Celebrations Today – August 4
Holidays and observances
- Christian feast day:
- Coast Guard Day (United States)
- Constitution Day (Cook Islands)
- Matica slovenská Day (Slovakia)
- Revolution Day (Burkina Faso)
Celebrations Today – USA: August 4
National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day
National Coast Guard Day
National Hooray for Kids Day
National White Wine Day
National Single Working Women’s Day
National U.S. Coast Guard Day
Today in US History: August 4
George Washington, Master Mason
Masonic Lodge,
Fredericksburg, Virginia,
between 1910 and 1930.
Touring Turn-of-the-Century America: Photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company, 1880-1920
On August 4, 1753, George Washington became a Master Mason, the highest rank in the Fraternity of Freemasonry, in his hometown of Fredericksburg, Virginia. The twenty-one-year-old young man would soon hold his first military commission.
Washington as a freemason,
c1866.
Prints & Photographs Online Catalog
Derived from the practices and rituals of the medieval guild system, freemasonry gained popularity in the eighteenth century, particularly in Great Britain. British Masons organized the first North American Chapter in 1731. Masons aroused considerable suspicion in the early American republic with their mysterious rites and closely held secrets. These fears mushroomed in response to the suspicious death in 1826 of William Morgan, who was said to have been murdered on account of his threat to reveal the secrets of freemasonry.
For George Washington, joining the Masons was a rite of passage and an expression of civic responsibility. Members were required to express their belief in a Supreme Being and in the immortality of the soul. Masons were also were expected to obey civil laws, hold a high moral standard, and practice acts of charity.
George Washington,
the Glasgow portrait.
Touring Turn-of-the-Century America: Photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company, 1880-1920
- To learn more about Masons and other similar organizations in American Memory, search the collections for freemason, Know-nothings, or fraternities.
- Search on the keyword masonic in First American West: The Ohio River Valley, 1750-1820 to find items such as a Master Mason’s Apron from circa 1800-1825, and Masonic constitutions, or, Illustrations of Masonry.
- A history of the relationship of civic responsibility to religious belief is explored in the Library of Congress online exhibition Religion and the Founding of the American Republic.
- Read George Washington’s letters by browsing his letterbooks in the American Memory collection George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741-1799. These letterbooks are part of a series held by the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress. For additional documents, search on George Washington in:
- View more photographs of the haunts of Washington’s youth, including Ferry Farm where he spent most of his childhood. Search on Fredericksburg in Touring Turn-of-the-Century America: Photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company, 1880-1920. Or, do a broader search across all the American Memory collections.
- Search the Today in History Archive on George Washington for more information about our nation’s first president.
- Search on freemason in the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC) for images including other Masons, Masonic temples, and Masonic lodges.
Today in History – August 4-External Links
Today’s Weather in History
Today in Earthquake History
This Day in Naval History
Today’s Document from the National Archives
Today’s Events, Births & Deaths –Wikipedia
Today in History by AP
On this Day -1950 to 2005 – Today’s Story–BBC
On This Day: The New York Times
This Day in History –History.com
Today in Canadian History – Canada Channel
History of Britain that took place On This Day
Russia in History –Russiapedia