Kuipers shares the history of Mason’s
James Sifton, the local Congregational minister, was hired to start Valley City State University and the school opened on October 13, 1890, in a City High School room. Freemason George McFarland became president in the Fall of 1892 and the school moved to a new building (McFarland Hall) on December 6, 1892. A new science building was added in 1903 as a west wing to the main building and a model school as an east wing in 1905. Vangstad’s cornerstone is dated 1907 and it was built to house music and theatre.
The first meeting of Valley City Lodge No. 7 AF&AM was held the evening of May 7, 1881. The Woodbine Chapter of the Eastern Star was organized in 1891. The instituting Star officer was Francis Ingalls of Jamestown, who may or may not have been related to the Ingalls family in the Little House on the Prairie since that South Dakota Ingalls family was active in the Eastern Star, Masonic Lodge, Methodist Church, and Congregational Church. Since Louise Sifton was a founding member, James Sifton was probably a Freemason.
According to the Valley City Times Record of June 11, 1903, “The leading Masons of the state and the local lodge headed by the band passed under the beautiful floral arch about eleven o’clock. Grand Master W, L. Stockwell, who is also state Superintendent of Public Instruction, was master of ceremonies. These were most beautiful and impressive and brought into bold relief the leading principles of this ancient organization.
“In his closing remarks the Grand Master said that while Valley City has many important buildings and enterprises, the one thing for which it stood out prominently in the eyes of the state was the State Normal School. He said its influence could be seen and felt in everything that affected the higher life of the town and urged the most loyal and cordial support of it from the citizens who shared its renown.”
The 1903 cornerstone ceremony followed several days of commencement ceremonies, which began with a baccalaureate service on Sunday evening. None of the city churches were open at that time so as not to interfere. The sermon was delivered by the pastor of the First Congregational Church of Fargo. Primary through eighth grades performed on Tuesday evening. Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream was the junior play on Wednesday evening.
The cornerstone for the next building, the model school, was laid in 1905 and is in the northwest corner of the building, symmetrically opposite the 1903 cornerstone. “The ceremony of laying the cornerstone of the new east wing now being erected for a Model school building, occurred on Tuesday afternoon. The stone was laid by the architect, Mr. George Hancock. Prof. McFarland then explained that there was a hole in the stone in which a box had been placed containing the date at which it was laid and other literature regarding the institution and its work at that time. Hon. W. L, Stockwell, state superintendent of public instruction, the orator of the occasion was then called upon.”
The 1923 Graichen Gym cornerstone was laid during the administration of VCSU’s third president. The ceremony, including the cornerstone’s contents, was described in the Valley City Times Record. There is no mention of Freemasonry in the article, even though President Allen was a member of the local lodge, including serving a term as master. Newer VCSU buildings have dedication plaques instead of cornerstones.
McFarland took over a small normal school occupying a few rooms in a building downtown. He transformed it into a school with multiple academic buildings, several academic departments, a fine arts program equal to anything else in the state, etc. Allen continued running the school as the economy in North Dakota collapsed and transformed to school into the state’s first teachers college granting four year bachelor of arts degrees in education. A third Freemason, President Kleinpell, guided the college during the second world war and left the college with permission to offer non-teaching degrees, thus providing the foundation for VCSU to become a regional state university.
To many of the ancients, a stone building was like a body, and it needed a soul. That soul was taken from a human or animal embedded in the foundation stone or cornerstone during a solemn rite. With the shedding of sacrificial blood, the guardian spirit remained with the building throughout the life of the building. Modern societies don’t kill people for this purpose, but we still have a variety of symbolic foundation rituals, such as the important persons using golden shovels to break ground.
The 1903 cornerstone is in the northeast corner of the building. That point is halfway between the darkness of the North and the light of the East. The cornerstone is located above the darkness of the ground, but below the upper part of the building. It marks the beginning or birth of the new structure. The 1903 cornerstone represents a transition from VCSU being created into an established institution. 2028 will mark the 125th anniversary of the main cornerstone laying at VCSU and there should be a celebration of some kind.