What Is the Oral History Project?
Through a partnership with Publishing Concepts, Inc. (PCI), the Supreme Council is gathering the unique stories of our members for a special Oral History Project. We want to hear your legacy stories, how you began your Masonic and/or Scottish Rite journey, and what being a Brother means to you! Should you choose to share your story, a representative from PCI will interview you and record your story, transcribe it, and most importantly, archive it for generations to come.
“History is not the past, but a map of the past, drawn from a particular point of view, to be useful to the modern traveler.” — Henry Glassie, U.S. historian
The Purpose & Goal
It’s no secret that many of our Brothers are getting up in years. Before our Brothers pass to the Celestial Lodge above, we want to ensure their incredible legacies live on. We want to share the stories of our young Brethren, too! Brothers like Timothy J. Curran, 32°, who told us that Freemasonry gave him hope and provided the brotherhood he missed so dearly after he received a medical discharge from the military.
These stories of inspiration will be used to promote Freemasonry to other worthy men, while preserving our deep history.
What’s Next
You will soon receive a yellow postcard in the mail from Publishing Concepts, Inc (PCI). There will be contact information on that postcard, asking you to opt in to participate in the oral history project. Participation in the oral history initiative is completely optional. Should you choose to participate, a representative from PCI will interview you over the phone. The call will be recorded for PCI to transcribe and archive.
For questions, or to be removed from PCI’s contact list, call their customer service line at (800) 982-1590 or click here to opt out.
The Finished Product
Once all Scottish Rite, NMJ, member stories have been gathered from members who have opted in, a compilation of these narratives will be printed in a hardcover book, available for purchase to Scottish Rite, NMJ members only. Purchasing the oral history book is completely optional, and you are not obligated to buy the book in order to share your story.
Your recorded and/or transcribed stories may also be repurposed by Scottish Rite, NMJ for marketing purposes. Here is an example of what these oral history stories look like in video form: https://publishingconcepts.com...
And here is a sample of what a completed Oral History book looks like (book is courtesy of the Grand Lodge of Vermont, who took part in this project last year):
PCI, Scottish Rite, NMJ, and Your Privacy
Scottish Rite, NMJ and PCI are committed to protecting your information. Our contractual agreement with PCI explicitly states that your information will be held confidential by PCI, except to the extent that it is used in, or in the preparation of, the publication, or except as required by law. Upon completion of the project, PCI will return all electronic files that have been supplied or produced by Scottish Rite, NMJ, in connection with the production of the oral history publication.
We look forward to hearing your stories and encourage you to participate!
Please Note: You may also receive a postcard from PCI on behalf of your Valley, Grand Lodge, or other Masonic organizations you may be affiliated with. What this means is that those organizations have also partnered with PCI on a similar project. These projects (and the completed books) are all separate from one another. Again, participation is completely optional. However, should you choose to opt out of receiving communications from PCI entirely, you must opt out of each project use case.
For further information about this project, visit our FAQ page.