The Washington times., 1935-06-10
HISTORY
SHOWS RAPID
" GROWTH

OuUuI
The history of the Shrine forms
one Of the most remarkable stories
in the fraternal and social life OF
man. Its origin, its personnel,
and the great speed of its growth
are almost incredible.
Sixty-three years ago IA genial
Masons banded themselves TO-
gether to form the Shrine. After
a few hard years, in which the
order struggled to maintain its
very existence, it suddenly became
firmly rooted and has since that
time grown steadily until today
there are hundreds of thousands
Of Mobiles, scattered throughout
the States and territories, from
Canada to Panama Canal Zone.
and from Maine to the far Hawai-
ian Islands.
The origin of the Shrine. is in
volved in some uncertainty. BY
some 1t is contended that the or
der was founded upon one of the
more ancient orders or societies
said to have existed in the Far
East from time immemorial.
Founded By Actor
It has been intimated that the
secret rituals of the order were
communicated to William j.
BILLY" Florence, author of the
order, during his travels through
the Orient.
Mr.. Florence was one of the
greatest American actors of the
Reconstruction Era following the
Civil War.
Others contend that the Shrine
began as purely social club, and
that 1t had no link to bind it with
any other organization in history.
Mr.. Florence, according to the &C
cepted history of the order, COM
municated his desires to his in
innate friend, DR.. Walter H. Flem-
ing. and other friends in New York
City. This group of companions,
all of whom were MasonS, there
upon organized the Ancient Arabic
Order, Mobiles of the Mystic
Shrine, and gave their Temple,
the mother Temple of the Shrine,
the name of Mecca"
Through the vivid imagination
Of Billy Florence and his friends,
the idea of patterning the order
upon the Oriental motif was born.
The group seized with enthusiasm
upon the brilliant and unusual
effects to be obtained through
Oriental m hods and color
schemes, and the order subse-
quently grew up entirely along
this line.
Religious Rite
The ritual of the order, it is ex-
planned, is the free translation
of a beautiful ancient code Of re-
ligious ceremony. Beyond this
there is little that can definitely
be said of its antiquity.
The founders of the order were
all Wellknown Free MaSons. and
all, or nearly all, were members
of both the York Rite and the
Scottish Rite. It was, therefore,
decided that the Shrine should
be made an adjunct to both or
CARNATIONS by making them the
stepping stones to membership.
AS the order was framed and
now exists, a candidate for the
Shrine must be q Mason of the
Thirty-second Degree of the An
cient and Accepted Scottish Rite
or a Knight Templar, according
to the requirements of the Grand
Encampment of Knights Templar
of the United States.
AS the Imperial Council was
not organized until June 6, 1876,
the history of the first years of
Mecca Temple actually becomes
the early history of the Shrine.
Rapid Growth
The first report on membership
was made in 1879 and showed that
there were then 10 Temples, with
425 members. With the early COS
C11S u1CIALUCA oAAAP 1ldu SAO"A w
22,50O, since which time it has
steadily grown until TODAY it
ranks as one of the outstanding
organizations of the country both
in numbers and influence.
Surprising growth sometimes
follows a small beginning, and it
was with the object of starting
but one hospital for the treatment
and relief of crippled children
that Noble w. Freeland Kendrick,
at Portland, in 1920, advanced his
idea of small annual contribu-
ton from each member of the
Shrine, for the purpose of estab-
fishing and developing such an
institution.
Thus the greatest charity ever
undertaken in the history of the
world was brought to life, and
the Is units of ShrinerS' hospitals
for crippled children now in opera
ton demonstrate more fully each
year how vital was the need