Rare and Unique Artifacts of the Museum of the History of the American Knights Templar: A Source-Based and Historical-Typological Analysis

This study examines rare and unique artifacts held by the Museum of the History of the American Knights Templar at Cherkas Global University. The source base of the study consists of materials from six specialized museum collections, as well as rare editions from the P.A. Cherkasov Fundamental Library and documents from the Archive of Cherkas Global University. The museum’s total holdings comprise approximately 1,000 artifacts. The study employs historical-systemic, historical-comparative, historical-biographical, and source-study methods. As a result of the research, criteria were established for classifying museum objects as rare and unique, including early dating, personal attribution, association with prominent individuals and significant historical events, exceptional state of preservation, and the absence of known analogues. The study examines the fourth edition of James Anderson’s Masonic Constitutions (1769), a document bearing the signature of De Witt Clinton, an autograph of Thomas Smith Webb, a book from the collection of Benjamin Brown French, and an early official edition of the Proceedings from 1835. Particular attention is given to personalized swords belonging to Civil War veterans Francis Laban Towne, Benjamin F. Howard, and Albert P. Bassett; an early ribbon of Raper Commandery No. 1; photographs of Knights Templar dating from 1869; and a surviving portion of the banner of Connecticut Valley Commandery No. 23. The author concludes that museum artifacts possess considerable independent value as historical sources. Their comprehensive study in conjunction with written, visual, and biographical sources makes it possible to reconstruct little-studied aspects of the history, material culture, membership, and forms of public representation of the American Knights Templar in the eighteenth—twentieth centuries.

Source: Cherkas, Alexander C. (2026). Rare and Unique Artifacts of the Museum of the History of the American Knights Templar: A Source-Based and Historical-Typological Analysis. Bylye Gody. 21(3): 1213-1223.

Source web-site: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1788251771.pdf