The Builder Magazine 1915-1930 A Mirror of Freemasonry's Unresolved Woes - The Craftsman | John Bizzack | Masonic Education and Resources about Freemasonry

John W. Bizzack, PM, Lexington Lodge 1, Fellow and PM, William O. Ware Lodge of Research, BF, FPS

March 2026

T

he Builder Magazine (1915–1930) was the official monthly journal of the National Masonic Research Society, founded in Anamosa, Iowa, and explicitly styled as “A Journal for the Masonic Student.” It ran for fifteen years and 185 issues, that remains a veritable bonanza to the student of Freemasonry where thousands of articles on Masonic history, philosophy, jurisprudence, symbolism, poetry, landmarks, along with commentary, editorials, and opinion pieces leave it unmatched by other publications as a primary source for insight into the state and condition of the early 20th-century Craft.

The magazine quickly earned a reputation among librarians and scholars as perhaps the finest American Masonic periodical of its era. It aimed not merely to educate Masons about Masonry, but to interpret Freemasonry’s nature and purpose, cultivate informed leadership, and elevate the intellectual life of the Craft.^[1]

The “National Masonic Research Society” was the brainchild of George L. Schoonover (Grand Master of Iowa 1918). Schoonover saw a desire in the newly raised Mason a to “know what it was all about.”^[2] It was his belief that what the American Fraternity needed was a National, rather than a regional, organization similar to the Research Lodges of England, complete with its own monthly high-quality educational journal.

This new publication would be but one of the benefits a member of this new educational society could expect to receive. In addition, the members of the society would receive pamphlets, booklets and other materials specially published by the new society. And if that were not enough to be worthy of a brother’s annual membership of $2.50, he could have his questions answered, receive advice on Lodge education programs and even guidance and assistance in his personal research efforts.^[3]

George L. Schoonover

Schoonover presented his ideas to the Grand Lodge of Iowa, who were only too happy to give their blessing on the project. Soon after a three-story building was built in Anamosa, Iowa to house the new society (built with Schoonover's own funds) and arrangements were made to secure Joseph Fort Newton as the first Editor-in-Chief of the society's new Masonic journal, “The Builder.”^[4]

Joseph Fort Newton served as the founding and initial Editor-in-Chief starting with the January 1915 issue, setting the magazine's scholarly tone through its early years under the National Masonic Research Society. Prolific Masonic scholar and author, H.L. (Harvey L.) Haywood later became Editor-in-Chief, with records indicating his leadership by the 1920s; a board of associate editors—including Louis Block (Iowa), Robert I. Clegg (Ohio), Charles F. Irwin (Ohio), and Newton—supported him during this period. R.J. Meekren succeeded as Editor-in-Chief around 1925, following Haywood's departure to New York, guiding the publication through its final issues until cessation in 1930.^[5] At times the editorial staff consisted of fifteen Masons from as many as twelve different jurisdictions.

The pages of "The Builder" were open to the Craft, of every rite and jurisdiction, inviting discussion of every aspect of Masonry - its history, philosophy, symbolism, ritual, and practical problems. Lectures, old documents, study programs, biographical sketches, any kind of information of value to the Craft in any of its activities, were welcomed.^[6] While some articles inevitably show their age in style or assumptions, the overall quality, breadth, and seriousness of the contributions justify the frequent claim that it was the best American Masonic magazine ever published, and modern digitized archives now make it readily accessible as a rich resource for lodge programs, study circles, and individual students of Freemasonry.^[7]

Joseph Fort Newton

Today, all issues of The Builder are available on several easily accessible websites.^[8] The bibliographic details of thousands of individual issues printed by more than 675 Masonic magazines, newspapers, and bulletins issued between 1811 and 2001 are likewise available.^{^[9]} Those 675 titles represent the corpus identified a quarter century ago, so it is reasonable to conclude that the total number of such periodicals is even higher today.

A thorough review of the 185 editions of The Builder Magazine offers a picture of organized Freemasonry in America in a period that is entrenched in an overconfident culture that blinds it to present failures of its structure and mechanics. One hundred years later, not much has changed in that culture.

Nearly a century later, the American Fraternity continues to wrestle with unresolved structural, administrative, and leadership challenges that threaten its perpetuity. External factors contribute, but internal shortcomings demand scrutiny; many were solvable then, with actionable solutions preserved in the pages of The Builder that still apply today.

The contents of The Builder explicitly and consistently positioned the journal as non-commercial and directed solely to members rather than the general public. Its editorial stance was deliberately constructive and “sound,” seeking to deepen appreciation for Freemasonry, stimulate reasoned discussion, and anchor Masonic enthusiasm in serious study rather than purely social or ceremonial experience.^[10]

Although the publication was available around the globe and eventually had subscribers in more than forty countries, its focus was on educating the young American Mason.^[11]

But all great things must come to an end and in May of 1930, the final issue of The Builder rolled off the press.^[12] The Great Depression which was sweeping the land depleted the society of members just as it was depleting lodge membership throughout the United States. In 1930 there were 3,279,778 Freemasons in the United States; by 1941, when America entered the Second World War, there were only 2,457,263; a loss of 25%. Masonic author and researcher Stephen Defoe asked, “One cannot help but wonder what the face of North American Masonic education would look like if the depression had never occurred and The Builder had continued to build” ^[13]

Stephen Dafoe’s essay presentation, “Reading, Writing and Apathy: The Rise and Fall of Masonic Education" stands as one of the most comprehensive examinations and contextual study of what has happened over the last century to what The Builder referred to as “the Masonic education movement.” A critic of contemporary Masonic magazines he notes in his essay that:

A cursory glance at most of these Masonic Magazines, and as a publisher, I feel dirty even using the same nomenclature to describe them, shows that they are 1% paper and ink and 99% fluff and filler. The subscriber to “The Builder” would have surely revoked his membership in the society if ever he received such a publication. Yes, a Grand Lodge publication needs to inform its members of happenings in the jurisdiction, past, present, and future, but somewhere amongst all the 'Grip and Grin' photo opportunities, there must be room for something to enlighten the mind of those few who desire to make a daily advancement in Masonic education.^[14]

DaFoe’s 2006 analysis and criticisms about contemporary Masonic magazines and other areas in his presentation may appear harsh to some Masons, yet no rejoinder disagreeing with his research is known to have been published.

EXTRACTS

The following examples represent but a few extracts of the insight, information, and scholarship found across the 185 issues of The Builder. They do not, by any means, encompass the full scope and depth of the era's exemplary writings—works that provide vital markers of American Freemasonry's state and condition within greater society, as well as its external and internal influences on lodges. Importantly, the publication addresses at length the consequences of form over substance—a theme and warning echoed in contemporary Masonic writing today.

While the Fraternity grapples with
many of the same issues evident during
The Builder's fifteen-year run, the
reality that younger members rarely
inherit study habits from their
predecessors of that period is clear.

While the Fraternity grapples with many of the same issues evident during The Builder's fifteen-year run, the reality that younger members rarely inherit study habits from their predecessors of that period is clear and one of the reasons The Builder came into existence.

EXTRACT 1

Published in 1917, a concern about Lodges becoming degree mills sounds much like what we continue to hear today. The issue speaks to the subject that the Blue Lodge is the foundation of all Masonic enterprises and noted that it would seem to be of the greatest importance that the Blue Lodge should operate as a social unit; not as a Chamber of Commerce for a community, nor as a charitable machine, still less as a degree mill for the preparation of candidates for the so called "higher degrees."^[15]

That a man must first be a Mason at heart is too often lightly passed over, with the result that Masonic Lodges are filled largely with physical Masons only. They know nothing about the spiritual or heart side, or the philosophical. Masonry teaches a perfect system for earthly life, and in the end will assist the true Mason to climb the ladder which Jacob saw in his vision. Well, what has all this to do with interesting the brethren in the study side? Perhaps to 75 per cent of Lodge membership means nothing; it doesn't appeal to them for the above reasons. "As a man thinketh so is he." Thoughtful Masons everywhere note the tendency of Lodges to degenerate into degree mills. The best Lodge is the one that does the most work," and the "brightest" Mason is the proficient degree worker. The brethren attend lodge when there is "work" to do or a "feed" spread. In the absence of these attractions, one-third or perhaps one-fourth of the membership attends. This age is material, physical, and mechanical. The cardinal virtues must be invoked to correct it. Masonry is the leaven that has brought the world out of chaos to its present condition; and if its present condition is not good, does it mean that the leaven is not working, that the "salt has lost its savor? ^[16]

It is challenging to find disagreements with the statement that lodges today are still “filled largely with physical Masons only.”

EXTRACT 2

In Editor-in Chief, Joseph Fort Newton’s 1917 published a tribute to the lifetime work of Andrew Somerville MacBride who was then (and certainly today) considered to be one of Scotland’s brightest Freemasons. In the article, we find MacBride’s “Seven Hints to Masters.” McBride distilled through his life-time experience as a leader the qualifications necessary to be a successful Master of a Lodge. McBride’s work is echoed in a number of articles that appear in The Builder throughout the 1920s and built on MacBride’s seven hints. Each of them continues to stand today as a worthy reminder to those who are or seek to become Master of their Lodge.

1. The Master should not be Craftsman, laborer, and everything. He should superintend and direct the work.

2. Have a meeting of the Office-bearers, as soon after the election as possible, to arrange your work, and to encourage them to study and enter into their duties with an enthusiastic spirit.

3. Get each Office-bearer to learn the duties of the Office immediately above his, so that he may, when required, be able to perform them.

4. Always remember it is the Master's work to plan, and to draw out the plan of work. Treat your Office-bearers confidentially and show them your plan, and then you may rightly expect them to work to it.

5. Give every encouragement to anyone who wishes to work and get your Officers to do the same; but bear in mind that your own members have the first claim on your assistance and encouragement.

6. Don't parade your authority but prove yourself worthy of the power placed in your hands, by using it as seldom as possible.

7. Remember the best Master is he who best serves the Craft. 'Tis no wonder that such a method, used in the spirit of Masonic idealism made effective by a fine practical capacity, has attested its worth and wisdom in rich results. It was the rare pleasure of a lifetime to visit Lodge Progress--of which we offer a brief account elsewhere in this issue to meet its members, and to join with them in paying homage to one of the wisest Masonic teachers of our generation whose work has won, and will continue to win increasingly, the lasting and grateful honor of the Craft in all lands where its gentle labors are known.^[17]

EXTRACT 3

For almost a decade, The Builder championed the path that one of its regular contributors delicately but in plain terms identified in 1925 as a chasm between what is practiced in Masonic Lodges and what is claimed to be practiced.

It cannot be denied by anyone who has any power of observation that there is a wide divergence between practice and profession in Masonry. But this is common to every human institution, and must always be so, according to the nature of things. Every candidate who takes a lively interest in Masonry will notice in the Craft degrees many anachronisms, many redundancies of speech, many misquotations, and not a few grammatical errors, and he will be correspondingly shocked or astonished.^[18]

The chasm to which was being discussed was the result of the uneven and far from uniform way that Masonry was explained and conveyed to its members in American Lodges.

To address the longstanding concern, The Builder proposed forming study groups to supplement lodge instruction, where ritual alone was often deemed sufficient for Masonic learning. However, the concept was not new. H.L. Haywood, The Builder's second Editor-in-Chief, had championed the idea as early as 1917. ^[19] A decade later, it was was reported that this systematic course of Masonic study was adopted and carried out in monthly and semi-monthly meetings of lodges and study clubs all over the United States and Canada, and in several instances in lodges overseas.

What Haywood and The Builder proposed was what all Lodges should have been teaching for decades and that organized study groups at the Lodge level were a solution to the deficit.

The foundation of the study course used two sources of Masonic information, The Builder and Mackey's Encyclopedia. The following is an outline of the subjects to be covered in what was called the “current series of study club papers.” Each issue published additional topics and even questions to be presented and discussed at club meetings. The earliest curricula included:

THE TEACHINGS OF MASONRY

1. - General Introduction. - A. Reasons for a course explaining what the "teachings of Masonry" mean. - B. How one can arrive at his own Philosophy of Masonry. - Conclusion. The Philosophy of Masonry is not a study of philosophy in general, but a study of Masonry such as a philosopher gives to any great intellectual problem.

2. - The Masonic Conception of Human Nature.

3. - The Idea of Truth in Freemasonry.

4. - The Masonic Conception of Education.

5. - Ritualism and Symbolism.

6. - Initiation and Secrecy.

7. - Masonic Ethics.

8. - Equality.

9. - Liberty.

10. - Democracy.

11. - Masonry and Industry.

12. - The Brotherhood of Man.

13. - The Fatherhood of God.

14. - Endless Life.

15. - Brotherly Aid.

16. - Schools of Masonic Philosophy.

Continuing to vigorously support and push the Study Glub concept, we find a lengthy 1929 article titled, “The Study Club: Are You a True and Loyal Builder?” ^[20] In that writing, the author asked seven questions for the reader’s consideration. They are:

1. Has Freemasonry fulfilled your expectations?

2. Are most members of your lodge active and regular in attendance?

3. Are your lodge activities as attractive, interesting, and helpful as they might be?

4. Are you aware that freemasonry was founded as an educational Fraternity?

5. Has modern masonry departed too far from the original educational objectives?

6. How much personal service are you rendering to your Fraternity?

7. Will you do three things for the cause of Masonic education?

The author explores these questions, which, in fact, remain relevant and worthy to be asked and openly discussed in lodges today.

It is in that same issue we find that according to “the best
statistics available, in the average Lodge, about fifteen per
cent of the members are active and regular in their
attendance, while only a small group, probably, less than
five per cent of the membership, are actually active in
conducting the customary programs of their Lodges” —
much like it is today, nearly one-hundred years later.

It is in that same issue that we find that according to “the best statistics available, in the average Lodge, about fifteen per cent of the members are active and regular in their attendance, while only a small group, probably, less than five per cent of the membership, are actually active in conducting the customary programs of their Lodges”^[21] — much like it is today, nearly one-hundred years later. The author also notes. “Surely there is justification for an inquiry as to why eighty-five per cent of our membership fail to maintain their interest in our activities.”^[22]

Among the several substantial points made in the article, we see a resolve that must have been percolating in the minds of those on the editorial and contributors of the period. The articles also ask:

Are Masonic activities losing their appeal to the average man? The fact that the records of gains in membership throughout the country show a steady decline during recent years, so that, unless there is a change in the near future, the time will soon come when our fraternity will be losing instead of gaining ground annually, is something that cannot be lightly overlooked or easily answered by those seriously concerned with the welfare and progress of our fraternity.^[23]

Interestingly, almost a decade after the concept was developed and adopted by many Lodges around the world, Joseph Fort Newton, realizing that The Builder “had hold of a big idea, but that we had it by the wrong end,” wrote about how to attack the problem from the right end.^[24] Newton saw that while The Builder and study groups were able to assemble a “goodly company of brethren who were students of Freemasonry, as readers of and writers for The Builder, that in comparison with the number of Masons in America, they were very few―hardly a drop in the bucket.”^[25] The remedy was the appropriate approach to a more event and organized instruction must take place as candidates passed through degrees – not later.^[26]

Newtown optimistically wrote, “Surely a Grand Lodge ought to be as eager to have at least an elementary knowledge of what Masonry is important to its young men,” and that “such a plan was neither impossible nor impractical, if we really meant business in the matter of Masonic Education.” Newton was correct. He discovered “the right end to get hold of;” however, he was woeful wrong in his belief that Grand Lodges would be eager to pursue the idea, respectively or collectively. However, by the time of Newton’s death in 1950, it was evident that most Grand Lodges (nor their subordinate lodges) really meant business in the matter of Masonic education. It was not until the final decade of the 1900s that American Freemasonry began to show anything close to a collective effort to do what Newton saw as a remedy some 75 years earlier.

EXTRACT 4

FORETELLING

Although it consistently provided material that gave Masons opportunities to learn more about Freemasonry, The Builder did not neglect addressing the structural and mechanical aspects of the Fraternity responsible for delivering that instruction.

The Study Club: Are You a True and Loyal Builder article in 1929 was not the first time The Builder had voiced grave concern that, if American Masonry continued on its present course, it would further corrode the historic aims and intentions of the organized Fraternity. However, it would be one of the last issues that did so prior to the end of its run in 1930. At the core of this concern lay a persistent anxiety about the education of its members, the way leaders were selected, the standards by which men were admitted, and the casual procedures that had taken root in too many lodge cultures.

In the same issue, coincidence or not, was another article titled “Statistics of Freemasonry” ^[27] that analyzed the Masonic Service Association's (MSA) newly compiled membership statistics, based on reports voluntarily provided by Grand Lodges. Those reports were first published in 1924 to provide a database Master Masons in good standing. The lists were compiled each year and published regularly by the MSA until a few years before the 2020 COVID pandemic. In times of membership increases, the annual report was often the primary source of data by numerous Masonic authors and Grand Lodge cheerleaders who interpreted gains to mean the appeal of the Fraternity was expanding and suggested there was more Freemasonry being practiced in the world. When declines in membership appeared, it was accompanied by the consternation of troubling news, but little internal consideration was given to anything that lodges were doing to cause decline.

The years of data on gains, losses, suspensions, demits, and deaths defied easy simple explanation. Despite a reported 3,283,574 total members at 1929's end (as reported in the article), projections by the author of the article warned that gains would soon lag while losses accelerated.

In sober retrospect, the article could not have been timelier in support of what many previous issues had warned about: the coming of a larger trend: a decline in membership levels as the consequence of drifting from the historical intent, aim, and purpose of the organized Masonry – a critique that proved prophetic.

In 1930, there were 3,279,778 Freemasons in the United States; by 1941 – eleven years later – when America entered the Second World War, there were only 2,457,263; a loss of 822, 515 members (twenty-five percent).^[28] The Great Depression played a role, of course. We find that fact in a perfunctory review of lodge minutes and annual proceedings. It was not until the 1960s that we begin to see other Masonic sources attributing the losses in that era, and the losses that were coming in 1959 (and would continue through today), to the absence of the even application of fundamental Masonic education, lack of authentic leadership, over reliance on ritual as the primary vehicle through which to instruct members, and casualness of process in too many Lodges.^[29]

In sober retrospect, the article could
not have been timelier in support of
what many previous issues had warned
about: the coming of a larger trend: a
decline in membership levels as the
consequence of drifting from the
historical intent, aim, and purpose of
the organized Masonry – a critique that
proved prophetic.

“A CHOICE OF EVILS”

The first issue of The Builder Magazine's
final year (1930) bears the earmarks of a
publication sensing its end—a sigh
resonating through writings that today read
eerily like a eulogy.

As DeFoe tells us, the men who wrote for The Builder and other early 20^th century Masonic publications (MSA, Short Talk Bulletins) that pushed for and fully endorsed an even and fundamental Masonic education for candidates and members, are now passed to where, beyond these voices, there is peace, but their work remains. Their concerns for the perpetuity of the Fraternity and strength and influence it could project on the world if reasonable and actionable solutions were taken remain topics today that trouble the Fraternity.

The first issue of The Builder Magazine's final year (1930) bears the earmarks of a publication sensing its end—a sigh resonating through writings that today read eerily like a eulogy.

An article that January expressed that at some point in the future some Masons may look at the course of events in the Masonic world of the United States and see that a major part of the first twenty-five years of the 20^th century the outstanding feature was the emergence of Masonic education as an object of official concern and policy.^[30] In context, that statement suggests the author was not confident that such an “education movement” could sustain itself.

The article noted that while most volumes of Grand Lodge Proceedings of the day had something to report on the subject of Masonic education, the individual Mason was still less likely to know what is being done outside his own jurisdiction, “if indeed he knows anything very much of what being done within it.” ^[31] On the other hand, the author notes that those who are actually interested, whether officially or otherwise, at apt to miss the forest because they are so intent upon the trees in their own vicinity.^[32]

The article goes on to state:

Taking everything into consideration there is a tendency now observable, here and there, to stop and take stock, to ask what it [the education movement] is really all about, and why and how? In short, the official Masonic Education Programs have run up against human nature - or rather just plain nature. They have put in some kind of water supply; they have caught the horse and haltered him and have led him to the trough - and he won't drink. The danger is that in reaction the whole effort may be abandoned. After all, if your horse won't drink today, you can fairly safely count on his drinking tomorrow, so that there is no sense in destroying the watering trough.^[33]

In the May 1935, the final issue of The Builder, an article fittingly titled, “The Future of Masonry” states the expectation that Masonry will continue to exist for a long period of time - forever, as the usual phrase goes. But there is uncertainty expressed that it would hold its high place in the estimation of men.^[34]

The editorial goes on to explore the statistics of membership and how it gives a somewhat superficial test of an institution's condition, stating that:

“Members there must be, obviously, but without knowing the quality little of value can be deduced from the quantity. Masonry has in the past attained a high reputation in the world, but this reputation was not in the least founded on the number of men who were Masons, but on their character. It was because in every community it was observed that many of the best men, the men most respected, the men most trusted, were of the Craft, that Masonry gained the reputation it has enjoyed. And reputation cannot long survive the conditions which give rise to it.

It is obvious, because it is common human nature, that as soon as any state or condition is highly esteemed in the community there will be a greatly increased desire to attain it. In proportion as a society is highly esteemed, and membership in it is regarded as a distinction, so will the number increase of those who desire to join it for the benefits it will bring them personally. In other words, the more an institution prospers the greater the number of parasites who seek to attach themselves to it. The condition is inevitable, human nature being what it is.” ^[35]

The editorial then dives deeper:

It is an undoubted fact that it has become altogether too easy for men to enter our lodges. The standard has been lowered; and though in theory any brother may undertake the task of raising it through the ballot box, in reality he is helpless. In most lodges it would be impossible, even could he devote his whole time to it, for a brother personally to satisfy himself with the qualifications of every applicant. Besides, even those who feel the situation most keenly are necessarily affected by the actual conditions. They inevitably feel that it is hard to reject a man who is no whit worse than many who are already in the lodge. The effect is cumulative and increases in geometrical proportion. And while it may be true that candidates should not be accepted for negative reasons, because there appears nothing overt against their being received, but that there should be something positive, something in their life and character that fits them for initiation, yet it is most difficult to act on this principle, for it has come to such a pass that most Masons actively resent the rejection of any petition they have presented to the lodge and regard it as a personal injury. For one brother, or even a group, to attempt to act in this way would mean in most cases a disruption of the harmony of the lodge. It is a choice of evils.”^[36]

EXTRACT 5

In November 1928, the editorial staff of The Builder magazine introduced Herbert Hungerford, an attorney and Mason in Cincinnati, Ohio, through a succession of articles described as “a series of outspoken articles of critical analysis and constructive suggestions on present-day problems of our Ancient Fraternity.” ^[37] The first article, titled “What’s the Matter with Freemasonry?” adopts the tone of a closing statement and challenges readers to question or respond to Hungerford’s assertions. Five Masons replied in agreement with Hungerford, and their responses appeared in the February 1929 issue of the magazine.

The most prominent reply is from a Mason in Michigan:

Every thinking Mason is already in full agreement with his [Hungerford’s] indictment, and no other but thinking Masons will read it. It has all been said before, possibly not so systematically, but very frequently. So frequently indeed that it has become material for the addresses of Masonic Grand Lodge officials in the lodges. Everybody agrees and applauds, but no one dreams of doing anything, least of all the official orators, who could give a lead if they took it seriously. Meantime the degree mills run overtime, and those who would like to help, if they were given a lead, get tired and bored, and cease to come to lodge, and eventually cease to take any further interest in an organization that promises so much and does so little.^[38]

The next series article “The Practice of Freemasonry as a Solvent for World Problems” appeared in February 1929.^[39] In that article he asked the question “Are Masonic Lodges stressing superficialities?” and “What is the central theme of Freemasonry?” Again, he stressed that the intention of the series was to stimulate contributions from those who may be interested and raise as many questions as possible.”^[40]

The next article appeared in March 1929, titled, “Freemasonry and the Progress of Science.”^[41] Among his points he asks: “What do Masons know of Masonry?” then proceeds to state what he deplores most in modern Masonic activities and the what he finds at Stated Meetings: “…an appalling ignorance which so many of our younger brothers disclose regarding the real fundamentals of Freemasonry.”^[42]

In April 1929, Hungerford’s article is titled “Freemasonry in Business” in which he asks and discusses the question, “How far should Masonry entered into the commercial relationships of Masons between themselves, as distinct from those that are purely social.” ^[43]

Hungerford’s final article appears in the May 1929 issue. Its befitting title is, “The Future of Freemasonry.”^[44] In it he points out the reasons for an optimistic outlook, the importance of ideals, the “many cities” within the Fraternity, and expressed “no fears regarding the future of Freemasonry.

The entire series prompted fewer than a dozen replies out of a subscription of what was understood from records to be 20,000 members – roughly a 0.06 percent of subscribers, if that 20,000 subscribers’ number is correct.

In the November 1929 issue, Hungerford addressed what he described as sixteen common questions that he had personally received as a result of the series that came to him by letters and in person from brethren – questions that had not been published in The Builder. The questions were not so much of a challenge to what he wrote but rather asking for further explanation and exploration of his position on the topics in the series. If there were replies sent to The Builder to the responses that were published in the November issue, they did not appear in the final six issues of the magazine.

Although Hungerford had already expressed no fears regarding the future of Freemasonry, he did not express that he had no fear regarding the future of the “education movement.” In the remaining issues of The Builder, Hungerford, as The Builder’s Campaign Manager for the extension of the Study Club Movement continued to push hard the concept urging not only a continuation of the idea but its continued expansion. Newton’s 1928 recommendation in Short Talks on Masonry, that the problem of providing appropriate education of candidates while passing through degrees would attack the lack of education from the right end, was never mentioned.

CLOSING

It is not known whether Hungerford was among those who foresaw the impending stock market crash^[45] and its potential impact on Masonic membership and the educational movement within the Fraternity—though, of course, it is possible. Yet given his clear-eyed assessment of the American Fraternity’s condition, it is doubtful that he indulged in Pollyannaish, blind optimism when the evidence suggested otherwise.

In October 1929, five months following the last of the series, the “education movement” did begin to falter along with the world economy because of the stock market crash. The high point of membership the American Fraternity enjoyed in the 1920s would inevitably sink again in ways not seen since the aftermath of The Morgan Affair in 1826.

Another consideration as to why The Builder Magazine was such a bright spot in the history of Masonic education in the United States is that the editors and contributors to The Builder Magazine were more attuned to Masonry's depths due to their deliberate focus on rigorous scholarship amid a pre-and post-World War I surge in fraternal growth, when the Fraternity attracted intellectuals who prioritized philosophy, history, and symbolism over social ritualism.

In October 1929, five months following the last of the series, the “education movement” did begin to falter along with the world economy because of the stock market crash. The high point of membership the American Fraternity enjoyed in the 1920s would inevitably sink again in ways not seen since the aftermath of The Morgan Affair in 1826.

One of the sixteen questions Hungerford reported that he was asked after the series was, “If Masonic education is such a good thing, why is there so much difficulty in putting it across.” Hungerford reply was, “Can you name anything really worthwhile that did not require great pain and effort to establish?” ^[46]

Hungerford also offered a folk proverb to emphasize the futility and limits of superficial effort within much of Masonic culture: “You cannot drive a nail with a sponge, no matter how hard you soak it” ^[47] – yet another warning that resistance to education is so deeply rooted in the culture that it overwhelms any attempt to compensate for fundamental inadequacies. In 2019, Thomas W. Jackson expressed a similar idea: “You can’t make fine porcelain out of bad clay.” ^[48]

There is another folk saying that applies to the woes created when we produce too many “physical Masons who know nothing of the spiritual, heart, or philosophical dimensions of the Craft”—woes linked to poor leadership, weak Masonic education and admittance standards, and the casualization of practices and processes: “poor seed, poor harvest.”

If, as a Mason today, you do not know or clearly observe the actionable solutions offered in The Builder and Joseph Fort Newton and how they can be put in place by lodges, then devoting some time to reading and studying those two sources and the volumes that have been written since that support those actionable solutions, is a good start. Much remains to be done.

Stephen Dafoe, “Reading, Writing and Apathy: The Rise and Fall of Masonic Education" 14 Heredom, 2006. The Builder Magazine - The Complete Collection. Internet Archive, 28 June 2017, archive.org/details/TheBuilderMagazine1930VolXVINo01, Accessed Feb. 2026. "The Builder Archives." Online Books Page, University of Pennsylvania, onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=buildermason, Accessed Feb. 2026. "The Builders P1." Phoenix Masonry, “The Builder Magazine,” archive.org/details/TheBuilderMagazine1930VolXVINo01, accessed, February 2026. The Square Magazine, 7 Dec. 2020, www.thesquaremagazine.com/mag/article/202111the-builders/, Accessed Feb. 2026."The Builder Magazine 1915 - 1930." Freemasonry Research Forum QSA, www.freemasonryresearchforumqsa.com/the-builder-magazines.php, accessed 15 Feb. 2026. S. Brent Morris the Complete Idiot's Guide to Freemasonry - reviews The Builder as a high point of U.S. Masonic publishing, highlighting the influence of 185 on lodge education programs. ↑
IBID. ↑
IBID. ↑
IBID. ↑
IBID. ↑
Editorial, The Builder Magazine, Vo. 1, No. 1, 1915. ↑
Dafoe. ↑
IBID. ↑
Watkins, Larrisa P., American Masonic Periodicals, 1811–2001, A Bibliography of the Library of the Supreme Council, 33, Southern Jurisdiction, Washington, DC: Oak Knoll Press, 2003. ↑
IBID. ↑
Joseph Fort Newton, “The National Masonic Research Society: A Foreword,” The Builder, Jan. 1915. ↑
Dafoe. ↑
IBID. ↑
IBID. ↑
M.A. Bresee, “Getting Away From The Degree Mill Grind" The Builder Magazine, Vol. V, No. 6, June 1919. ↑
A. K. Bradley, Texas. Are Lodges Degree Mills? The Builder Magazine, June 1917 - Volume III - Number 6. ↑
Joseph Fort Newton, “A Great Masonic Teacher: A. S. MacBride, The Builder Magazine, January 1917 - Volume III - Number 1 ↑
H.C. De Lafontaine, “Idealism of Masonry, The Builder Magazine, October 1925 - Volume XI - Number 10. ↑
H.L. Haywood, “Our Study Club Plan,” and "The Bulletin Course of Masonic Study," Builder Magazine, March 1922 - Volume VIII - Number 3. ↑
Herbet Hungerford, “The Study Club: Are You a True and Loyal Builder,” The Builder Magazine, October 1929 - Volume XV - Number 10. ↑
IBID. ↑
IBID. ↑
IBID. ↑
Joseph Fort Newton, “Masonic Education,” Short Talks on Masonry, Masonic Services Association, 1928 ↑
IBID. ↑
IBID. ↑
Alexander B. Andrews, “Statistics of Freemasonry. The Builder Magazine. October 1929 - Volume XV - Number 10. ↑
DaFoe and The Masonic Services Association, https://msana.com/services/jurisdictional-totals, Accessed Feb 8, 2022. ↑
Ray V. Denslow, Wes Lewis, (ed.), The Masonic World of Ray V. Denslow: Selections From His Reviews Published in the Proceedings of Grand Lodge of Missouri, A.F. & A.M. 1933-1960, Published by Missouri Lodge of Research, 1964. Dwight L. Smith, “Why This Confusion at the Temple?” 1964, https://www.masonicrestorationfoundation.org/documents/DLS_WhyThisConfusion.pdf, accessed January 2026, “Wither Are We Traveling?” 1963, https://www.masonicrestorationfoundation.org/documents/DLS_WhitherAreWeTraveling.pdf, accessed January 2026. Henry W. Coil, Conversations on Freemasonry, Macoy, 1976. Thomas W. Jackson, Idealism and Realism, Plumbstone, 2019. Robert G. Davis, A Mason’s Words, Davis, 2013. ↑
“The Masonic Education Movement” (no author), The Builder Magazine, January 1930 - Volume XVI - Number 1. ↑
IBID. ↑
IBID. ↑
IBID. ↑
“The Future of Freemasonry,’ editorial, The Builder Magazine, May 1930 - Volume XVI - Number 5. ↑
IBID ↑
IBID. ↑
The Builder Magazine, November 1928, Vo. XIV, Number 11. ↑
The Builder Magazine, February 1929, Vo. XV, Number 2 Response to Hungerford, p.102. ↑
Hubert Hungerford, “The Practice of Freemasonry as a Solvent for World Problems?” The Builder Magazine, February 1929, Vo. XV, Number 2. ↑
IBID. ↑
Hubert Hungerford, “Freemasonry and the Progress of Science,” The Builder Magazine, March 1929, Vo. XV, Number 3. ↑
IBID. ↑
Hubert Hungerford, “Freemasonry in Business,” The Builder Magazine, April 1929, Vol. XV, No. 4. ↑
Hubert Hungerford, “The Future of Freemasonry,” The Builder Magazine, May 1929, Vo. XV, No. 5. ↑
Note: Sources that support the idea that there were warnings and concerns before the 1929 crash, but that most investors remained optimistic and many warnings went unheeded. John K. Galbraith, The Great Crash, 1929. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1997. Benny Carlson, March 2023). "Cassel, Ohlin, Åkerman, And The Wall Street Crash Of 1929,” Journal of the History of Economic Thought, March 2023. Federal Reserve History. “Stock Market Crash of 1929.” Federal Reserve History, Federal Reserve System, 14 May 2008, www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/stock-market-crash-of-1929, accessed January 2026, Stock Market Crash of 1929.” America in Class: Primary Sources for U.S. History, National Humanities Center, 31 July 2007, americainclass.org/sources/becomingmodern/prosperity/text4/text4.htm., accessed, January 2025. Cecchetti, Stephen G. “The Stock Market Crash of 1929.” Brandeis University, people.brandeis.edu/~cecchett/Polpdf/Polp05.pdf. “The Stock Market Crash of 1929.” U.S. History II: 1877 to Present, Pima Community College, 31 July 2015, pimaopen.pressbooks.pub/ushistory2/chapter/the-stock-market-crash-of-1929, accessed January 2026. ↑
Hubert Hungerford, “Modern Problems of the Craft, “The Builder, November 1929, Vo. 5, XV, No. 11. ↑
IBID. ↑
Jackson. ↑

The Builder Magazine 1915-1930

A Mirror of Freemasonry's Unresolved Woes

John W. Bizzack, PM, Lexington Lodge 1, Fellow and PM, William O. Ware Lodge of Research, BF, FPS

March 2026

T

he Builder Magazine (1915–1930) was the official monthly journal of the National Masonic Research Society, founded in Anamosa, Iowa, and explicitly styled as “A Journal for the Masonic Student.” It ran for fifteen years and 185 issues, that remains a veritable bonanza to the student of Freemasonry where thousands of articles on Masonic history, philosophy, jurisprudence, symbolism, poetry, landmarks, along with commentary, editorials, and opinion pieces leave it unmatched by other publications as a primary source for insight into the state and condition of the early 20th-century Craft.

The magazine quickly earned a reputation among librarians and scholars as perhaps the finest American Masonic periodical of its era. It aimed not merely to educate Masons about Masonry, but to interpret Freemasonry’s nature and purpose, cultivate informed leadership, and elevate the intellectual life of the Craft.^[1]

The “National Masonic Research Society” was the brainchild of George L. Schoonover (Grand Master of Iowa 1918). Schoonover saw a desire in the newly raised Mason a to “know what it was all about.”^[2] It was his belief that what the American Fraternity needed was a National, rather than a regional, organization similar to the Research Lodges of England, complete with its own monthly high-quality educational journal.

This new publication would be but one of the benefits a member of this new educational society could expect to receive. In addition, the members of the society would receive pamphlets, booklets and other materials specially published by the new society. And if that were not enough to be worthy of a brother’s annual membership of $2.50, he could have his questions answered, receive advice on Lodge education programs and even guidance and assistance in his personal research efforts.^[3]

George L. Schoonover

Schoonover presented his ideas to the Grand Lodge of Iowa, who were only too happy to give their blessing on the project. Soon after a three-story building was built in Anamosa, Iowa to house the new society (built with Schoonover's own funds) and arrangements were made to secure Joseph Fort Newton as the first Editor-in-Chief of the society's new Masonic journal, “The Builder.”^[4]

Joseph Fort Newton served as the founding and initial Editor-in-Chief starting with the January 1915 issue, setting the magazine's scholarly tone through its early years under the National Masonic Research Society. Prolific Masonic scholar and author, H.L. (Harvey L.) Haywood later became Editor-in-Chief, with records indicating his leadership by the 1920s; a board of associate editors—including Louis Block (Iowa), Robert I. Clegg (Ohio), Charles F. Irwin (Ohio), and Newton—supported him during this period. R.J. Meekren succeeded as Editor-in-Chief around 1925, following Haywood's departure to New York, guiding the publication through its final issues until cessation in 1930.^[5] At times the editorial staff consisted of fifteen Masons from as many as twelve different jurisdictions.

The pages of "The Builder" were open to the Craft, of every rite and jurisdiction, inviting discussion of every aspect of Masonry - its history, philosophy, symbolism, ritual, and practical problems. Lectures, old documents, study programs, biographical sketches, any kind of information of value to the Craft in any of its activities, were welcomed.^[6] While some articles inevitably show their age in style or assumptions, the overall quality, breadth, and seriousness of the contributions justify the frequent claim that it was the best American Masonic magazine ever published, and modern digitized archives now make it readily accessible as a rich resource for lodge programs, study circles, and individual students of Freemasonry.^[7]

Joseph Fort Newton

Today, all issues of The Builder are available on several easily accessible websites.^[8] The bibliographic details of thousands of individual issues printed by more than 675 Masonic magazines, newspapers, and bulletins issued between 1811 and 2001 are likewise available.^{^[9]} Those 675 titles represent the corpus identified a quarter century ago, so it is reasonable to conclude that the total number of such periodicals is even higher today.

A thorough review of the 185 editions of The Builder Magazine offers a picture of organized Freemasonry in America in a period that is entrenched in an overconfident culture that blinds it to present failures of its structure and mechanics. One hundred years later, not much has changed in that culture.

Nearly a century later, the American Fraternity continues to wrestle with unresolved structural, administrative, and leadership challenges that threaten its perpetuity. External factors contribute, but internal shortcomings demand scrutiny; many were solvable then, with actionable solutions preserved in the pages of The Builder that still apply today.

The contents of The Builder explicitly and consistently positioned the journal as non-commercial and directed solely to members rather than the general public. Its editorial stance was deliberately constructive and “sound,” seeking to deepen appreciation for Freemasonry, stimulate reasoned discussion, and anchor Masonic enthusiasm in serious study rather than purely social or ceremonial experience.^[10]

Although the publication was available around the globe and eventually had subscribers in more than forty countries, its focus was on educating the young American Mason.^[11]

But all great things must come to an end and in May of 1930, the final issue of The Builder rolled off the press.^[12] The Great Depression which was sweeping the land depleted the society of members just as it was depleting lodge membership throughout the United States. In 1930 there were 3,279,778 Freemasons in the United States; by 1941, when America entered the Second World War, there were only 2,457,263; a loss of 25%. Masonic author and researcher Stephen Defoe asked, “One cannot help but wonder what the face of North American Masonic education would look like if the depression had never occurred and The Builder had continued to build” ^[13]

Stephen Dafoe’s essay presentation, “Reading, Writing and Apathy: The Rise and Fall of Masonic Education" stands as one of the most comprehensive examinations and contextual study of what has happened over the last century to what The Builder referred to as “the Masonic education movement.” A critic of contemporary Masonic magazines he notes in his essay that:

A cursory glance at most of these Masonic Magazines, and as a publisher, I feel dirty even using the same nomenclature to describe them, shows that they are 1% paper and ink and 99% fluff and filler. The subscriber to “The Builder” would have surely revoked his membership in the society if ever he received such a publication. Yes, a Grand Lodge publication needs to inform its members of happenings in the jurisdiction, past, present, and future, but somewhere amongst all the 'Grip and Grin' photo opportunities, there must be room for something to enlighten the mind of those few who desire to make a daily advancement in Masonic education.^[14]

DaFoe’s 2006 analysis and criticisms about contemporary Masonic magazines and other areas in his presentation may appear harsh to some Masons, yet no rejoinder disagreeing with his research is known to have been published.

EXTRACTS

The following examples represent but a few extracts of the insight, information, and scholarship found across the 185 issues of The Builder. They do not, by any means, encompass the full scope and depth of the era's exemplary writings—works that provide vital markers of American Freemasonry's state and condition within greater society, as well as its external and internal influences on lodges. Importantly, the publication addresses at length the consequences of form over substance—a theme and warning echoed in contemporary Masonic writing today.

While the Fraternity grapples with many of the same issues evident during The Builder's fifteen-year run, the reality that younger members rarely inherit study habits from their predecessors of that period is clear.