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This is the story of the marble building in Cedar Rapids that was carefully designed to protect the treasures of our Masonic past.
A Treasure Box for Our History
The Iowa Masonic Library and Museum in Cedar Rapids has always felt to me
like a treasure box built to protect the story of our Craft. From the outside,
the marble and solid lines give the building a sense of strength and purpose.
Inside, that feeling only grows. Every hallway, every reading room, and every
carefully protected shelf reflects the Grand Lodge of Iowa’s commitment to
preserving what matters. When it was built in the 1950s, the goal was simple:
create a safe and lasting home for the books, records, and artifacts that carry
our history. Not jewels or gold, but the treasures of knowledge and memory.
More than seventy years later, the building still does exactly that. It stands
as a place where our past is kept safe, where visitors from around the world
come to learn, and where the light of our history continues to shine.
Origins of the Library and Museum
The story of the Iowa Masonic Library and Museum begins long before the
marble building that stands in Cedar Rapids today. Its roots reach back to the
1840s, when Theodore Sutton Parvin, the first Grand Secretary of the Grand
Lodge of Iowa, was asked to begin collecting books on Freemasonry. Parvin
started modestly, purchasing roughly one hundred volumes for five dollars, but
he had a clear vision for what the collection could become. Masons across Iowa
soon began donating books, manuscripts, and artifacts, and the small collection
grew quickly.
By 1884, the Grand Lodge recognized that the materials had outgrown
borrowed rooms and temporary shelves. They made a bold decision: to construct
the first purpose built Masonic library building in the world, right in Cedar
Rapids. It was a remarkable statement for its time, reflecting both confidence
in the future and a deep respect for the past. But even that pioneering
building could not keep pace with the rapid expansion of the library and
museum. Within a few decades, the shelves were full, the rooms were crowded,
and the structure could no longer provide the level of protection the growing
collection required.
By the early 1950s, it was clear that a new home was needed. The original
building was demolished in 1952, and in its place rose the modern structure
completed in 1955. What began with Parvin’s handful of books has grown into one
of the largest and most respected Masonic collections in the world, all because
generations of Iowa Masons believed that our history deserved a safe and
lasting home.
Designing a Home for the Treasures
When the Grand Lodge of Iowa set out to build a new home for the Library
and Museum in the early 1950s, they approached the project with the same
seriousness they brought to preserving the collection itself. Architects
William L. Perkins, working with the firm Hansen and Waggoner, designed a
structure that balanced classical inspiration with the practical needs of a
modern archival facility. The result is a building rooted in the late Beaux
Arts tradition, simplified for the postwar era but still carrying a sense of
dignity and permanence.
From the outside, the Vermont white marble gives the building a quiet
strength. Inside, the halls are lined with grey marble from Carthage, Missouri,
creating a cool, calm atmosphere that feels intentionally protective. Almost no
wood was used in the construction. Instead, the architects relied on marble,
concrete, glass, and bronze. Even the basement walls are nearly twenty inches
thick. Every choice reflects the same idea: this building was meant to last,
and it was meant to keep its contents safe.
The structure stretches long and low across its site, with the main
building running roughly 245 feet in length and the library wing extending more
than 100 feet deep on the west end. Inside, the space opens into multiple
floors of library stacks, museum galleries, workrooms, and offices. It is a
building designed not just to store a collection, but to serve the people who
come to study it.
In every way, the design reinforces the purpose. This is a place built to
protect the treasures of our past, a strong and steady home for the books,
artifacts, and records that tell the story of Iowa Masonry.
Symbolism Carved in Stone
Freemasonry has always used architecture to teach lessons, so it is no
surprise that the building itself carries symbolic meaning. Above the main
entrance, engraved directly into the white marble, is a line from the Book of
Amos: “Behold the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a
plumbline in his hand.”
It is a simple inscription, but it says a great deal about the purpose of
the place. The plumb line is one of Masonry’s most familiar symbols, reminding
us to live uprightly and measure our actions with honesty and integrity. Seeing
those words carved into the stone makes it clear that this building was meant
to reflect more than architectural strength. It was meant to reflect moral
strength as well.
The classical design reinforces that message. The symmetry, the heavy
walls, and the quiet order of the exterior all speak to stability and balance.
Nothing about the building feels accidental. Every line and proportion seems
chosen to convey the same values that Freemasonry teaches: steadiness,
structure, and the ongoing work of building character. Even before you step
inside, the building tells you what it stands for.
Inside the Treasure Box
The interior of the Iowa Masonic Library and Museum was designed to work
in layers, each one serving a different part of its mission. Visitors enter
through a wide marble lobby that immediately sets the tone: solid, quiet, and
intentional. From there, the space opens into the museum galleries, where
displays of Masonic regalia, Civil War pieces, international ceremonial
objects, and historical documents tell the story of the Craft and the people
who shaped it.
Beyond the galleries are the reading rooms, calm and orderly spaces where
researchers can work with the materials they need. The library stack wing
stretches out behind them, the largest part of the building, with reinforced
floors built to carry the enormous weight of thousands of books. Administrative
offices and archival workrooms support the daily work of caring for the
collection, while the basement holds mechanical systems and secure storage for
rare and fragile items.
The layout makes the building function as a museum, a research center,
and an archival vault all at once. Each layer supports the next, creating a
place where the public can learn, scholars can study, and the most delicate
pieces of our history can be kept safe. It is a thoughtful design, and it
reflects exactly what the building was meant to be: a strong, steady home for
the treasures of our past.
Artistic Treasures Within
Among the treasures inside the Iowa Masonic Library and Museum, the
artwork stands out as one of the building’s most memorable features. The
stained glass windows, designed by Francis Robert White during the 1950s
construction, bring both color and meaning into the space. White had briefly
studied under Grant Wood at the Stone City Art Colony, and his windows reflect
that Midwestern artistic lineage. Many of the panels include familiar Masonic
symbols such as the Square and Compasses, the All Seeing Eye, the level, and
the plumb line, set in rich colors that filter natural light into the corridors
and reading rooms. The effect is quiet and contemplative, giving the building a
sense of ceremony that fits its purpose.
The stained glass is complemented by Grant Wood’s own contribution to the
collection: The First Three Degrees of Freemasonry. Wood, best known for
American Gothic, was himself a Mason, having joined Mount Hermon Lodge
No. 263 in Cedar Rapids in 1921. His three panel mural depicts the symbolic
journey through the Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, and Master Mason degrees.
Each panel reflects the moral lessons and allegorical imagery tied to the
building of King Solomon’s Temple and the personal growth emphasized in Masonic
teaching.
Together, White’s stained glass and Wood’s mural create a visual
narrative that runs through the building. They remind visitors that this place
is not only a library or a museum, but a space where art, symbolism, and
history come together. These pieces are part of the treasure the building
protects, gems of color, story, and meaning that enrich the experience of
everyone who walks through its halls.
The Treasures It Protects
The true measure of the Iowa Masonic Library and Museum is found in the
depth of its collection. Today the library holds more than 400,000 volumes,
making it one of the largest and most significant Masonic collections in the
world. That growth began early. By the start of the 20th century, the library
already contained rare books, documents, and artifacts that drew researchers
from across the country.
The focus of the collection has always reflected the purpose of the
institution. Since its founding in 1845, the library has gathered materials on
Freemasonry and its many branches, including York Rite, Scottish Rite, Shrine,
Eastern Star, Prince Hall, and even anti Masonic movements. Because belief in a
higher power is a requirement for membership, the library also collects works
on world religions and philosophies. And because our first Grand Secretary
arrived in Iowa Territory as the personal secretary to the territorial
governor, the library naturally became a home for Iowa history as well. Long
before Cedar Rapids had a public library, this institution was already
collecting literature in the humanities, and it has remained open to the public
ever since.
Some of the items preserved here are remarkable in their rarity. The
oldest book in the collection is a 1470 edition of The Pharsalia by
Lucan. The library also holds a first edition of the Book of Mormon from
1830 and a daybook used by Joseph Smith. Among the many autographs and
historical documents is a letter written by Abraham Lincoln. There is even a
small lock of George Washington’s hair. And of course, the building protects an
original Grant Wood painting, tying Iowa’s artistic heritage directly to its
Masonic history.
These pieces, books, manuscripts, artifacts, and works of art, are the
treasures the building was designed to protect. They are the reason the walls
are thick, the floors reinforced, and the spaces carefully controlled. Each
item adds another layer to the story of Freemasonry, of Iowa, and of the people
who shaped both.
A Home Built for Memory
When you step back and look at it all, the marble walls, the layered
interior, the stained glass, the rare books and artifacts, you begin to
understand what this building truly represents. It is more than a library, more
than a museum, and more than an archive. It is a place built with intention,
shaped by generations of Masons who believed that knowledge, history, and
tradition deserved a safe and lasting home. Every part of it, from the thick
concrete floors to the quiet reading rooms, was designed to protect the
treasures entrusted to it.
But even the strongest treasure box needs a keeper.
The building can safeguard the past, but it takes people to bring that
past to life, to guide visitors, to care for the collection, and to make sure
the light inside never dims. That is where the story turns next, to the person
who knows this place better than anyone, and who carries its history with both
expertise and heart.
Part Two is about her.
