In 2014, I was appointed Director of Curatorial Affairs for the McAlester Valley of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. The Library and Museum of the McAlester Valley was established as a department in 1956. Our institution is home to numerous collections of early Masonic personalities in Oklahoma, including Daniel M. Hailey, William Busby, Clarence Brain, and William S. Key.
Under my
direction, our museum has embarked upon an exciting exhibition plan telling the
story of Freemasonry in the Indian Territory, and later Oklahoma. Since 2014, a
total of ten new exhibits have been installed in our second floor gallery
covering topics ranging from the McAlester Scottish Rite Temple to the Order of
the Eastern Star. We were also fortunate enough to receive a loan of early 20th
century Masonic porcelain.
Our mission
is as follows:
The Library
and Museum of the McAlester Valley of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite is
dedicated to preserving the Masonic history of Indian Territory from 1824, when
Fort Gibson was established by Brother Matthew Arbuckle, to the present day. This includes the establishment of the Grand
Lodge of Oklahoma and the merging of the Grand Lodges of Indian Territory and
Oklahoma in 1909; in addition to the various Appendent Orders of Freemasonry
that came to occupy the Indian Territory.
