Joan K. Sansbury
Librarian and Curator
The Supreme Council, 33°
1733 Sixteenth Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20009–3103

The Library of the Supreme Council is a living, vital part of the educational community in Washington, D.C.

It has been like opening gifts on Christmas Eve or discovering that, with the passage of time, your great-grandmother’s vase, which you loved as a child and which she gave you, has become an antique of great monetary as well as sentimental value. That is what we have been experiencing this year in the Library of the Supreme Council in the House of the Temple. Rare volumes have been discovered, enough that a special rare books room has been constructed in the protected lower floors of the building where heat, light, and temperature can be more exactly controlled. In 1998, Art deHoyos, 32°, K.C.C.H., a Masonic scholar, came to the library twice to help identify rare Masonic books for conservation and restoration. About 50% of the rare books need to be restored. Then, Fred Gettings, a scholar from England, came to the library to research a book he was about to have published. While using the Council’s library, he came across some very rare books in the "General" collection. One, titled The True Prophecies of Michael Nostradamus published in 1685, includes the first appearance of the word "America" in print. The book is worth about $125,000, and yet it was sitting in the library’s open "General" collection.

Joan K. Sansbury, librarian and curator of the Supreme Council, 33°, reads to local preschool students during the new “Children’s Hour” program at the House of the Temple in Washington, D.C.

As rare books are identified, photocopies are made of title pages, and the books themselves are moved to the new downstairs rare book vault. Each book’s location is also noted on the catalog card, and the appropriate record in the computer is updated so that we know exactly where the book is. These books will still be available for researchers, but the conditions of their use will be more carefully monitored.

Exciting as the above is, this is not the only news from the library. We have been able to enhance the library’s staff with three excellent new employees. Adelaide Cross, former head of the Data Processing Department of the Supreme Council, is a part-time cataloger and has already completed placing the entire Robert Burns Collection of over 6,000 volumes on the library’s computer system. She is now performing the same work on the library’s Masonic collection of about 40,000 books.

Also, George Dawson, a member of Prince Frederick Lodge No. 142, Prince Frederick, Maryland, has been hired as an assistant to the librarian. His first duty was to continue and expand the Children’s Hour Program. He contacted local day-care centers and told them about our community outreach. We have had an overwhelming response from the schools and now try to have at least three Children’s Hours each month. In October, we had a physical fitness show for the children, with lunch following the program. About 85 children, their teachers, and assistants were present. It was a great success, and we plan on making this an annual event.

A portrait engraving of Robert Fludd, the author of Mysteries of Diseases (1631), is the frontispiece of the Supreme Council Library’s copy of this book, pictured above in pieces prior to its restoration. This is one of approximately 50 rare books already restored due to generous contributions by members of a new group, the Friends of the Library. See listing of donors on pages 7 and 8 of this issue.

In addition, Gary Ford, 32°, has been hired to catalog the John Edgar Hoover Collection and to assist patrons with research questions on Hoover. Recently, for instance, a film crew from the Arts and Entertainment Channel visited the Hoover Room to film a two-hour special program dedicated to Ill. Hoover’s career as Director of the FBI. Bro. Ford will be cataloging the entire collection related to the J. Edgar Hoover Law Enforcement Room on the library/museum computer database.

Also, a professor from The George Washington University (GWU) asked if I would keep the library open late so that I could give his class a tour of the House of the Temple and explain to his students how to use the Supreme Council Library. As readers of the Scottish Rite Journal know, there is a long-standing relationship between GWU and the Supreme Council, and we are always glad to help the university. Dr. David Bjelajac and I have decided to make this an annual event. In his Art History class, students perform research in the library to see if famous artists were Masons and if their art contains Masonic symbolism. So the library is fulfilling its commitment to helping education, from day-care and grade school at one end of the spectrum to college students and Masonic scholars at the other. The Library of the Supreme Council is a living, vital part of the educational community in Washington, D.C., and becoming a national resource as well. We have upgraded the library’s computer system by incorporating a new system called GLAS. It offers many search capabilities, including title, author, keyword, subject, and specialized searches. The system will allow us to put the library on-line on the Internet so that everyone in the world will have access to the library catalog.

We are truly discovering new treasures, not merely the treasures of rare and precious books but the treasure of children’s excitement in learning and the treasure of mature students making their contributions to the knowledge of the world. Visit the Library of the Supreme Council when you are in Washington, D.C. We will be waiting to introduce you to the treasures in the Temple.

Joan K. Sansbury is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, and has her Master’s Degree in Library Science at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. She is a member of the American Library Association, the District of Columbia Library Association, and the Masonic Library and Museum Association.