One of the prize artifacts on the display in the Grand Lodge museum is a stone from the White House. It was gifted to the Grand Lodge by President Harry Truman, Past Grand Master of Missouri.
In 1948 the White House was structurally in bad repair and in need of a complete restoration. President Truman undertook that important task. During the restoration work a number of stones were recovered that had upon them the marks of the stone mason who had carved them.
“A sufficient number of these stones, each with a Masonic symbol upon it, was discovered to give one to each Grand Lodge in the United States. These evidences of the number of members of the Craft who built the President’s official residence so intimately aligns Freemasonry with the formation and the founding of our Government that I believe your Grand Lodge will cherish this link between the fraternity and the Government of the Nation, of which The White House is a symbol,” explained President Truman in his letter to the Grand Lodge of Ohio.
The Grand Lodge Museum is now established in the Rickly Building on the campus of the Springfield Masonic Community. It is open Monday through Friday and by appointment.
Call the Grand Secretary’s office at 800-292-6092 to schedule a tour to see this and many other important artifacts.