On June 19, 20 and 21 of 1939, nearly 600 Master Masons and guests gathered in Grand Forks to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M. of North Dakota.
A pageant presented in the then-new Central High School auditorium was filled with 1,500 distinguished guests, North Dakota Masons and their friends.
One episode dealt with the division of the Grand Lodge of Dakota into Grand Lodges of North Dakota and South Dakota.
That was in Mitchell, S.D., on June 12 and 13, 1889.
Today there are nearly 5 million Masons in the world. Three million are said to be in the United States. Masonic literature says:
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"Masons continue to use the simple tools of the ancient stonemasons -- the square and compasses, the trowel, plumb and level -- as symbols to teach their ideals. A Mason is oath-bound to build his life and character with the same care and precision that stonemasons used to construct the cathedrals and temples centuries ago."
