Is there a book that goes deeper into the history and lineage of the Ancient Order of Druids in America? The article on the website is a great primer but I’m looking for more in depth information.
Are they any proceedings books from the early years of the Order? Membership totals? List of all the Grand officers and defunct groves that the Grand Grove Chartered decades ago.
Proceedings books of a perfect example of primary resources that historians use.
Any help, feedback or inquiries are certainly welcomed.
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The Druid Grove Handbook has a short history of the AODA - a little more information than what’s on the website (a lot of the same information, though), but it sounds like not as much detail as you’d like. We also have an official historian, though I don’t know much about their work. Maybe a member of the Grand Grove knows more.
As a side note, I think there are a couple of difficulties you may find while searching for these kinds of details. First, AODA is part of the tradition of esoteric orders and part of that tradition is a level of secrecy. For example, Greer mentions multiple times that in his early days with the AODA he received a lot of documents that helped in his reconstruction, but that he simply can’t discuss, let alone publish.
The second difficulty is simply that before Greer’s time as Grand Archdruid the AODA was on the verge of extinction. There were only a handful of members remaining by the end of the 20th century, and as a result I’m sure plenty of records and histories (both written and oral) were lost as a result. Again, hopefully our historian can help reconstruct a good bit of that history but at the end of the day a lot will just be lost to time.
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Thank you very much for your thoughtful response. Here is what I have found so far:
- The AODA began as a branch of the Ancient Masonic Order of Druids in 1912, with Dr. James Manchester. Dr. Manchester is stated as being “a high-ranking Mason” but, when i search the Mass. records for his name in around 1912, I could not find a Masonic record for him. He very well may have been a member of a lodge under a different jurisdiction but in all likelihood he would be a member is Massachusetts.
- I cannot find any mention of The AODA in the proceedings of Colorado in reference to the 1972 request made by Arch Druid Rhodonn Starrus for the GL of Colorado for recognition.
- The term High Ranking is a misnomer. A Master Mason (3°) is the highest degree. If it refers to an office at the Grand Lodge, Chapter, Council, Commandery, etc… that is only a title. Im saying that with sincere respect as I am currently an elected Grand Officer of a regular Masonic organization.
The next stop will be to call various Masonic Libraries and ask for any information that they may have in their catalogs or research advice.
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Well done, Owl. Keep digging.
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Thank you! I appreciate that. When/if I find out more, I’ll update yall
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Greetings everyone,
I wanted to share a brief update on my progress regarding my research.
Over the last few weeks, my deep dive into AODA history has hit a significant “block wall.”
While the initial phases of the work were fruitful, I am finding it difficult to grather much more.
I am still very much committed to this project, but I feel I have reached a point where research alone may not be enough. I would deeply appreciate the opportunity to speak with one of the Arch Druids for perspectives on a different research lens or a more traditional, intuitive approach to the material.
If any of the Grand Grove members have a moment for a brief check-in or can offer advice on how to proceed when the “outer” records run dry, I would be incredibly grateful
Did you contact @GrantDavis who is introduced in another topic as Grand Historian and Archivist?
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I sent an email to the info email address on the website. Just waiting for them to get the time to read and respond
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One thing to keep in mind with things of a certain era. There were a lot of claims by people who were “high-ranking” Masons but were either not Masons at all or were members of clandestine groups that weren’t connected to an official jurisdiction.
I haven’t done the research on James Manchester, so I don’t want to discount that he was a Mason, but I have seen similar things come up numerous times in occult and esoteric stuff around that time period, especially when people start throwing around “high-ranking” as a term. The whole idea is that all brothers are on the level.
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I completely agree with you. I just have not had the time to determine what grand lodge Manchester was a member of. But, at the end of the day, his mother lodge is not that important. It would only be important to his personal story.
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