There have been many links between freemasonry and progressive movements of all kinds. This is most evident in European countries such as France and Spain, where freemasonry has been one of the main vehicles of secular republican thought and has been closely identified with socialist movements. Although mainstream English-speaking freemasonry prohibits the discussion of religion and politics, nevertheless it has had a significant influence on radical politics and social movements. Many radical groups, such as the United Irishmen, adopted masonic forms of organisation and included many freemasons. There are many parallels between masonic organisation and symbolism and that of early friendly societies and trade unions.

'WE BAND OF BROTHERS': FREEMASONRY IN RADICAL AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, 1700-2000

An international conference organised by:
The Centre for Research into Freemasonry
The Society for the Study of Labour History
The Centre for Gender Studies in Europe
and
The Friendly Societies Research Group

To be held at the Tapton Masonic Hall, Shore Lane, Fulwood, Sheffield, S10 3BU

18-20 November 2004

Conference organisers: Andrew Prescott, John Halstead and Máire Cross, University of Sheffield; Dan Weinbren, Open University

In 1934, a clergymen addressing a new masonic lodge in England concluded his talk with the following words: 'We band of brothers bound together as we are by brotherly love — and we are not a few today — ought to be strong enough to bring some real improvement in social relations and the conditions of human society'.There have been many links between freemasonry and progressive movements of all kinds. This is most evident in European countries such as France and Spain, where freemasonry has been one of the main vehicles of secular republican thought and has been closely identified with socialist movements. Although mainstream English-speaking freemasonry prohibits the discussion of religion and politics, nevertheless it has had a significant influence on radical politics and social movements. Many radical groups, such as the United Irishmen, adopted masonic forms of organisation and included many freemasons. There are many parallels between masonic organisation and symbolism and that of early friendly societies and trade unions.Figures in labour history who were active freemasons included Ben Tillett and Arthur Greenwood. Radicals such as Thomas Paine and Richard Carlile wrote extensively on freemasonry, while Charles Bradlaugh and Annie Besant actively promoted forms of freemasonry which they felt would support social reform. Many early campaigners for women's rights joined Co-Masonry, the form of freemasonry promoted by Annie Besant which admitted both women and men, and protest marches by suffragettes included contingents of women freemasons in masonic regalia.This conference will explore further these connections. Areas to be considered by the conference will include:

• The importance of freemasonry in the careers of individual socialists, trade unionists, women’s activists and radical campaigners who were freemasons
• Organisational links and parallels between freemasonry and friendly societies, trade unions, and any other radical groups
• The contribution of freemasonry to the socialist and radical traditions of European countries such as France and Spain
• Commentaries and analysis of freemasonry by radical campaigners and writers
• Analyses of cross-membership of freemasonry, friendly societies, trade unions and political parties
• Attacks on freemasonry, both by the political left (because of its alleged connections in some countries with the right) and by the political right (because in other countries it was thought to be linked with the left)
• Use of freemasonry to support networking by marginal, excluded and minority groups (e.g. Marrano Jews in Spain; Creoles in Sierra Leone; Blacks in America)
• Information about socialist movements in masonic archives (and vice versa)

18 november 2004


11:00 Registration at Tapton Masonic Hall, Shore Lane, Fulwood. Optional buffet lunch available

1.00 Welcome: Andrew Prescott, University of Sheffield

1.15

Bob James. A comparison of fraternalism on three continents

Andy Durr, University of Sussex. Seeing themselves and showing others: the visual and material culture of 19th-century associational life

3.15-3.45 Tea

3.45-5.45 Parallel sessions

Freemasonry and Labour Institutions

Mark Lause, University of Cincinnati.The Order of Eternal Progress: the quasi-masonic roots of the First International in the United StatesEugene

Palwiuk, Edmonton. Fraternal membership of early 20th-century labour leaders in the United States

John Hamill, United Grand Lodge of England. Freemasonry and the British Labour Party: the New Welcome Lodge

OR

Freemasonry in an age of enlightenment

Pauline Chakmakjian, University College London. Theological lying and religious radicalism in Anderson's Constitutions

Matthew Scanlan, London. The Duke of Wharton, Freemason and Jacobite conspirator (1698-1731)

(Third speaker to be confirmed)

5:45Reception, sponsored by Freemasonry Today
(Participants to make own arrangements for dinner)

19 november 2004

9:30 Parallel sessions

Attacks on freemasonry

Norbert Wójtowicz, Wroclaw University. Attacks on freemasonry in the Polish Second Republic, 1918-39

Additional speaker to be confirmed

OR

Freemasonry and suffrage

Susan Sommers, St Vincent College. The Society of Supporters of the Bill of Rights

Ann Pilcher Dayton, University of Sheffield. Freemasonry and suffrage: the manifestation of social conscience

11.00-11.30 Coffee

11.30 Parallel sessions

Freemasonry and community (1)

Pam Davies, University of Sheffield.We brothers, sharers of the same hope: freemasonry and the Merthyr riots of 1831

Gregory Klages, York University, Toronto. 'Making good men better': freemasonry, identity and community in rural central Canada, 1871-1905

OR

Freemasonry in Belgium

Michel Brodsky, Quatuor Coronati Lodge. Freemasonry and politics in Belgium, 1870-1914

Jeffrey Tyssens, Vrije Universiteit Brussels/Universiteit Gent. Masonic socialism? Belgian lodges and the co-operative movement in the 1860s and 1870s

1.00-2.00 Lunch

2.00 Parallel sessions

Freemasonry and community (2)

Andrew Prescott and John Halstead, University of Sheffield. Godfrey Higgins (1771-1832): gentleman radical and archdruid

John Goodchild, Wakefield. John Naylor (1784-1843): a radical at home in the West Riding

David Harrison, University of Liverpool. Working men within masonic lodges in the northwest industrial towns of England

OR

Freemasonry and French radicalism

Eric Saunier, Université du Havre. (To follow)

Raymond Salzmann, Grand Orient du France and Grande Loge de France. Freemasonry and progressive movements from Napoleon to the Third Republic

James Allen, Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Freemason feminists: mixed masonry and the women's movement in France

4.00-4.30 Tea

4.30 Parallel sessions

Freemasonry and community (3)

Sean Creighton, London. Parallel existences or cross-linkages: exploring freemasonry and other mutual organisations in Battersea and Wandsworth

Dan Weinbren, Open University. Lodge fraternity in 19th-century King's Lynn

Audrey Fisk, Foresters Heritage Trust. The dynamics of expansion and decline: the Ancient Order of Foresters

OR

Freemasonry and national movements

Roderick Barman, University of British Columbia. Freemasonry and the creation of Brazil as a nation state

Vahid Fozdar, University of Washington. Cult of Empire: freemasonry and the de-centering of christianity in India

Petri Mirala, University of Helsinki. The United Irishmen and freemasonry

6.30 Cash bar available at the Tapton Masonic Hall

7.30 Conference dinner

20 november 2004

9:30 Diane Clements, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, and Andrew Prescott, University of Sheffield. Resources for research into freemasonry

10.30-11.00 Coffee

11.00 Cecile Révauger, Université de Bordeaux III.Prince Hall freemasonry in America: from work ethics to civil rights

12.00Annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Labour History

12.30-1.30 Lunch

1.30 Radical politics and association

Simon Cordery, Monmouth College, Illinois. Containing conflict: the politics of freemasonry and friendly societies

Stephen Yeo, London School of Economics. 'Association' and its containment by 'society'

Malcolm Chase, University of Leeds. 'A freemasonry between all': chartists, gender and the language of association

3.30-4.00 Tea

José Ferrer Benimeli, Universidad de Zaragoza. Freemasonry and socialism in Spain (in Spanish; English summaries will be available)

5.00 Close