Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

Fraternal Group [possibly Moose] from Maynard, Massachusetts
ca. 1915
George D. Elson (1874-1949)
USA: Massachusetts, Maynard
Photograph on Paper Mounted on Board
image: 7 1/2"h x 9 1/2"w; mat: 14"h x 16"w x 1/8"d
Museum Purchase
2009.045.1

Black and white photograph of fraternal group (possibly Moose). Two rows of men dressed in regalia. The front row shows five men seated. All wear robes and hats. Four of the men wear pendants shaped like moose heads around their necks. Two of the men hold gavels. The back row shows six men standing. Four wear suit coats and no hats; the other two men wear helmets and robes, one has a moose head embroidered on his chest. All wear pendants shaped like moose heads around their necks. A decorative backdrop with columns and a curtain are behind the men; there is a carpet on the floor. The photo is mounted on gray mat board. Stamped at bottom right of the board is "Geo. D. Elson / Maynard, Mass." Handwritten in pencil on the back is "1915."

Judging by the moose-shaped pendants that they wear, these men probably belonged to the local Moose lodge in Maynard, Massachusetts. Originally founded in the late 1800s, the Loyal Order of Moose offered sick benefits to members and worked to construct a school in Illinois to provide vocational training for orphaned children of members.