Unit 3 · Builders and Helpers

Look at a huge old church in France or England. Its walls are made of stone. Its windows reach up high. People built it about 800 years ago.

The builders were stonemasons. A stonemason cuts stone and builds with it. They built churches, castles, bridges and walls.

A very big church is called a cathedral. Some cathedrals are as tall as a tower. Many of them still stand today.

Long ago, there were no big machines. No trucks. No motors. Workers cut every stone by hand. They lifted stones with ropes and wheels.

That took a long, long time. A worker might help build a church his whole life. His children might finish it after him.

A church in Cologne, Germany, was started in 1248. It was not done until 1880. That is more than 600 years!

Master John picks up a tool shaped like the letter L. It is called a square. He holds it on the corner of a stone. If the corner fits the L, it is just right.

Another tool is a level. It shows if the top of a stone is flat. A flat stone does not tip or slide.

Why check? If one stone is crooked, the next stone sits crooked too. Good checking keeps a whole wall strong.

Tie a heavy weight to a string. Hold the string up high. The weight pulls the string straight down. This is a plumb line.

Builders held a plumb line next to a wall. If the wall matched the string, it stood straight up. If not, it leaned.

To shape stone, a builder held a sharp chisel. He tapped it with a wooden hammer called a mallet. Tap, tap. Little chips fell off.

Tom did not go to a school to learn building. He worked next to Master John every day. He watched. He tried. He tried again.

Tom was an apprentice. An apprentice learns a job by working with a skilled person. Learning often took about seven years.

At first, Tom swept and carried. Later, he cut small stones. At last, he could cut big stones well. Then he was a trained builder.

Look closely at an old stone church. On some stones, you may see tiny carved shapes. One looks like an arrow. One looks like a star.

Each one is a mason's mark. Each builder had his own mark. He carved it on stones he cut.

Why? Many experts think the marks showed who cut each stone. Then the boss could check the work and pay the right builder.

Next to the church, the builders had a small wooden hut. They kept their tools there. They ate lunch there. They cut stone there on rainy days.

This hut was called a lodge. The builders who worked together were a team. They met in the lodge to plan and to learn.

Builders also had rules. An old rule book from about 1390 still exists. It told builders to work hard and be fair.

Cutting stone is hard. A bad cut can make a wall fall. So builders taught their methods only to apprentices. They did not tell just anyone.

In Scotland, trained builders had a password called the Mason Word. A new builder said it to show he had learned the trade.

A password like that is a safe secret. It keeps work safe. But a secret about someone getting hurt is not safe. Always tell a trusted grown-up.

Remember the builders’ hut called a lodge? Later, the word lodge came to mean a club, too. Many members were not builders at all.

Some lodge clubs are the Freemasons, the Odd Fellows and the Moose. Members met in a lodge room. They became friends.

A big idea for many lodges was helping. Each member paid a little money. When a member needed help, the lodge used that money.

Long ago, a sick worker got no pay. His family could go hungry. That was scary for many families.

Many lodges had a lodge doctor. The doctor visited sick members. The lodge helped pay the cost.

Many lodges also gave sick members money each week. That is what Mr. Cole brought to Rosa’s family. It helped until Papa was well.

Sometimes a member died. His wife was then a widow. She had to care for the children alone. Many lodges helped her with money.

Lodges also helped pay for the funeral. A funeral is a time when people gather to say goodbye.

Some lodges helped children whose mom or dad had died. The Moose club built a whole town for children in Illinois. It is called Mooseheart. It opened in 1913.

Long ago, some lodges would not let everyone join. Black families were often kept out. Many Catholic families had their own rules about joining.

So people started their own lodges. Black Americans built Prince Hall lodges. Chicago had one by 1852. Catholic men started the Knights of Columbus in 1882.

These lodges helped widows, sick members and neighbors, too. People helping people made whole neighborhoods stronger.

The Shriners are a club. Freemasons started the Shriners club. Shriners often wear a red hat called a fez in parades.

About 100 years ago, the Shriners wanted to help children. They built a hospital just for children. The first one opened in 1922, in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Children came to get help with bones and walking. Children got care even if their families could not pay.

The Shriners in Chicago met in a big building called Medinah Temple. They wanted a hospital in their city, too.

In 1926, they opened a Shriners hospital in Chicago. It was the 11th Shriners hospital. It helped many children walk and play.

Chicago still has a Shriners hospital for children today. Nurses, doctors and helpers work there every day.

In 1892, a new building went up in Chicago. It stood at State Street and Randolph Street. It was called the Masonic Temple.

It had more than 20 floors. That was very tall long ago! It was one of the tallest buildings in the world. Shops were at the bottom. Lodge rooms were at the top.

The building is gone now. It was torn down in 1939. But people still remember it in old pictures.

Ava wants to join a club. She asks, "What do you do?" The leader smiles. "We help at the food bank," she says. "Ask us anything."

A kind club likes every question you ask. It tells you what it does. It is happy for your family to know, too.

A club may have a fun password. That is fine. But no one should ask you to hide something that hurts. Tell a trusted grown-up.