Rough Ashler Club

The Rough Ashler Club was a student organization at William & Mary in the 1920s. The organization was made up of both faculty and staff who were Freemasons. Some of the first members of the Rough Ashler Club included J.A.C. Chandler, president of William and Mary, and Kremer J. Hoke, Professor in Education and later Dean of the College (Flat Hat, 10/15/1920, pg. 3). The purpose of the club was to bring together masons at the College and to create a better relationship with Master Masons, whether they are students or faculty. The Rough Ashler Club was first organized in 1921, and in 1927 was chartered into the National Intercollegiate Fraternity of Masons, also known as Square and Compass. The local chapters of the Square and Compass were known as Squares (Flat Hat, 4/15/1927, pg. 6).

Material in the Special Collections Research Center

• Flat Hat, William and Mary News, and Alumni Gazette Index under Rough Ashler Club and Square and Compass.
• Rough Ashler Club in the Student Organizations Collection.
• Colonial Echo Digital Archive for photos of the group during the 1920s.

References

• "Masons Organize," Flat Hat, 10/15/1920, pg. 3.
• "Rough Ashler Chartered by Masonic Frat," Flat Hat, 4/15/1927, pg. 6.

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Questions? Contact the Special Collections Research Center at spcoll@wm.edu or 757-221-3090, or visit the Special Collections Research Center in the Earl Gregg Swem Library at William & Mary.

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The information available in this wiki is the best available from known documents and sources at the time it was written. Unfortunately, many of the early original records of William & Mary were destroyed by fires, military occupation, and the normal effects of time. Information in this wiki is not complete as new information continues to be uncovered in Swem Library's Special Collections Research Center and elsewhere. Researchers are strongly encouraged to use the Special Collections search tools for their research as the information contained in this wiki is by no means comprehensive.