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The above pictures on this page were provided by the NCSD Museum.
Cornerstone
A ceremonial building block, dated or otherwise inscribed,
usually placed during a ceremony, in an
outer wall of a building to commemorate its dedication. Oftentimes, the
stone is hollowed out
to contain newspapers, photographs, or other documents reflecting current
customs, with a
view to their historical use when the building is remodeled, rebuilt, or
demolished. Originally
placed at a corner, the stone may today be placed elsewhere on the facade.
- Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
There is only one known ceremonial cornerstone on campus and that is
located near the
northeast corner in front of Hoey Hall. If you look at the above picture,
you'll see a
"white block' at the lower left corner of the building.
The ceremony of the laying of the cornerstone can be seen at
the NCSD Museum website: at
ncsdmuseum.net drag
your mouse to: In NCSDHM, Photography, Buildings, then
Cornerstone Laid. There you will see the event that took place during
the cornerstone ceremony.
Today, a new wrought iron railing was installed during the 2007-2008
renovations
which partially blocked the viewing of the cornerstone, but luckily Jimmy
Autry
had this above picture taken before the renovations.
Hoey Hall is 70 years old and it is rumored that there is
a possibility of a
time capsule being embedded inside this marble cornerstone...no proof, but
could this be true....who knows? If true, it would be interesting to know
what
1898 through 1938 (40 years) artifacts are inside the time capsule .
Below is a little background of the cornerstone's inscriptions:
The years
1898 and 1939 demonstrates the original West Hall years - 41 years.
The symbol of the Square and Compasses is a trademark and has been
registered
in some jurisdictions. The "G" in the
middle represents God, otherwise known inside Lodges as
"The Grand Geometrician of the Universe", since Freemasonry demands belief
in no specific faith, simply a belief in a "Supreme Being". It has also been
ascribed to the Worshipful Master's word. Some also claim that it represents
Gnosticism or Saint Germain.
A Grand Master is the supreme ruler of the Craft within a given
jurisdiction. He
presides over his Grand Lodge and has certain rights in each private lodge
(constituent lodge)
within his jurisdiction. But on this inscription, it is not
known what
jurisdictions each of these two Grand Masters belong to.
The significance of the letters A. L. and the numbers
5898 and 5939 are unknown.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Freemasonry is the oldest and largest world wide fraternity
dedicated to the
Brotherhood of Man under the Fatherhood of a Supreme Being. Although of a
religious nature, Freemasonry is not a religion. It urges its members,
however,
to be faithful and devoted to their own religious beliefs.
It's not easy to join, you must know a Freemason and
sometimes you
must ask him 3 different times before he can petition you in his
lodge for a ballot. Once you are voted in, you'll have to answer a
series of questions and if they are satisfied with your answers
then you can be initiated as a member. |
