MASONIC HISTORY

FRIEND TO FRIEND MASONIC MEMORIAL

MEET BRO. Ronald F. “Ron” Tunison. The developer of the Friend to Friend Memorial

Outside of Independence Day, the first week of July brings another anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, the bloodiest single battle of the American Civil War. (Antietam was the deadliest one-day battle in American history). Masons often point to the “Friend to Friend Masonic Memorial” to highlight the strong commitment Masonic brothers have to each other.

Photo: “Friend to Friend Masonic Memorial”

The idea of the memorial was the brainchild of Brother Sheldon Munn, a Brother of Lafayette Lodge No 194 in Pennsylvania and Licensed Battlefield Tour guide and his friend Dr John Schwartz of Good Samaritan Lodge No 336. With over 1,000 memorials on the battlefield, but none about the strong bonds of brotherhood and friendship. They convinced the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania to work with the National Park Service to jointly develop a memorial at Gettysburg to the Freemasons of the Union and the Confederacy that their unique bonds of friendship which enabled them to remain a brotherhood undivided even as they fought in a divided nation, faithfully supporting their respective governments.

Note: The memorial depicts Union Army Captain Henry H. Bingham assisting the severely wounded Confederate Brigadier General Lewis Armistead after Pickett’s Charge.

A public/private development of such a memorial had never been done. The cemetery Annex was an area the Park Service had long wanted to develop but had not been able to get funding. The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania agreed to help with the general development of the Annex, and the Friend to Friend Masonic Memorial. The final location was one that was recommended by Jose Aguilar Cisneros, the Superintendent of the Gettysburg National Military Park. The general idea was to show the friendship between Confederate General Lewis Addison Armistead and Union General Winfield Scott Hancock. Since the two had been friends since childhood, but they did not meet on the battlefield, it was suggested that the documented incident of Captain Henry Bingham providing comfort to a dying Armistead shortly after Pickett’s Charge on July 3, 1861, by the park’s historian, Kathleen Harrison.

Bro. Maynard Edwards, 32°, KCCH, details the history behind the “Friend to Friend Memorial.”

The concept was approved at the National Park Service in Washington and noted historical artist Bro. Ron Tunison was selected to develop the monument. At that time, Tunison lived in the Catskills of New York. Tunison was intrigued by the concepts of the fraternity and joined his local lodge, Mountain Lodge No 529 in Windham, New York The Sculpture was cast in the Tallix Foundry, then in Beacon, New York — now part of the Urban Art Projects in Rock Tavern, New York. Sadly, Bro. Tunison passed away in October 2013 at the age of 66.

Photo: Ronald F. “Ron” Tunison, 1946-2013

Besides Friend to Friend Masonic Memorial, Bro. Tunison was an internationally acclaimed sculptor of nine heroic bronze monuments: “General W. Crawford,” near Little Round Top on the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania National Battlefield, the bas-relief “Delaware State Memorial” on Tanneytown Road, and “The Gettysburg Civil War Women’s Memorial” at Evergreen Cemetery. On the Antietam Maryland National Battlefield is Tunison’s “Irish Brigade Monument.” “The Bivouac.” is at the entrance to the Civil War Soldier’s Museum at Pamplin Historical Park near Petersburg, Virginia. “The Delaware Continentals” heroic size bronze monument of three advancing Revolutionary War soldiers stands atop a twenty-five-foot granite pedestal in front of Legislative Hall at Dover, Delaware. At Ringgold Gap in Atlanta, Georgia is Ron’s life-size General Patrick Cleburne statue.
Written by: Bro. Harry Williams Bro. Williams was raised in 1993 and is a member of three symbolic lodges in New York – Geneva-Ark No. 33, Warren No. 32, and Adonai No. 718. He helped to consolidate the Columbia, Dutchess and Greene-Ulster District into the Majestic Mid-Hudson District and bring about a new, revitalized district.
Samuel Lloyd Kinsey