are not all yahoos and good old boys and we would not conclude by leaving that impression. Discussion of the place of women and blacks viz the oldline white grand lodges is at an alltime high. While mainstream Masonry in America remains a male and white organization, Masonry is not an expression of a rude and crude male chavinism and racism as so many of the male movements were or even are. Freemasonry displays considerable evidence of its Enlightenment roots. In the initiation there are injunctions to temperance and prudence, along with the imparting of considerable esoteric knowledge. When that is considered in conjunction with the usually elaborate lodge room where the degree is communicated, and the fact that the officers often are in formal dress, one sees that there is considerable residual sophistication.

In ways, the ultimate test of the American society will be when black women Masons are freely accepted by their white male counterparts. Then one will be able to say that old prejudices have truly expired.

Professors Paul Rich and Guillermo De Los Reyes

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Where Are All the Women in Labor History?

by Bob James, The Australian Centre for Fraternal Studies
written in 1991 for a Labour History Conference

[Excerpt - Linked Above]

I am not here questioning the fact of repression, but rather suggesting some causation beyond but inclusive of gender. Once the formulation of the problem to be solved moves away from the physicalities known as 'women' and 'men', to something external to both such as a social construction or an ideology which effects both, then the language must reflect power relativities which cut across the gender division. This is an issue much-debated but, I would argue, without much result, and I herewith make an intervention in order to break a perceived impasse. Lake's formulation, following Scott, that 'gender is a primary way of signifying relationships of power' seems reasonable. What feminist historians have failed to do, is to integrate, satisfactorily, this way of signifying relationships of power, with other ways. I hasten to add that most male historians have not even made the effort. Including information on women's work, their experience and on sexual struggle would certainly change the content of labour history and also the way it is regarded. But these suggestions could be followed without necessarily altering the values determining inclusion. There are many males who have been arbitrarily excluded from 'labour history', and it was not because of their gender. Summers, back in 1975 while arguing for 'new' concepts, asked a rhetorical question:

Once this pluralism [amongst women] is conceded, to what extent does it still make sense to speak of women as a universal category? Are we not in danger of reproducing that very form of sexism which we so vehemently reject?

Most politically-aware women, concerned about space for themselves, have duplicated the organisational forms used by men, and it was these forms which carried assumptions about the pre-eminence of male agendas along with them. It is exactly the same dilemma which arose inside theorisations of class struggle - why didn't those who were repressed break the shackles according to the theories? Why did they in fact embrace and follow their gate keepers? An acknowledgement of the co-existence of women and men inside the fortress and faced with the same tasks, can mean that the connections and the interactions between genders can be acknowledged. This is where the ground potentially begins to shift.

Dr. Bob James, Convenor and Co-ordinator,
The Australian Centre For Fraternalism, Secret Societies and Mateship

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The Freemasons

[Excerpts - by Jasper Ridley, 1999]

The condition excluding women was strongly worded: ‘that the membership of the Grand Lodge and individual lodges shall be composed exclusively of men, and that each Grand Lodge shall have no masonic intercourse of any kind with mixed lodges or bodies which admit women to membership.’...

At a time when Freemasons in many countries were confronted with the rise of Fascism and the greatest threat that there had ever been to Freemasonry and to the principles of toleration in which Freemasons believe; when local lodges were taking independent action to resist this threat in the face of the hesitation and subservience of their Grand Lodge; when women were beginning to demand equal rights with men; [the] English Grand Lodge chose this moment to insist that they would have no dealings with any Freemasons who extended religious toleration to atheists, who were prepared at least to have dealings with women’s and mixed lodges, who allowed local lodges to have any independence from their faltering Grand Lodge, and who were prepared to introduce politics into lodge meetings by referring to the Fascist threat that was confronting them.

p.263

But even in the reign of George I, in the days of Hogarth and The Beggar's Opera, people commented adversely on the fact that the Freemasons excluded women; and this seems even more strange today, when women are playing an increasingly important part in the professions, in commerce, in big business—to say nothing of the literary and showbiz world. Already in the last year of the century and the Millennium, a great and powerful multinational organization suffers less dislocation (save in some exceptional cases) if the chairman has a heart attack than if his secretary takes her annual holiday or goes into hospital to have a baby; and a young lady who appears regularly on television and is not only beautiful, but also gives the impression of being caring and kind, exercises far more political and public influence than the members of any Freemasons' lodge. Perhaps it is a sound instinct of self-preservation which makes the Freemasons exclude women; for by the year 2030, if not earlier, no one will believe that a society which excludes women, and consists solely of old and middle-aged men, can possibly exercise any influence in political or public life, either for good or for evil.

pp.277 / 278

Jasper Ridley

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Intolerance of Intolerance

[Excerpt by C. Shawn Oak, Masonic Dictionary - Linked Above]

As a fraternity, we have long spoken of tolerance, universalism, and Freemasons meeting upon the level. This is fantastic ideal and is it true? Do Freemasons really practice tolerance and equanimity toward all, and have they in the past? Does Freemasonry treat African Americans the same as Caucasians, Moslems, Jews, Hindus, Mormons, and other monotheistic faiths the same as Christians; women the same as men? Can we within and those without truly observe that there is no bigotry in Freemasonry? Have you heard racial or anti-Semitic jokes, racial or anti-Semitic slurs, and pejoratives, stereotypes of men, women, religions, races, and ethnic groups from another Freemason? Personal observations and experiences have exposed this writer to all of these intolerant comments-not just from the profane world, these were heard directly from the mouths of men who call themselves Freemasons.