Brethren,

Please join us for a relaxed morning of Coffee & Donuts and Fellowship on Saturday, March 28th, from 8:30–9:30 a.m., in the Lodge Dining Room -RW Henry Paddack Hall. Our donuts will be baked fresh in-house, and brethren are welcome to come and go as their schedule permits.

The video presentation and informal discussion will be led by Bro. Samuel Baker.

Saturday’s theme:

Union Lodge Historical Series No. 1: Founding & the Quaker Tension (1771-1775)

Presentation Summary: This session explores the audacious founding of Union Lodge on a Quaker whaling island on the eve of the Revolution: the six seafaring petitioners who sparked a brotherhood, the explosive growth from six members to sixty-five within a single year, and the collision between Masonic fraternity and Quaker discipline that helped define Nantucket’s culture for generations.

Please note that this informal fellowship gathering is for Master Masons and the Lodge's Candidates only.

We look forward to sharing good coffee, good conversation, and the Light of Brotherhood with you.

Future presentation dates and topics...

Saturday, April 04, 2026

8:30am-9:30am

Union Lodge World War II Series No. 2: Freemasons in China

Presentation Summary: This session explores the expansive Masonic presence across Shanghai and the treaty ports; the lodges that went dark under Japanese occupation; and the role Freemasonry played in wartime Chungking alongside the OSS and Allied forces, including the Masonic career of Flying Tigers commander Claire Lee Chennault and his postwar founding of Civil Air Transport, the CIA’s covert airline.

Saturday, April 18, 2026

8:30am-9:30am

Union Lodge Historical Series No. 2: Revolution & Impossible Neutrality (1775-1783)

Presentation Summary: This session explores Nantucket’s bold attempt to negotiate neutrality with both the Continental Congress and the British Crown; the near-total destruction of the island’s 150-vessel whaling fleet and the starvation winter that followed; and the story of Union Lodge, orphaned by a silent Grand Lodge, toasting George Washington while its first Master quietly sided with the King. It concludes with the two Franklin cousins, a Loyalist cartographer and a wartime profiteer, whose clashing choices reveal what the Revolution demanded of a Quaker island that wanted no part of it.

Please note that this informal fellowship gathering is for Master Masons and the Lodge's Candidates only.

We look forward to sharing good coffee, good conversation, and the Light of Brotherhood with you.