Sankey Lecture Series in Masonic Studies

Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario in partnership with Brock University presents 2020 Sankey Lecture Series in Masonic Studies Lecturer: Prof. Cécile Révauger, University of Bordeaux (Montaigne), France... Lecture title: "Enlightenment, Gender and Race: Personal Reflections on Leading Issues in Masonic Studies" Prof. Révauger will tell the audience about major themes from her long and active career as an expert on the history of Freemasonry in Europe and the Americas. Date: Sunday, Nov. 15, starting at 2 pm Eastern Time The event is expected to last approximately 2 hours. Audience questions are welcome after the presentation. They can be submitted via a moderated chat connection. Tickets: No tickets are necessary, but you are welcome to sign up for a ticket if you would like to receive information about future events in this series. How to attend: The event on Nov. 15 will be live-streamed. To join the event, go to this link: http://2020.sankeylectures.ca/

We just celebrated our 10th birthday! This annual lecture series is named in honour of R.W. Bro. Charles A. Sankey (1905 2009) and is part of the partnership between the Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario and Brock University. The partnership established between the Grand Lodge and Brock University, St. Catharines, has proven most productive and mutually beneficial to both educational institutions. Its beginning was with the initiative of the Heritage Lodge No.... 730 to support and maintain the Masonic collection in the James A. Gibson Library, and continuing with the posting on line of the Proceedings of Grand Lodge from 1855 to 2010. You can watch all the lectures here: http://sankeylectures.ca/ #freemasonry #education

Prof. Chernoh Sesay Jr begins his #sankeylecture2019 with a note about the concept of "liberation historiography", as well as the work of other scholars.

Due to concerns raised by Brock University in regards to Covid-19 and at their request, the Sankey Lecture scheduled for Sunday March 22nd, 2020 has been postponed. As soon as a new date has been finalized, everyone will be advised. ~

We are pleased to announce that tickets are now available for the 2020 Sankey Lecture at http://sankeylectures.ca/tickets. As in the past years, there is a limit of 5 tickets per person. The Charles A. Sankey Lecture Series The 2020 Sankey Lecture will be presented by Prof. Cécile Révauger, University of Bordeaux, France and is entitled Enlightenment, Gender and Race: Personal Reflections on Leading Issues in Masonic Studies.... Prof. Révauger will tell the audience about major themes from her long and active career as an expert on the history of Freemasonry in Europe and the Americas. Sunday, March 22, 2020 3 p.m. Brock University Sean O’Sullivan Theatre 500 Glenridge Ave. St. Catharines, Ontario We would also like to remind you that you will find more information about this year’s lecture, as well as the videos of the first ten lectures on the Sankey Lecture website http://sankeylectures.ca.

https://youtu.be/wfsazlIG9qI Sankey Lecture Series in Masonic Studies: Democracy, Freedom, and the Beginnings of Black Freemasonry" - Chernoh M. Sesay Jr, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at DePaul University, Chicago, IL. Scholars have only recently begun to look past the seemingly opaque and exclusive origins of African American Freemasonry to recognize its historical and contemporary importance. Prince Hall, a former slave, organized African Lodge No. 459, the firs...t recognized black lodge in the world, and he led black abolitionist petitioners in Massachusetts during the American colonial rebellion. Moreover, the African Lodge initiated the radical southerner, David Walker, and helped to facilitate the 1829 publication of his famous and controversial Walker’s Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the World, but in Particular, and Very Expressly, to Those of the United States of America. Not only do the origins of black Freemasonry reveal the complex fashioning of African American leadership, identity and community, but its beginnings also reflect the problems and possibility of democracy in America. Chernoh M. Sesay, Jr. is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois. An Americanist historian, he has authored chapters or articles in All Men Free and Brethren, eds. Stephen Kantrowitz and Peter Hinks (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2013); Black Knowledges/Black Struggles: Essays in Critical Epistemology, eds. Jason R. Ambroise and Sabine Broeck (Liverpool, UK: University of Liverpool Press, 2015); the Journal of African American Studies and The New England Quarterly. He is currently completing a book manuscript entitled Black Boston and the Making of African-American Freemasonry: Leadership, Religion, and Community In Early America. He is also a member of the editorial board for Black Perspectives, the blog of the African American Intellectual History Society.

Naythan Poulin speaking about library and archival sources on Prince Hall Freemasonry in St. Catharines and Niagara Region. #sankeylecture2019

The tenth annual Sankey Lecture in Masonic Studies is starting now. This year’s topic is Democracy, Freedom, and the Beginnings of Black Freemasonry by Chernoh M. Sesay Jr. #BrockU #sankeylecture2019

Photography 2019 Victor Tavares

2019 SANKEY LECTURE Democracy, Freedom, and the Beginnings of Black Freemasonry LECTURER: Chernoh M. Sesay Jr, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at DePaul University, Chicago, IL... Scholars have only recently begun to look past the seemingly opaque and exclusive origins of African American Freemasonry to recognize its historical and contemporary importance. Prince Hall, a former slave, organized African Lodge No. 459, the first recognized black lodge in the world, and he led black abolitionist petitioners in Massachusetts during the American colonial rebellion. Moreover, the African Lodge initiated the radical southerner, David Walker, and helped to facilitate the 1829 publication of his famous and controversial Walker’s Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the World, but in Particular, and Very Expressly, to Those of the United States of America. Not only do the origins of black Freemasonry reveal the complex fashioning of African American leadership, identity and community, but its beginnings also reflect the problems and possibility of democracy in America. Tickets are available here for this lecture. Sunday March 24, 2019 3:00 PM 6:00 PM EDT Sean O’Sullivan Theatre 500 Glenridge Avenue St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1 Chernoh M. Sesay, Jr. is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois. An Americanist historian, he has authored chapters or articles in All Men Free and Brethren, eds. Stephen Kantrowitz and Peter Hinks (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2013); Black Knowledges/Black Struggles: Essays in Critical Epistemology, eds. Jason R. Ambroise and Sabine Broeck (Liverpool, UK: University of Liverpool Press, 2015); the Journal of African American Studies and The New England Quarterly. He is currently completing a book manuscript entitled Black Boston and the Making of African-American Freemasonry: Leadership, Religion, and Community In Early America. He is also a member of the editorial board for Black Perspectives, the blog of the African American Intellectual History Society. TICKETS: http://sankeylectures.ca/tickets/

https://youtu.be/TdUHttUPA7A Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario Brock University Sankey Lecture Series in Masonic Studies: Catechism, Spectacle, Burlesque: American Fraternal Ritual Performance, 1733-1933... Lecturer: Prof. William D. Moore, Director of the American and New England Studies Program Boston University The 2018 Sankey Lecture was presented by Dr. William D. Moore on Sunday September 9, 2018 and was entitled Catechism, Spectacle, Burlesque: American Fraternal Ritual Performance, 1733-1933. Dr. Moore is the Director of the American; New England Studies Program, and Associate Professor of American Material Culture, Department of History of Art; Architecture, Boston University, Boston, MA Professor Moore teaches courses on American material culture and vernacular landscapes. He is the author of Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture, and Masculine Archetypes and numerous articles interrogating the interrelationship between built form and systems of belief. His current book project analyzes the nation’s fascination with the Shakers in the years between 1925 and 1965.

For reasons like these, Will Moore makes a distinction between a period of catechism (ca. 1733-1831) and a period of spectacle thru most of the 19thc. Moore's last period for making sense of Masonic material culture is "burlesque" from the late 19thc to early 20th. #sankeylecture

Conviviality and sociability of early phase of American Freemasonry was challenged by anti-Masonic movement of the 1830s. Also in Canada? Thereafter, ritual spectacle as entertainment became more central in Masonic material culture. #sankeylecture

Masonic tracing boards were important for lodge ritual life in the 18th century in the US and Canada. Example of dynamic, trans-border character of early Freemasonry, and also example of the importance of physical objects as historical sources. #sankeylecture

WIll Moore highlights the activities of David Bustill Bowser https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bustill_Bowser, an African American campaigner for abolition. #sankeylecture

2018 Sankey Lecture

2018 Sankey Lecture has begun

Announcing the new date for the 2018 Sankey Lecture: Sunday, Sept 9, at 3pm

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: The Sankey Lecture is cancelled for Sunday, April 15. The reason is the forecasted ice storm: https://www.theweathernetwork.com//h/ontario/st-catharines We thank you all for your interest in the Sankey Lecture and Brock University!... NOTE: We plan to reschedule William Moore’s Lecture for September or October, and we hope we will be able to welcome you all to Brock University to hear him then! We will send around more details about upcoming events related to the Lecture Series as soon as we have details.

Just a reminder to everyone that the lecture has been canceled due to weather. Please inform anyone who hasn’t heard yet. A date for Fall will be posted later on

http://sankeylectures.ca/tickets/

Catechism, Spectacle, Burlesque: American Fraternal Ritual Performance, 1733-1933 Lecturer: Prof. William D. Moore Director of the American and New England Studies Program... Boston University Sunday, April 15, 2018 at 3 p.m. Sean O’Sullivan Theatre, Brock University This event is free, but tickets are required. To reserve your ticket online, please go to http://sankeylectures.ca and click the TICKETS link.

Does everyone have their ticket already?

Clear your calendars and get your tickets.

Attention please. The next lecture has just been announced. On behalf of the Grand Lodge Committee on the Brock University Partnership, I am writing to inform you that the date of the 2018 Sankey Lecture has been confirmed as Sunday April 15th, 2018. The date was changed to accommodate the speaker. The speaker will be Professor William Moore of Boston University. Prof. Moore is the Director of the American and New England Studies Program and Associate Professor of American Material Culture. His presentation will focus on Temple Architecture in the U.S.

http://sankeylectures.ca/lectures/2017-lecture/ This years lecture for your viewing pleasure.

2017 Charles A. Sankey Lecture in Masonic Studies The Badge of a Freemason: New Stories from Old Aprons - Sankey Lecture Series in Masonic Studies - Dr. Aimee E. Newell, Director of Collections, Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library Called the badge of a Freemason in Masonic ritual, the fraternity’s apron was adapted from the protective aprons worn by working stonemasons during the 1600s and 1700s. Over the next 200 hundred years, Masonic aprons evolved in shape and style,... with influence from men’s fashions and decorative preferences. This talk will highlight several examples of American aprons from the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library collection, exploring the stories of their makers and users. By looking at early aprons, we find patterns and trends in their use and design that not only differ from today, but teach us new things about Freemasonry of the past. https://youtu.be/fvrqF5moTMk

After another successful lecture we'd like to thank everyone who came. What did you think? How can we improve on this event next year?

Dr. Aimee E. Newell: "The Badge of a Freemason: New Stories from Old Aprons" at Sankey Lecture Series at Brock U #sankey #freemasonry

We are pleased to announce that tickets are now available at http://sankeylectures.ca/tickets. As in past years there is a limit of 5 tickets per person. The Charles A. Sankey Lecture Series The guest lecturer will be Dr. Aimee E. Newell, Executive Director Luzerne County Historical Society Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania. The title of her presentation will be The Badge of a Freemason: New Stories from Old Aprons.... Sunday, March 26, 2017 3 p.m. Brock University Sean O’Sullivan Theatre 500 Glenridge Ave. St. Catharines, Ontario We would also like to remind you that you will find information about this year’s lecture, as well as the videos of the first seven lectures on the Sankey Lecture website http://sankeylectures.ca.

2016 Lecture - Searching for the Apple Tree: What Happened in 1716? Covent Garden in the early 18th century was one of the most exciting, creative and dangerous places in Europe, where fashionable venues stood cheek by jowl with brothels and dangerous taverns, a magnet for writers, artists, freethinkers, courtesans and criminals. The historian Vic Gatrell has recently claimed that Covent Garden was the first bohemian quarter whose achievements make the Left Bank, Montmartre o...r Greenwich Village look pallid. It was here, according to the traditional account, that the initial steps were taken which led to the formation of the first Grand Lodge of Freemasons in London, the event which is usually seen as marking the birth of freemasonry in its modern form. James Anderson, author and editor of the Constitutions of the Free-Masons, claimed that in 1716 four masonic lodges from London met together at the Apple Tree Tavern in Charles Street, close to the centre of Covent Garden, and agreed to revive the annual feast. As a result, according to Anderson, these lodges held a feast at the Goose and Gridiron, near St Paul’s Cathedral in London, on June 24, 1717 and elected a grand master. Given its significance in the history of Freemasonry, we know remarkably little about the Apple Tree in Charles Street or its role in the bohemian world of Covent Garden. Anderson’s account of the masonic meetings of 1716-17 was written 20 years later and included in the second edition of his Constitutions. The account is not substantiated elsewhere, but we do have many records and reports relating to Covent Garden and Charles Street. This lecture will discuss what information we can assemble about the Apple Tree and consider how far it supports Anderson’s story about the formation of the Grand Lodge. For more info, please visit: http://sankeylectures.ca/lectures/2016-lecture/ Video: https://youtu.be/I1cumvKlLcM

https://youtu.be/AW3QNAd439w

https://youtu.be/JAwFIYEm1WM

http://sankeylectures.ca/about/raymond-s-j-daniels/

Searching for the Apple Tree: What Happened in 1716? - Sankey Lecture Series in Masonic Studies https://youtu.be/pmyP0M4Gtmk

Check out some tweets from the 2016 lecture by Andrew Prescott: https://storify.com/HistoryBrockU/sankey-lecture-2016

Daily Courant, 5 September 1719. #freemasonry

Anthony Sayer (d. 1742), First Grand Master. Engraving by John Faber from a portrait by Joseph Highmore, destroyed in a fire at Grand Lodge in 1885. #freemasonry

Engraved list of lodges produced by John Pine, 1725. #freemasonry

Newspaper advertisements show that the premises later occupied by the Apple Tree were used between 1717 and 1721 by a draper under the sign of the Golden Anchor. The Apple Tree was not in Charles Street in 1716. #freemasonry

Modern location of the Apple Tree Tavern. #freemasonry

Location of the Apple Tree in 1736 as shown by licensing and rate records/ #freemasonry

Daily Journal, 15 December 1726. #freemasonry

London Journal, 7 Oct. 1721. #freemasonry

Trade card for John Rigg, cupper at the Hummums. #freemasonry

Illustrations of freemasons in a translation of Bernard Picart’s Ceremonies and Religious Customs of the Known World, 1736, sold in Claude Du Bosc’s shop in Charles Street. #freemasonry

Painting attributed to Isaac Collivoe. #freemasonry

Charles Street today: the northern part of Wellington Street. #freemasonry

Location of Charles Street as shown in John Rocque’s 1746 map of London. #freemasonry

Balthazar Nebot, Covent Garden Piazza, 1737: Tate Gallery. #freemasonry

The Cooke Manuscript, c. 1420, British Library, Additional MS 23198. The sensational production of this medieval stonemasons’ by George Payne at the Grand Feast in June 1721 led to the commission to Anderson to compile the 1723 Book of Constitutions. #freemasonry

William Stukeley (1687-1765) January 6, 1721: ‘I was the first person to be made a Freemason for many years. We had great difficulty in finding members enough to perform the ceremony. Immediately after that it took a run, & ran it self thro’ the folly of its members’ #freemasonry

Invitation to the annual feast, June 1722. #freemasonry

Louis-Philippe Boitard, Covent Garden Morning Frolick, 1747: British Museum. Boitard provided the design for the frontispiece of the 1756 Book of Constitutions. #freemasonry

Covent Garden Piazza by Thomas Sandby, 1768: British Museum. Sandy was the architect of the first Freemasons’ Hall built for the Premier Grand Lodge in London, 1774-6 #freemasonry

Samuel Scott, Covent Garden Piazza and Market, 1758. Museum of London #freemasonry

"Anderson depended on written documents, second-hand knowledge and inference to write 1738 account - wasn't actually at Apple Tree." "Ultimately, more we look at Anderson, less we can trust the accuracy of his account." #freemasonry

A.D. 1716, the few Lodges at London finding themselves neglected by Sir Christopher Wren, thought fit to cement together under a Grand Master as the Center of Union and Harmony, viz. the Lodges that met, 1. At the Goose and Gridiron Ale-house in St. Paul’s Church- Yard. 2. At the Crown Ale-house in Parker’s-Lane near Drury-Lane. 3. At the Apple-Tree Tavern in Charles-street, Covent-Garden.... 4. At the Rummer and Grapes Tavern in Channel-Row, Westminster. They and some old Brothers met at the said Apple-Tree, and having put into the Chair the oldest Master Mason (now the Master of a Lodge) they constituted themselves a Grand Lodge pro Tempore in Due Form, and forthwith revived the Quarterly Communication of the Officers of Lodges (call'd the Grand Lodge) resolv'd to hold the Annual Assembly and Feast, and then to chuse a Grand Master from among themselves, till they should have the Honour of a Noble Brother at their Head. James Anderson, The New Book of Constitutions of the Antient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons (1738), p. 109 #freemasonry

Morning: Tom King’s Coffee House, Covent Garden, from William Hogarth, Four Times of the Day, 1738. #freemasonry

William Hogarth, The Orgy. Set in the Rose Tavern, Drury Lane. From A Rake’s Progress, 1733. Sir John Soane’s Museum. #freemasonry

The Presbyterian Peezle... #freemasonry

The 2016 Sankey Lecture was a great success. We'd like to thank Prof. Andrew Prescott on a great lecture today. #freemasonry

2016 is about to start

Sankey Lecture Series in Masonic Studies Sunday March 20, 2016 We are very pleased to announce that the 2016 Sankey Lecture will be presented by Dr. Andrew Prescott, FSA, FRHistS, Professor of Digital Humanities, AHRC Theme Leader Fellow for Digital Transformations, University of Glasgow. Dr. Prescott will be presenting "Searching for the Apple Tree: What Happened in 1716?" work that he has done jointly with Dr. Susan M. Sommers Professor of History, Saint Vincent College i...n Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Dr. Sommers was the 2015 Sankey Lecturer. Tickets are now available. Please check the ticket page for more information. http://sankeylectures.ca/tickets/ https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sankey-lecture-2016-tickets-20 Sunday, March 20, 2016 3:00 PM Sean O'Sullivan Theatre - 500 Glenridge Avenue Saint Catharines, ON L2S 3A1 CA

The 2015 Sankey Lecture Series in Masonic Studies: "The Masonic Empire of Thomas Dunckerley: England to Quebec and the Broad Oceans In-between" by Dr. Susan Mitchell Sommers, Professor of History, Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania is now LIVE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRHh8oZlBm8

Just a final reminder that the 2015 Sankey Lecture will be taking place this coming Sunday. If you haven’t had a chance to order your tickets, they are still available by contacting the Brock University Box Office at [email protected] or 905-688-5550x3257. Here are some further details on the upcoming lecture. The Charles A. Sankey Lecture Series The guest lecturer will be Dr. Susan M. Sommers, Professor of History, Saint Vincent College, Latrobe PA. The title of her presen...tation will be The Masonic Empire of Thomas Dunckerley: England to Quebec and the Broad Oceans In-between. Sunday, March 22, 2015 3 p.m. David S. Howes Theatre Brock University 500 Glenridge Ave. St. Catharines, Ontario In lieu of charging for admission, a [tax deductible] contribution is requested to: Masonic Foundation of Ontario, Brock University Partnership - Project Number 2937 Tickets are limited to 5 per caller. We would also like to remind you about the Sankey Lecture website http://www.sankeylectures.ca. There is information about this year’s lecture, as well as the videos of the first five lectures. Many thanks, Brock University Partnership Committee