Quatuor Coronati Lodge: Our Next Meeting

Quatuor Coronati Lodge meets five times a year on the second Thursday in November (Installation); third Thursday in February; second Thursday in May; fourth Thursday in June; and second Thursday in September. Lodge meetings are usually held at Freemasons’ Hall, Great Queen Street, London, and open at 4.00pm.

The United Grand Lodge of England requires those attending QC Lodge meetings, whether members of QCCC or otherwise, to be a member of a lodge under UGLE’s jurisdiction or members of lodges in Masonic jurisdictions recognised by UGLE. We wear undress regalia (Craft), dark suit and tie. Where we host non-masonic speakers or open the lodge to non-Masons, we close or call-off the Lodge for the lecture and at that point welcome everyone to attend. There is no formal dress code for visitors on such occasions.

Thursday, 12 November 2026
Alan Kendall
The Knights Commanders of the Sun: A New Example of Post-American Civil War Fraternalism, Para-Military, and Patriotic Orders

Founded around 1875 by the prolific California Mason, Edwin Allen Sherman, the Knights Commanders of the Sun blended elements from the uniformed fraternities such as the Knights Templar and Knights of Pythias that were gaining in popularity throughout the post-Civil War United States. Using rare primary sources, Adam’s paper uncovers the little-known Order’s fraternal and Masonic influences, its militant religious and political worldview, the martyrdom of President Abraham Lincoln and the ritual that dramatized his assassination.

The Speaker

Adam was born and raised in northern California. He graduated with a BA in Cinema from San Francisco State University and an MA in History at California State University, Los Angeles. For several years he was the collections manager for the Henry W. Coil Library and Museum of Freemasonry at the Grand Lodge of California and, most recently, the executive director of the Oakland Scottish Rite Historical Foundation and manager of the Valley’s library and archives. Adam was initiated in San Francisco in 1994 and is a Past Master of Phoenix Lodge No. 144. Additionally, he is a Former Master of Northern California Research Lodge. In 2023, he was invested with the Inspector General Honorary Thirty-Third Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, USA. He is a past president of the Masonic Library and Museum Association and The Philalethes Society, and a Fellow of the latter; he is also a former editor of the Scottish Rite Research Society’s quarterly bulletin, The Plumbline, and its annual transactions, Heredom. Adam was elected to full membership in Quatuor Coronati Lodge in 2017. Fascinated with the obscure and sometimes controversial aspects of fraternal organizations in the US (and particularly California), Adam has published a number of essays and enjoys presenting at lodges and symposia.

The Summons will be available here prior to the Meeting

Please notify the Lodge Secretary if you will be attending: secretary@quatuorcoronati.com. It is sufficient to give your name, rank and Lodge. Everyone is entitled to attend, from EA onwards.
And please book to join us at the Installation Dinner.

Delivery papers (with the exception of the Installation paper), are available to members of QCCC prior to each meeting. Papers are copyright and may not be reproduced.
Comments and questions on delivery papers should be sent via email to editor@quatuorcoronati.com for publication in AQC.

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