Pragmatic Constructions of History among Contemporary Freemasons

Despite considerable interest in Freemasonry developing among historians in recent years, the social sciences have played a lesser part in the burgeoning academic interest in this area. In this paper, I seek, in one small way, to bring a sociological perspective to bear on Freemasonry. Specifically, by utilizing G.H. Mead's (1932) theory of the past as a sensitizing concept, and exploring data from 58 videotapes, 118 interviews, and field observations, I explore how contemporary Freemasons pragmatically reconstruct the past in the present, in a variety of ways, for present ends. This exercise helps shed new light on a wide range of issues facing the Craft today, including membership, Masonic constructions of self, loss of Masonic built heritage, the influence of tradition, constructions of Masonic origin, and the role of Masonic mythologies today.