Scottish Rite Cathedral

The Scottish Rite Cathedral is one of the most successful Classical Revival buildings constructed in San Antonio. It is also an exceptional example of the work of prominent regional architects Herbert M. Greene and Ralph Cameron, and of sculptor Pompeo Coppini. Housing Scottish Rite Masonry since its 1924 construction, the building continues to serve as the hub for Scottish Rite and York Rite Masonry in San Antonio and South Texas. By far, the building is the largest and most extravagant Masonic temple in the state of Texas. The Scottish Rite Cathedral is significant at the state level under Criterion C in the area of Architecture and at the local level under Criterion A in the area of Social History. The historic context of this building is early 20th century fraternal buildings.

The desire for mutual welfare in this country prompted development of the fraternal beneficiary system that had originated in the Old World. The Romans implanted the concept of individual responsibility for mutual welfare throughout Western Europe and Britain during their era of conquests. This was translated from trade guilds to "Friendly Societies," which instituted a form of life insurance. Several societies had been organized and disbanded in the United States, until John Jordan Upchurch founded the Ancient Order of United Workmen in 1868. Fraternal societies proliferated in the United States in the late 19th century. Many were developed in response to political issues, others were based on ethnic or religious affiliations, still others were oriented towards skilled laborers. For Americans, removed from European centers of learning. Freemasonry was a vehicle for popularizing new ideas. Enlightenment concepts of equality, religious tolerance, and namral laws were incorporated into Freemasonry. These radical ideas helped form American arguments for independence and democracy; many leaders of the American Revolution were Freemasons.

A number of additional degrees and related organizations have developed beyond the degree of Master Mason. Scottish Rite Freemasonry, developed in France and the West Indies, was first installed at Albany, New York, in 1767. The first Supreme Council was established in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1901, followed by the Supreme Council of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction founded in New York City in 1813. The Knight Templar degree was conferred in Boston in 1769 and developed as part of York Rite Freemasonry. The Order of the Eastern Star is an adoptive order open to Master Masons and their female relatives. It was founded by Robert Morris, a Mason who felt it was important to share the teachings of Masonry with the entire family. He began organizing groups called the Families of the Eastern Star in the 1850s and the General Grand Chapter was established in 1876. The Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine was established in 1872. Shriners are required to be members of either the Scottish Rite or York Rite.

Fraternal organizations, like Masonry, share certain similarities. Masonry consists of a program of individual growth measured by the degrees individuals attain. Presently 32 rites exist within Scottish Rite Masonry in the United States.

Rimals and degrees borrow exotic tides and dramatic scenarios from ancient legends, historical incidents, or mythology. Bonds of secrecy help establish solidarity among members. Regalia provides fantasy and drama and the lodge provides fellowship. Symbols serve as aids to teach members virmes, principles, and values. Although much of Masonry's symbolism draws from Biblical references, the fraternity has no religious affiliation or requirement except belief in a Supreme Being.

Freemasons first came to Texas at San Felipe in 1828, but Mexican law prohibited Masonry in Texas. In 1835, at Brazoria, the Holland Lodge formed, but its activity was curtailed when General Urrea destroyed its records in February 1836. Masons, such as Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, Jose Antonio Navarro, William B. Travis, James Bowie, Lorenzo de Zavala, David Crockett, James Bonham, and Almaron Dickenson, were a major driving force in the Texas Revolution. There were 157 Freemasons in the 800 man army that defeated Santa Anna in the decisive Battle of San Jacinto. In 1837, Masonry resumed in Houston and other smaller locales. The Scottish Rite of Freemasonry came to Texas in 1867. The order grew in membership slowly until the mm of the century, when it blossomed. San Antonio organized its club on June 20, 1907.

The Sovereign Grand Inspector General Samuel P. Cochran of Dallas granted a Scottish Rite Masonry a charter in San Antonio on 12 September 1912. Nat M. Washer became the first Venerable Master of the Scottish Rite Bodies in San Antonio. Masons used various facilities for meeting, including the top floor of the Crockett Hotel, the Casino Club Building, the Grand Opera House, and the Turner Hall. In July 1915, the Scottish Rite purchased property at the comer of North St. Mary's and Convent streets and began construction on a $30,000 building.

The organization grew slowly until World War I when a large influx of soldiers stationed at San Antonio's military installations brought about massive initiation. Augmented membership boosted the treasury and the organization expended $77,842 in 1919 to purchase the Kampmarm home at Avenue E and Fourth Street for a future building. The property was adjacent to Aflee B. Ayres' Gothic Revival First Presbyterian Church (1909). The great flood of 1921 caused approximately $30,000 in damage to the existing N. St. Mary's Street headquarters. Water, ten feet deep, damaged records, regalia, and costumes. This namral disaster heightened interest in construction of a new edifice.

The construction of San Antonio's Scottish Rite Cathedral, and the subsequent financial problems that its enormous cost brought, bears documentation. From the outset, the building committee desired a monumental building to represent its organization. Throughout the United States, Scottish Rite bodies were in the process of erecting temples. The San Antonio building was one of about 300 temples across the country. Some were larger, but many more were smaller. The insistence of the San Antonio building committee to erect a monumental temple, befitting what was then the largest city in Texas, was compelling:

The committee gave heed to warning letters from brethren who have served in similar capacities for other Consistories. From many other cities where Scottish Rite Cathedrals have been erected within the last five or ten years came the same urgent warning against building too small a building. In a number of cities where this serious mistake has been made it is now necessary to plan for enlargement, a difficult thing to do in a Scottish Rite Cathedra. The building, as planned should be amply large enough to carry on the work for some years to come (The Scottish Rite Role Call, n.d.).

To finance the new temple, the Scottish Rite Bodies issued $500,000 of six percent bonds, maturing in ten years. The brethren hear an appeal to participate:

In a labor of this magnimde, every man, like the Israelites of old, must do his full part. The building of this magnificent Cathedral is a great undertaking, but it is worthy of our Fraternity. Await the time with patience, when you shall be called from refreshment to labor. Be duly prepared, worthy and well qualified, so that no fellow-workman may excel you in zeal for the task, do a little more than you part and we shall soon see the walls of the Temple rise and the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of the Valley of San Antonio will have a home commensurate with its needs for many years to come (The Scottish Rite Roll Call

Meanwhile, Alzafar Temple, instituted in San Antonio in 1916, was also seeking a home and agreed to give the Scottish Rite Bodies $25,000 and lend them another $200,000, interest free. In exchange, the Bodies agreed to increase the seating capacity to a maximum of 2,500 and to provide office space for Alzafar members.

Chairman of the Executive Committee that oversaw the project was William S. Fly, who had served as first Presiding Officer of the Consistory and, in 1888, as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Texas. He was the Chief Justice of the Fourth Court of Civil Appeals of Texas, in San Antonio. Other Masons involved in planning for the temple included Robert L. Ball, J.K. Blackstone, John H. Haile, and Nat M. Washer (Grand Master in 1900).

Initially, two prominent architects collaborated on the Scottish Rite Cathedral design and construction. Herbert M. Greene was born in Pennsylvania and studies architecture at the University of Illinois. He moved to Dallas in the 1890s and began his architectural firm, Hubbell & Greene, as a senior partner. He designed many large public and commercial buildings there including the 1909-1913 Scottish Rite Temple (National Register 1980, Recorded Texas Historic Landmark 1978), the 1909 No. 4 Hook and Ladder Company (also known as Oak Lawn Fire Station, National Register 1981), Parkland Hospital, the Federal Reserve Bank, Dallas Trust and Savings Bank, the Neiman-Marcus Building and numerous others. Greene designed Masonic temples in Austin, El Paso, and Joplin, Missouri.

Greene also designed many large residential properties in Dallas such as the Alfred H. Belo House (National Register 1975, Recorded Texas Historic Landmark 1980) and several buildings at the University of Texas in Austin, where he succeeded Cass Gilbert as Architect for the University. In 1919, following the dissolution of Hubbell & Greene, he became associated with architect T.J. Galbraith. Eventually Greene went solo with the Herbert M. Greene Company, which was in existence by 1925. He was the first Texas architect to become a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, an honor he received in 1923. Greene died in 1931.

Ralph H. Cameron initially worked for Greene and served as supervising architect on the project. Documentation from the project credits Cameron with much of the interior design. A San Antonio San Antonio native, born in 1892, Cameron received some architectural training in France, and returned to San Antonio in 1912. He worked for the firm Adams & Adams until he went into private practice. Cameron was active in many civic and professional organizations; he was one of five founding members and first president of the Texas Society of Architects from 1939-1940. He was also a member of several fraternal organizations, including the Masons, which he joined in 1914. Other Masonic temples he designed in Texas include those in Brady, Lockhart, Lufkin, and Orange.

The Scottish Rite Cathedral, however, was one of Cameron's first commissions and one of the largest he would ever receive. His 1926 Medical Arts Building (now known as the Emily Morgan Hotel, National Register 1976), on the north end of Alamo Plaza, cost $1 million. The 1937 United States Post Office and Courthouse (National Register 1976), which he collaborated on with Paul Phillipe Cret, was a $2 million project. Subsequent commissions became smaller and more sporadic. By 1938, the year Cameron became a fellow of the American Institute of Architects, his career waned. He died in San Antonio in 1970.

Pompeo Coppini, a master sculptor, contributed greatly to the artistic quality of the building by designing the bronze entry doors to the Cathedral. A master sculptor, Coppini grew up in Florence, Italy, and graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arte with highest honors. He arrived in the United States in 1896 and came to Texas in 1901 to model the Confederate Monument (now on the Texas State Capitol grounds). Later commissions include the Littlefield Fountain Memorial at the University of Texas at Austin and the cenotaph to the heroes of the Alamo on Alamo Plaza in San Antonio. The Scottish Rite Cathedral commission, nevertheless, remains one of his most famous projects. For a short period, Coppini was head of the art department at Trinity University in San Antonio. He died in San Antonio in 1957.

When the Scottish Rite Bodies purchased the Avenue E property in 1919, Cameron was in France on duty with the American Expeditionary Forces. His involvement in design other Masonic buildings put him in good standing with the Executive Committee. Cameron set a cable from France, when the Bodies commenced selection of an architect, requesting that final selection be delayed until his return from overseas. Greene was also interested in the project and, while not acquainted with committee members, was well recommended. The committee endorsed employing both Cameron and Greene. No formal statement regarding the division of labor between the two architects exists; however, Greene appears to have prepared the plans and specifications and Cameron supervised construction.

The Building Committee commenced its duties on December 30, 1920. Construction progressed slowly as Greene provided plans and specifications at a sluggish pace. The Kampmann house was demolished, the site was cleared, and foundation work began before plans were complete. A general contractor could not be selected without final drawings, so Cameron served as construction foreman. By January 1922, thirteen months after its establishment, the Building Committee had become subject to mounting criticism because of delays. Finally, in June, this committee disbanded and a new one formed. Members of the new Building Committee included Alfred C. McDaniel, William S. Fly, John H. Haile, P.D. Mathis (secretary of the Bodies), and Herman Homer (a local newspaper publisher). On October 19, 1922, the comer stone was leveled. The Masons, themselves, actually set and leveled the stone. More than 5,000 Masons, with their families and friends, witnessed the ceremony. A parade marched from the old building to the new site.

In Spring 1923, the Building Committee fired Greene. Cameron received Greene's unfinished plans in July and completed them in November. The Building Committee sought bids for construction completion without success, so they continued to use day labor to complete the partially constructed building (see Figure 11). The building was dedicated on 27 June 1924; 5,000 Masons paraded through San Antonio and the San Antonio Light featured a 47 page supplement devoted to Freemasonry.

Greene and Cameron elected to follow the well established architectural trend for buildings of a public nature, designing a modified classical temple. The 1893 Columbian Exposition aroused interest in reviving classical styles that became prevalent throughout the country during the first half of the 20th century. This design befitted the ancient heritage of Masonic orders and, as well emulated the Scottish Rite Temple in Washington, D.C, a literal copy of the Mausoleum at Halicamassus. Greene and Cameron's interpretation, is less literal and does not feature the peripteral colonnade around the upper section of the building, as does John Russell Pope's design in the nation's capitol.

Directness and simplicity characterize this cathedral. Typical of Classical Revival design, the Scottish Rite Cathedral employs a symmetrical rectangular plan, broad expanses of plain wall surfaces, and balanced fenestration. Its rudimentary cubical form is articulated by colossal order Corinthian fluted columns that support a heavy cornice and imposing pediment. Terra cotta detailing, such as the frieze on the pediment and stepped central mass, reinforces the classical theme. The elaborately sculpted bronze front doors, executed over a two year period by Coppini, feature figures of George Washington and Sam Houston, both members of the Masonic fraternity.