A Mason Dropped the Bomb

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Bro. Robert H. Johnson

The atom bomb was no 'great decision.' It was merely another powerful weapon in the arsenal of righteousness. ~Harry S. Truman

When we remember Truman, there are so many amazing things that come to mind. He is celebrated as both a great Mason and a great president. He always seemed like such a down to earth individual. Several articles have been published about him, right here on the Midnight Freemasons. 

Michael H. Shirley and Todd E. Creason have both written of his amazing talents, great leadership and of course, his Masonry. Todd and Steve Harrison cover him and some interesting stories in their respective books, Famous American Freemasons and Tales from the Craft (available on amazon). 

One thing we always joke about and what has been food for countless conspiracy theorists is that Truman is the only President to drop the Atomic Bomb in a conflict. Truman's words above, seem to echo the sentiment of a certain matter-of-factness that only he exhibited, in his own way. 

He never treated the act as some sort of thing to be held over anyone or nation. To him, it was a tool, an instrument and dare I say a working tool in a different kind of act. 

Click the link below to read some of Truman's thoughts on the A-Bomb from his diary and letters.

http://www.doug-long.com/hst.htm

~RHJ

RWB Johnson is a Co-Managing Editor of the Midnight Freemasons blog. He is a Freemason out of the 2nd N.E. District of Illinois. He currently serves as the Secretary of Spes Novum Lodge No. 1183. He is a Past Master of Waukegan Lodge 78 and a Past District Deputy Grand Master for the 1st N.E. District of Illinois. He is the current V:. Sovereign Grand Inspector for the AMD in IL. Brother Johnson currently produces and hosts weekly Podcasts (internet radio programs) Whence Came You? & Masonic Radio Theatre which focuses on topics relating to Freemasonry. He is also a co-host of The Masonic Roundtable, a Masonic talk show. He is a husband and father of four, works full time in the executive medical industry. He is the co-author of "It's Business Time - Adapting a Corporate Path for Freemasonry", "The Master's Word: A Short Treatise on the Word, the Light, and the Self - Annotated Edition" and author of "How to Charter a Lodge: A No-Nonsense, Unsanctioned Guide. More books are on the way.

The Little White House

by Midnight Freemason contributor

Steven L. Harrison, 33°, FMLR

In November 1946, President Harry Truman, who had been in office just over a year and a half, was exhausted. He had seen the end of World War II, made the excruciating decision to use atomic weapons, and soon would have to prepare an election campaign where the odds were stacked against him. Brother Harry, a member of Grandview Lodge 618 and former Grand Master of Missouri, told his doctor, Wallace Graham, he was fatigued. Dr. Graham ordered Truman to take a vacation in a warm weather climate. The president elected to go to Key West Florida, which had a nearby naval station. The area also had an ideally suited house. Originally serving as an officers' quarters, it later became the home of the base commandant. Truman stayed in the house and fell in love with the place. He designated it as his southern White House and made several more visits there during his presidency.

The location, just a three-hour flight from Washington proved to be ideal not only as a vacation hideaway, but was also a popular meeting place where staff and dignitaries were eager to visit during cold weather. Truman regularly made visits every November-December and returned each February-March. The "Little White House," as it became known, was the home of many important presidential decisions including the initial crafting of the Marshall Plan, the Truman Doctrine, a temporary cease-fire in Korea and the recognition of the State of Israel. It was also here Truman wrote his fourth Civil Rights Executive Order requiring federal contractors to hire minorities.

On a recent trip south, I visited the place and discovered a few more interesting facts and surprises:

The first surprise was visitors are not allowed to photograph anything inside. The guide explained this is a security measure owing to the fact that any Internet search for "White House" also brings up information about the Key West location. I thought the sanction to be a bit overdone, but reluctantly complied – no secret phone shots.

Harry Truman was good at a lot of things. Relaxing and taking his mind off of work was not one of them. It was supposed to be his staff's job to see to it that Truman used the time in Key West to relax. On the other hand, Truman was concerned about his staff members and wanted them to relax and enjoy their stay. On many occasions, the president sat in his living room looking calm while he was busy at work with his presidential duties, writing memos, letters and speeches. Across the room, his staff members tried to look at ease while they were busy managing Truman's schedule and running the show. No one got much relaxing done.

The master bedroom contains two twin beds. It was designated as Mrs. Truman's bedroom. On occasion their daughter Margaret slept in the second bed. The president had separate sleeping quarters. It was, at the time, the policy that, even in the White House in Washington, DC, the president and first lady had separate bedrooms. In other words, you might be the president of the United States, but you can't sleep with your wife. This policy remained in effect until Brother Gerald Ford became president. It wasn't Ford who ended the policy, but his wife Betty, who described the arrangement as… to use a euphemism... bovine excrement.

Truman loved to play poker. One of the changes he made in the furnishings of the Little White House was the addition of a poker table. There, he would sit for hours and play poker with his staff and even national and world leaders who visited. The existence of the poker table was kept secret, the thinking being that the general public would consider poker playing to be scandalous.

On one occasion, the bevy of reporters accompanying the president cooked up a prank to play on Truman. Deciding the president, being a Democrat, must be fond of donkeys, they somehow got past security and smuggled a burro onto the grounds. They hid the animal in the president's detached bath house. The next morning when Truman went to take his shower he was greeted not only by the animal, but also by a large pile of donkey poop. The Secret Service was not at all amused and launched an investigation into the matter. Truman laughed off the incident and stopped the investigation.

The tour made no mention of Truman's Masonic activities. I asked the guide if he knew anything about that and he told me the president did, in fact, visit Masonic lodges in the area and on occasion participated in Masonic events. Knowing about Truman's love for the Craft, that didn't surprise me at all.

Since Truman's presidency, other presidents and leaders have continued to use the Little White House for various purposes. Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Carter all stayed there. The last presidential visit was a 2005 weekend retreat for Bill and Hillary Clinton. In 1987, the house became the property of the State of Florida, which restored it and opened it as a state historic site and museum. Today it is open to the public and offers several daily tours – no photographs, please.

~SLH

Bro. Steve Harrison, 33° , is Past Master of Liberty Lodge #31, Liberty, Missouri. He is also a Fellow and Past Master of the Missouri Lodge of Research. Among his other Masonic memberships are the St. Joseph Missouri Valley of the Scottish Rite, Liberty York Rite bodies, and Moila Shrine. He is also a member and Past Dean of the DeMolay Legion of Honor. Brother Harrison is a regular contributor to the Midnight Freemasons blog as well as several other Masonic publications. Brother Steve was Editor of the Missouri Freemason magazine for a decade and is a regular contributor to the Whence Came You podcast. Born in Indiana, he has a Master's Degree from Indiana University and is retired from a 35 year career in information technology. Steve and his wife Carolyn reside in northwest Missouri. He is the author of dozens of magazine articles and three books: Freemasonry Crosses the Mississippi, Freemasons — Tales From the Craft and Freemasons at Oak Island.

Bucking The Trend

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Steven L. Harrison, 33°, FMLR

The Missouri Lodge of Research evolved from a research council formed in 1927 by a group of Masons which included famed Masonic author Ray Denslow and an obscure county judge named Harry Truman. The idea to turn the Missouri Masonic Research Council into an actual Lodge came along in 1938, and was summarily voted down at Grand Lodge because, "We've never done that before."

Two years later, with that obscure judge Truman, now a US Senator, serving as Grand Master, the proposal went through and the Missouri Lodge of Research was born. It bears the distinction of being the only Masonic Lodge, research or otherwise, to having the sitting President of the United States as its Master.

The Lodge flourished over the years, providing members an outlet to meet and discuss topics of interest as well as publishing Masonic papers, articles and books. Early on, it became a mainstay of the Missouri Lodge of Research to provide its members with a book each year, usually one that the Lodge published itself. Many of those books were the products of the Denslows, Ray and his son William, who wrote the epic series 10,000 Famous Freemasons. Those books attracted members not just from Missouri, but from all over the country and even outside the US. 

In time, the Missouri Lodge of Research became the largest US research Lodge and was probably second in prestige only to England's famous Quatour Coronati. As Masonic membership began to decline after the postwar boom years, the Missouri LOR's membership also started to decline but it "held its own" in comparison to other Masonic institutions, thanks mostly to the quality of the books it was distributing.

Then, in 2001, it began distributing a series of books, Lodges of Missouri. This consisted of five volumes which detailed the history of each Masonic Lodge in the jurisdiction. The Lodge distributed one of the five volumes as its annual book for five consecutive years. 

The Lodges of Missouri series was a valuable addition to the history of Missouri Masonry. It was probably unique to the Grand Lodge of Missouri for a Grand Lodge to have such a detailed history of each of its individual Lodges.  Unfortunately issuing the series proved to be a major tactical error. Members outside Missouri had little interest in the series. Even within the jurisdiction, members tired of seeing the books come year-after-year, especially for the volumes that didn't contain their own lodges. 

Membership plummeted. Over that period, the Missouri Lodge of Research lost about half its membership. Not only was it not "holding its own" it was actually losing membership at a faster rate than Masonry in general.

Facing this crisis, the Missouri LOR officers met to come up with a plan to reverse the trend.  Immediately, of course, it began releasing books of more general and popular Masonic interest.  In addition to that the officers took the following measures:

…Established the Truman Lecture Series, bringing in world-class Masonic speakers twice a year to speak at its semi-annual meetings. This series has featured such speakers as Clifton Truman Daniel, Josef Wäges, Alton Roundtree, Arturo de Hoyos, Trevor Stewart, Robert Cooper, Brent Morris, Chris Hodapp and more. 

…Took responsibility for the management of the Missouri Masonic Museum in Columbia.  The museum details the Masonic history of Missouri and elsewhere, and contains unique memorabilia such as Harry Truman's cane and glasses, the Masonic apron of Meriwether Lewis and Wild Bill Hickock's alleged Lodge chair.

…Built a comprehensive Masonic library at its Masonic Complex. The library now contains many priceless artifacts as well as thousands of books, many rare or one-of-a-kind. It also provides an on-line electronic catalog and is working to digitize many of its volumes.

…Enhanced its newsletter, which now contains articles of esoteric and historical Masonic interest as well as being a vehicle to communicate regularly with its membership.

…Sponsors a Lodge of Research Breakfast on the final day of the Grand Lodge session, at which the Fall Truman Lecturer speaks. Arguably, this is the most popular event at Grand Lodge. 

…Established the Pickard Society named after John Pickard, first president of the original Missouri Masonic Research Council. Members may join the Pickard Society by giving small donations. Those donations do not necessarily need to be monetary; they can also come in the form of book donations or even time and effort given to the Library.

…Established the Denslow Society named for the iconic Masonic authors Ray and William Denslow. The Denslow Society's $1,000 membership fee helps insure the future of the Library and LOR programs.

These steps have helped the Missouri Lodge of Research to gain back about half the members it lost over the five-years it published the Lodges of Missouri Series. 

So, in an era when many institutions, not just Masonic, are losing members, the Missouri Lodge of Research is bucking the trend with membership numbers on the rise again. The point is, it can be done but it takes effort, cooperation and resources. To be sure, the Missouri Lodge of Research is unique and the way it turned things around wouldn't apply to most other Masonic bodies. However, the reversal of the decline started when the Lodge of research figured out a way to give its members what they wanted. That's the key and that's what all our Masonic organizations need to do… figure out what the members want and give it to them… easier said than done.

Membership in the Missouri Lodge of Research is $25/year. An application can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/moresearch The books for 2019 and 2020 are the two-volume set Ray V. Denslow's Masonic Journey, the never-before published memoirs of a 20^thcentury Masonic giant.

~SLH

Bro. Steve Harrison, 33° , is Past Master of Liberty Lodge #31, Liberty, Missouri. He is also a Fellow and Past Master of the Missouri Lodge of Research. Among his other Masonic memberships are the St. Joseph Missouri Valley of the Scottish Rite, Liberty York Rite bodies, and Moila Shrine. He is also a member and Past Dean of the DeMolay Legion of Honor. Brother Harrison is a regular contributor to the Midnight Freemasons blog as well as several other Masonic publications. Brother Steve was Editor of the Missouri Freemason magazine for a decade and is a regular contributor to the Whence Came You podcast. Born in Indiana, he has a Master's Degree from Indiana University and is retired from a 35 year career in information technology. Steve and his wife Carolyn reside in northwest Missouri. He is the author of dozens of magazine articles and three books: Freemasonry Crosses the Mississippi, Freemasons — Tales From the Craft and Freemasons at Oak Island.

Holes in the Border - An Interesting Parallel

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Steven L. Harrison, 33°, FMLR

Notice: For the next few minutes, put your politics aside. This is published without comment as a scenario from the past with an interesting parallel to today's current events. Once you have read it, take three deep breaths and count to ten before taking it to FaceBook, Twitter, or other anti-social media platform of choice. Thank you. You may now continue reading the article.

The week of February 19-24, 1947, Freemasons convened in Washington, DC, for a series of combined meetings. On Friday of that week, Frank Land, the founder of DeMolay, arranged for a select group of Brothers, mostly Grand Masters, to meet with President Truman. The meeting was more than a formality, given Truman's interest in Masonic affairs.

Truman greeted the Brothers in the Oval Office, beginning with some informal chit-chat and pointing out some of the items there. He said he was somewhat preoccupied, having just received notice his mother, 94-year-old Martha Ellen Young Truman, had fallen and broken her hip.

The group got down to business and the subject of Truman's impending trip to Mexico came up. Masonic relations between Mexico and the US were good, but there were still issues needing to be ironed out. Chief among those were concerns about some of the Spanish Ritual translations. In addition there were Masonic divisions within Mexico itself.

Truman was to meet with Mexico's President Miguel Alemán Valdés. Alemán was a member of City of Mexico Lodge No. 35 and also a Scottish Rite Mason. They asked Truman if he would arrange for himself and Alemán to meet with a group of Mexican Freemasons in the interest of harmony.

Truman declined, saying his agenda was full. "The sole purpose of my trip," he told them, "is to discuss how to patch up the holes in the Mexico-USA border."

Bro. Steve Harrison, 33° , is Past Master of Liberty Lodge #31, Liberty, Missouri. He is also a Fellow and Past Master of the Missouri Lodge of Research. Among his other Masonic memberships are the St. Joseph Missouri Valley of the Scottish Rite, Liberty York Rite bodies, and Moila Shrine. He is also a member and Past Dean of the DeMolay Legion of Honor. Brother Harrison is a regular contributor to the Midnight Freemasons blog as well as several other Masonic publications. Brother Steve was Editor of the Missouri Freemason magazine for a decade and is a regular contributor to the Whence Came You podcast. Born in Indiana, he has a Master's Degree from Indiana University and is retired from a 35 year career in information technology. Steve and his wife Carolyn reside in northwest Missouri. He is the author of dozens of magazine articles and three books: Freemasonry Crosses the Mississippi, Freemasons — Tales From the Craft and Freemasons at Oak Island.

Respect

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Steven L. Harrison, 33°, FMLR

Recently Brother Greg Knott wrote an article for this blog about a Medal of Honor. He described the respect he had for the man who earned it and, in fact, for the medal itself. It brought to mind something I saw years ago which has stayed with me and been a reminder that such items should be handled with the care and respect they demand:

I was working on installing a system in a large metropolitan bank's safekeeping department. The executive offices there were glass-walled and I saw a group inside one standing around something a customer had brought in for storage. I went over for a closer look and saw they were inspecting a violin — a Stradivarius violin. To date myself, this was back when employees could smoke in offices; and there stood one of the execs leaning over the priceless instrument with a lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Not only that, the butt had a long trail of ashes on the front which, predictably, dropped onto the violin. He brushed the ashes off and the gang continued gawking. I was stunned they could treat such an incredible piece so carelessly.
Over the years I've had occasion to see some pretty significant Masonic memorabilia. Many times when I've had "hands-on" access I think of that little scenario in the bank and remind myself to take the utmost care with the item.

I've seen many such items at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri. The staff there "bends over backwards" to dig out documents and artifacts for researchers. White gloves are the order of the day as researchers go through the precious treasure trove of Brother Truman's life.

On one occasion I was there researching the well-documented account of the President's visit to Beech Grove Lodge in Indiana. While on his Whistle-Stop tour in 1948, Truman evaded the press and much of his traveling party to attend a meeting at that Lodge and raise a Brother who worked for him. At the close of the meeting he asked if he could keep the apron he had worn as a souvenir.

As the staff at the Truman Library gathered items relating to that visit, one of the artifacts turned out to be that apron. I was mesmerized as I looked at it. I felt as if I was in the presence of the President himself. Unable to resist, I broke one of the Library's rules. I slipped off my glove and…

I touched it.

I probably shouldn't have done it, but something inside me just wanted that connection with the historic apron. I don't think I hurt it at all. It didn't seem the same as dumping a pile of cremated tobacco onto a Stradivarius. What's more, I'm not sorry. I would do it again — guilty as charged. I didn't do it maliciously.

I did it out of respect

~SLH

Bro. Steve Harrison, 33° , is Past Master of Liberty Lodge #31, Liberty, Missouri. He is also a Fellow and Past Master of the Missouri Lodge of Research. Among his other Masonic memberships are the St. Joseph Missouri Valley of the Scottish Rite, Liberty York Rite bodies, and Moila Shrine. He is also a member and Past Dean of the DeMolay Legion of Honor. Brother Harrison is a regular contributor to the Midnight Freemasons blog as well as several other Masonic publications. Brother Steve was Editor of the Missouri Freemason magazine for a decade and is a regular contributor to the Whence Came You podcast. Born in Indiana, he has a Master's Degree from Indiana University and is retired from a 35 year career in information technology. Steve and his wife Carolyn reside in northwest Missouri. He is the author of dozens of magazine articles and three books: Freemasonry Crosses the Mississippi, Freemasons — Tales From the Craft and Freemasons at Oak Island.

An Unsuccessful Assassination

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

RW Robert H. Johnson

November 1st, 1950...an attempt on Brother Harry Truman's life was thwarted in what was called "...the biggest gunfight the Secret Service had ever seen." In short, Truman was napping while two Puerto Rican Nationalists devised a plan to take out the president.

The entire ordeal cost the life of only one White House Police Officer, Brother Leslie Coffelt. One of the assailants was mortally wounded and the other was sentenced to death, which was later commuted by Bro. Truman, to a life sentence.

Update: Bro. Coffelt was laid to rest in Arlington Cemetery with a Masonic service done by Potomac Lodge No. 5

For further details, Follow Potomac Lodge No. 5 on Facebook. Many thanks to the lodge for updating us here at the Midnight Freemasons on the fraternal update of Bro. Coffelt.

See their post HERE

~RJ

Bro. Robert Johnson, PM is the Managing Editor of the Midnight Freemasons blog. He is a Freemason out of the 1st N.E. District of Illinois. He currently serves as the Secretary of Waukegan Lodge No. 78 where he is a Past Master. He also serves as the District Deputy for the 1st N.E. District of Illinois. Brother Johnson currently produces and hosts weekly Podcasts (internet radio programs) Whence Came You? & Masonic Radio Theatre which focus on topics relating to Freemasonry. He is also a co-host of The Masonic Roundtable, a Masonic talk show. He is a husband and father of four, works full time in the executive medical industry and is also an avid home brewer. He is currently working on a book of Masonic essays and one on Occult Anatomy to be released soon.