The Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library’s mission is to engage and inspire the public and members of the Masonic fraternity through its exhibitions, collections, publications, and programs. It aims to foster knowledge and appreciation of America’s past and culture, with a focus on United States history, Freemasonry, and fraternalism. It builds interest and support for its mission by emphasizing themes of patriotism, fraternalism, inclusion, and personal and civic virtues.

The Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, Inc. was established in 1975 as a Bicentennial gift of 32° Masons to the American people. At the formal dedication in April 1975, Sovereign Grand Commander George A. Newbury, 33°, stated that the Museum’s purpose was “to foster a knowledge of American history, and through it to further an appreciation of those qualities of character among the people of this country and their leaders, which in the short space of two hundred years has brought the United States of America from a scattered group of thirteen colonies to a place of preeminence among the nations of the world.”

Learn more about the museum's collections by visiting our online catalogs: museum, library, archives.