MEDIA ADVISORY:
Grand Opening of the Nebraska Masonic Museum and Research Library
Saturday, September 5, from 8-11 a.m.
Ribbon cutting at 10 a.m.
Nebraska Grand Lodge of Masons
301 North Cotner Blvd.
Lincoln, Nebraska
Interviews available before and during the Grand Opening of Grand Master John Maxell, Chairman
of the Foundation Mike Jones and Heritage Committee Chairman Chris Carter.
Contact: Russ Reno (402) 617-4039
Historical items from the state’s fraternal past will be preserved in new and improved surroundings
when the Grand Lodge of Masons host a grand opening of the Nebraska Masonic Museum and Research
Library on Saturday, Sept. 5, from 8-11 a.m. at the Grand Lodge office at 301 N. Cotner Blvd. in Lincoln.
Masons across Nebraska will be present for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m.
Besides housing about 2,000 historic books, some published as long ago as the mid-19th century, the
recently renovated space will feature displays of antique halberds (a combined spear and battle ax), 3,000year-old wooden setting mauls from an Egyptian tomb, a tour guide of Omaha’s Trans-Mississippi &
International Exposition of 1898 in Omaha, and other masonic and non-masonic related artifacts and books.
In addition, a special exhibit will tell the history of Prince Hall Masonry, the oldest and largest group of
Masons of African origin in the world, which has lodges in Nebraska.
The Museum and Research Library is open to the public to learn more about Freemasonry in Nebraska.
The state’s history is rife with legend that the first three buildings at the start-up of every town in the state
were the post office, a bar and a Masonic lodge, which served as the foundation of the community. In 1857,
10 years before Nebraska was admitted to the Union, three lodges of Master Masons in the Nebraska
Territory met in Omaha to organize the Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons.
From the beginning, lodges gathered books and other educational material to benefit their members.
That hasn’t stopped in the 158 years since the formation of the Grand Lodge of Nebraska. The accumulation
of books, art, relics and other materials relating to Freemasonry will be displayed.
It has been said that during the nearly 300 years of the existence of Freemasonry, books have been
published in the tens of thousands about the fraternity, which is more than any other subject except religion.
While the Masonic Museum and Research Library has about 2,000 books on spiritual, philosophical, and
historical subjects, the goal is to increase its inventory through support from the more than 10,000 members
in 134 lodges in more than 100 cities and towns in the state.
The Grand Lodge building was dedicated in June 2013 with a centuries-old cornerstone laying
ceremony. The building formerly served as a medical imaging business. Since then, the Museum and
Research Library was added.
Freemasonry, a benevolent, educational and charitable organization, provides $2 million a day in charity
through its lodges and appendant bodies. The Grand Lodge helps to maintain two homes: The Masonic
Home at Plattsmouth for elderly Masons and their female relatives, and the Masonic-Eastern Star Home for
Children in Fremont.
Masonry is the oldest and largest fraternal organization in the world and is based on the lessons of living
a life of brotherhood and high moral standards as portrayed symbolically in the work of stone masons who
built the cathedrals, abbeys and castles of Europe.