This article attempts to reconstruct the historical circumstances surrounding the creation of a single museum photograph and to provide the historical context necessary for its interpretation. The study draws upon four groups of historical sources: artifacts preserved in the Museum of the History of the American Knights Templar (Houston, USA), published documentary collections, contemporary periodical publications, and reference works. The study concludes that the museum artifact (MHAKT CGU. Collection 4. Photo Materials. Exhibit No. 081), depicting a group of Knights Templar from Beauseant Commandery No. 7, is the official photograph of the Commandery taken during the Twenty-Sixth Triennial Conclave held in Boston in 1895. The Commandery was located in Brattleboro, Vermont, and belonged to the Grand Commandery of Vermont and, at the national level, to the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States of America. At the time the photograph was taken, the office of Eminent Commander of Beauseant Commandery No. 7 was held by Daniel P. Webster (1846—1904), one of the most distinguished figures of his generation—a surgeon, member of the Vermont House of Representatives, state senator, Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Vermont (1881—1886), and Right Eminent Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery of Vermont (1902).
Source: Taran, Konstantine V. (2026). "What the Photograph Kept Silent About": Reconstructing the History of Beauseant Commandery No. 7 (Brattleboro, Vermont) from a Single Photograph. Recorder. 2(3): 354-361.
Source web-site: https://easteuropeanhistory.org/journals_n/1783562112.pdf
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