Louisiana Masonic Library & Museum

12/16/2022

09/08/2022

A peak inside the old Library & Museum from 1951 in New Orleans. This was in the Grand Lodge building on St. Charles, where the Hilton St. Charles Avenue Hotel is today.

09/01/2022

Did you know the Louisiana Masonic Library & Museum was on IG? www.instagram.com/louisianamasoniclibrarymuseum/

09/01/2022

: The color photos are of the interior of Perseverance No. 4's original lodge hall, located in what is now the Louis Armstrong Park near Congo Square in New Orleans. The black and white photo is circa 1941 of the hall's exterior.

The lodge was originally organized by French Masons from the Santo Domingo colony who, following the Haitian Revolution, temporarily relocated to Cuba. Feeling the pressure of the Spanish government, these Masons relocated to New Orleans shortly thereafter. Perseverance Lodge No. 118 was constituted by the The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, F & AM in 1810. It would be one of the original five New Orleans lodges that organized into the Grand Lodge of Louisiana in 1812, when it was re-chartered as Perseverance Lodge No. 4.

The land was originally part of Claude Tremé's plantation and was purchased by the lodge in 1819. Perseverance No. 4 met in this hall from 1820 through the 1960s. The property was sold (back) to the City of New Orleans as part of the Jazz historical preservation efforts at the time, as the ground floor was one of the original venues for Jazz in the early 20th century.

“The Perseverance Masonic Lodge No. 4 building, positioned at the former corner of St. Claude & Dumain Streets (now in Armstrong Park), is arguably the oldest Masonic structure in the Mississippi Valley, and the existing hall seems to have incorporated large parts of buildings dated as early as 1810. It has a now-rare raised bandstand and was the site of much music.” - New Orleans Jazz History Treme/ Vieux Carre/Storyville Walking Tour brochure: Armstrong Park.

Photos from the collection of The Louisiana Masonic Library & Museum.

08/31/2022

Michael Dempsey Masonic Lodge No. 327 F&AM gave us a nice "shout out", so here is one from the archives for them from the collection

Michael Dempsey is shown here, first from the left in the front row.

Harrisonburg Lodge No. 110 is one of two lodges charted in the Catahoula Parish in 1852. Both lodges were heavily affected by the Civil War, and though they both retained their charters through the war, only Harrisonburg lodge would survive into the 20th century.

"Harrisonburg No. 110 "has been one of the outstanding and most active lodges in the state." It is said that during early periods of inactivity, only the efforts of J.F. Ellis, John C. Hardin, and Michael Dempsey enabled the lodge to retain its charter. Michael Dempsey and another member, James Heard, rode horseback some twenty-five miles from Jena to attend lodge, and, after spending the night with W.H. Holloman, returned to their homes the next day." - Dr. H. Glenn Jordan, Let There Be Light: A History of Freemasonry in Louisiana 1763-1989

08/30/2022

Some photos of the "old days" at Galileo-Mazzini Lodge No. 368, from the archives of The Louisiana Masonic Library & Museum.