Perfect Points met at Brookfield Hall in Westhoughton for their Autumn 2024lecture. The evening began with the news that the vice-chairman and former chairman Gary Smith had decided to stand down after many years of service. Gary had been actively involved with the relaunch of the previous education group as Perfect Points and had presented several lectures himself. To mark the occasion, Gary donated a lectern to Brookfield Hall with a plaque bearing the Perfect Points name to be used by future guest speakers.
The speaker for the evening was Alex Prescott, who had prepared a lecture simply titled ‘The Statue of Liberty’. Many in the room were unaware of a Masonic link with the well-known landmark but, after the usual pie and peas supper, Alex proceeded to take everyone present on a journey beginning in France in 1870 and culminating in its unveiling in 1886 in New York Harbor.
The idea for the statue began when a group of French Freemasons decided to acknowledge their friendship with America by constructing and gifting a memorial to the love of liberty shared by both nations. Politician and Freemason Édouard René Lefèbvre de Laboulaye discussed the idea with artist, sculptor and Freemason Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, who set sail for New York. However, it was only when seeing the skyline of New York Bay that Frédéric had the inspiration for the design, as he envisioned a magnificent goddess holding aloft a torch and welcoming visitors to the land of freedom and opportunity.
On Frédéric’s return to France, he began constructing a clay model with the face of the goddess inspired by his own mother. For construction, he chose Gaget, Gauthier & Co. who specialized in the art of repousse, a technique that used sheet metal hammered into moulds, rather than the more traditional stone and bronze, which would have been too heavy to ship to New York. However, this technique also required the construction of an intricate iron skeleton. Before his work on his eponymous tower, Freemason Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was already well known for his design of iron railway bridges and was asked to construct the skeleton for the Statue of Liberty.
Not too much thought had gone into funding the project and with political bickering in the USA, the statue almost ended up staying in France. Thankfully, another Freemason, the journalist and newspaper owner Joseph Pulitzer stepped in to save the day and began using his newspaper, ‘The World’, to lead fundraising efforts. Although still far from completion, the statue was formally presented to the Americans on 4 July 1884 prior to the cornerstone of the pedestal being laid the following day. The presentation was made by Freemason Ferdinand de Lesseps of Suez Canal fame. The laying of the pedestal was attended by over 100 members of the Grand Lodge of New York and visiting grand officers, with the working tools presented to the Grand Master, William Brodie. A copper box was hidden under the cornerstone containing the names of the Grand Lodge Masons of New York.
The unveiling of the completed statue would take place on 28 October 1886 and was attended by President Cleveland. The main speaker was the famous American orator, Senator Chauncey M Depew, who was also master of Kane Lodge No 454, and the ceremony was closed by the Grand Chaplain.
Alex Prescott’s excellent presentation showed how Freemasons had been at the centre of the design, construction, funding and dedication of this remarkable landmark, and without them, the entrance to New York harbour would not be as instantly recognizable as it is today.
The next meeting of Perfect Points will be held at Cunliffe Hall, Chorley, in April 2025. If you would like to come along or become a member, please contact perfectpoints@c-l-m-g.org