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| Photo by Worshipful Brother Joe Raviele |
The Boston Tea Party has always been an event in American history that has captivated me. As a schoolboy I was blessed with teachers who loved history, encouraged me and provided books on the subject. As a Young Master Mason to learn that a number of Freemasons and two Masonic Lodges were involved in this rebellion brought the subject even closer to me.
I considered this a trip of a lifetime to learn more, to
be able to associate with decedents of the original party, and to be able to
walk in mass with Freemasons and the citizens in Boston the same route, and to
cheer as the tea was dumped into the Boston Harbor.
The Boston Tea Party weekend was a collaboration with
the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, The Sons of the American Revolution, and the
Joseph Warren Foundation. I cannot say enough how this collaboration provided
such a rich, deep learning opportunities, and a wonderful atmosphere to
experience.
The festivities began on December 15th with
registration at the beautiful Grand Lodge building at 186 Tremont Street. It's
one of my favorite Masonic places in the world.
The attendees had the choice to attend the
Installation of Officers St. Johns Lodge or a Historic Tavern Tour. The tour
was a walking tour seeing many of sites of Boston and visit several of oldest
public houses in Boston. With time enough built into the schedule to sample a
pint or two I was told.
I had a very strong desire to attend Installation of
Officers St Johns Lodge. Why would I want to attend another Installation of
Officers when I have experience hundreds you ask? This one is very unique from
my perspective.
St Johns Lodge is the oldest Masonic Lodge in the Western hemisphere. It was chartered in 1733 celebrating 290 years. This was their 154th Installation of their Worshipful Master. It was being held on the 5th floor of the Grand Lodge Building in Ionic Hall. It is a beautiful Lodge room and there is a pipe organ that was to be played.
St Johns Lodge met in the Bunch of Grapes Tavern
from 1733 to 1780s. On the sign of the tavern was a bunch of grapes that were
made of wood. The Lodge had preserved those and have them on display at the
Masters station that I wanted to see.
The Installation was to be conducted by the Grand
Master and all the Grand Lodge Officers. Seeing the work of another jurisdiction
is very interesting, espically in Massachusetts for everything I have seen in
the past is nothing but the best.
Ionic Hall had well over 200 attendees to my
estimation. It started on time.
I enjoyed the nuances of the Massachusetts Installation. They were filled with majesty, meaning and efficient. The memorization was wonderful.
I enjoyed how they introduce and received the Grand
Master, and how all the Officers knelt at the alter to take the obligation of
their office. The memorization was wonderful. Total time according to my watch
was 55 minutes to have all the Officers installed.
Saturday December 16th started bright and early in the Grand Lodge building on the 7th floor in the Gothic Hall with the Boston Tea Party Symposium. The symposium was a lineup of seven incredible distinguished speakers who were academics and authors who had an expertise in a particular aspect of the Boston Tea Party. Their photos are below with the title of their talks.
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| Dr. Brooke Barbier "Radicalizing John Handcock: The Tea Act and the Boston Tea Party |
Many of the speakers stayed the entire day, for they
brought books that they had written to sign and sell. This was a very difficult
aspect for me. I am a Bookaphile. (a person who loves books) I was forced not
to purchase any books. If I chose to, I would have to carry the thirty pounds
of books on the Rally to the harbor for the dumping of the tea, and on the walk
back to my hotel.
I must make another confession here. I was invited to
a reception from the Grand Master, but I didn’t wish to miss two of the
speakers. He understood and was gracious.
As I mentioned earlier that the symposium was held in Gothic
Hall. The theater holds 400 people. Attendees were free to come and go
throughout the day. I will say that Hall was pretty full the entire day.
Gothic Hall is a decorated in a Medieval-Tudor England style. It is used by the Boston area Scottish Rite. I noticed that they were not using the traditional theater backdrops that we use in my home Scottish Rite. The costs of conserving those turn of the century is outrageously expensive. They had transitioned to an LED Wall. The cost of this LED Wall was $100,000. They did not get the cheap one. I will say it took me a few minutes to adjust to this new concept.
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| Photo by Worshipful Brother Joe Raviele |
The speakers made use of the LED Wall to display their power points. I will say it was just a perfect. Later in the day the Scottish Rite Boston-Lafayette Lodge of Perfection performed a play for us called “Treason to the Crown using the LED Wall for backdrops. I can say that it worked very nicely. The acting was wonderful, and the combination with the LED Wall system made a suburb experience.
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| Photo by Worshipful Joe Raviele |
At the conclusion of the symposium at approx. 5;30
many of us gathered in Corinthian Hall to get our coats, and aprons on, and
squeeze in a little more social time.
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| Corinthian Hall |
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| We all wore the 250th Commemorative Apron |
We exited the building and were met by another large group of Brothers who were waiting. We formed up on the sidewalk walking two abreast creating a ribbon of Masons as far as the eye could see. There were 1,000 Masons registered to walk Rally.
The procession was led by a color guard and the Most
Worshipful Grand Master George F. Hamilton. We walked about seven blocks to the
Old South Meeting Hall where we were met by thousands of people.
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| Photo by Worshipful Brother Joe Raviele |
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| Photo by Worshipful Brother Joe Raviele |
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| Photo by Worshipful Brother Joe Raviele |
The temperature was 40 degrees and a slight cold
breeze, but the warmth of Brotherly Love was glowing.
I did run across a group of Brothers from Ohio. Several were only wearing a polo shirt with their logo on it, and a long sleeve tee shirt underneath for warmth. I asked one of the Brothers if he wanted my gloves or scarf for warmth. He said no as his teeth were chattering Ill be ok once we get moving. Got to admire those Brothers from Ohio for their dedication!
According to my watch we began walking at 7:40 down
Milk Street turning right onto Pearl Street. Somewhere in the Post Office
Square there were a detachment of reenactors dressed as British Redcoats. The
passing crowd shouted Down with the Redcoats and I yelled Lobster backs in fun
jest.
It was here that I saw streams of people coming in all
directions to join us. We were shoulder to shoulder as we were funneling into
the Wharf area. A squad of British Soldiers walking in file then began gently
forcing its way thru the crowd and the crowd having fun booing, adding a sense
of realism to the event.
We were now directly across the waterfront of the
ships for the reenactment of the dumping of the tea. There was a Jumbotron with
a great sound system directly in front of me which I enjoyed getting a close-up
view.
The program began with opening statements from various
politicians. I was impressed that Dr. Peter Abbott OBE The British Counsul to
New England presented his comments. He
stated to the best of my notetaking “I am His Majesty King Charles III official
representive. Yes, you heard that right, 250 years ago representatives of the
British Crown were deeply unpopular here. Today I am honored to take part in
the commemoration of the Boston Tea Party 250th Anniversity. Latter
on, I will be presenting Mayor Michelle Wu with an invoice for the 90,000
pounds of tea that were destroyed in 1773, With interest.
The crowd broke out in laughter. I was laughing so
hard my notetaking stopped, but he said many kind words.
Next on the Jumbotron speaking was the Grand Master of
Massachusetts Masons George Hamilton. He spoke for Freemasonry, and I couldn’t
hear much else, for the crowd was cheering so loudly. As an outsider it appears
to me that the Masons of Massachusetts are well known and loved here.
Here is an interesting point on the evening in 1773
there were 350 chest of tea which contained 92,586 pounds of tea that was
dumped into the Boston Harbor.
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| Photo by Worshipful Brother Joe Raviele |
In 2023 a campaign was developed to collect tea for the 250th Anniversary dumping. 2,000 pounds was donated from people across the world. The London East India Company donated 250 pounds. The same company that had its tea dumped in 1773.
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| Photo by Worshipful Brother Joe Raviele |
Upon the completion of the dignitaries’ speeches the crowd enthusiastically shouted Huzzah.
Our attention was then drawn to the ship on the
waterfront where the costumed professional reenactors started the program. As
the reenactors began to dump the tea. The crowd was yelling Dump the tea, Spill
the tea, Down the British up the Yanks and Huzzah! One young woman nearby me
yelled “No taxation without Representation! My eye caught hers and she said “What?
I'm a history major and want to be accurate. We laughed and high fived.
When an actor read the King Georges order to close
Boston Harbor the crowd gave a tremendous Boo. When the narrator described the
drafting of the Declaration of Independence the crowd broke out in cheers, and
chanting USA.
The performance with the audience participation made
for a wonderful event.
As I was walking the eight blocks back to my hotel. I
realized that my voice was hoarse. I hadn’t yelled that much since my last
attendance at a hockey game.
On Sunday the 17th at 10:00 AM an Ecumenical Service was held for all those wishing to join together in a spirit of prayer. The Service was conducted by three of the Grand Chaplains (there are eight with two Emeritus)
Right Worshipful & Reverand Dr. Richard Haley-Senior
Grand Chaplain,
Right Worshipful & Reverand Henry Peirce,
Right Worshipful & Cantor Seth Landau.
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| Photo by Worshipful Brother Joe Raviele |
It found it to be a inspiring service. The lodge room
had a pipe organ and lodge room was filled by Christmas music, and inspiring
hymns. Unfortunately, I cannot give the credit to the RW. Brother who was
playing for his name was not printed in the beautiful program that was given
for the service.
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| Photo by Worshipful Brother Joe Raviele |
Following the Service was a Celebratory Tea Party
Brunch held in the Grand Masters Banquet Hall. There were 150 people in
attendance from The Sons of the American Revolution, and invitees of the Grand
Lodge.
After a magnificent brunch our speaker was Brother Christian
Di Spigna Author and Chairman, Executive Director of the Joseph Warren
Foundation. We also heard from Shawn Connely a direct descendent of Paul
Revere.
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| Photo by Worshipful Brother Joe Raviele |
Concluding the program, I made my goodbyes to so many wonderful people that I had the opportunity to share the 250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party with.
This is Worshipful Brother Bryan Simmons the Chairman of the 250th Commemoration Committee for the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. Thru his hard work, and coordination of many, many diligent Brothers. The 250th Anniversary was a brilliant success.
I would like to personally thank the Most Worshipful
Grand Master George F. Hamilton and the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts for inviting
me to be able to share this once in a lifetime experience of the 250th Anniversary of
the Boston Tea Party.
A special shout out of thanks goes out goes to Worshipful Brother Joe Raviele and the 250th Commemoration Committee for giving me access to the official photos of the weekend to tell a better story.
For me this wasn’t just another wonderful trip to
Boston a city I love, but an experience that I will always cherish. Thank you.
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