This artifact is a program from Hiram Lodge No. 81, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, dated January 28, 1939. The program consists of a folded booklet of two pages.
The text is printed in black ink on cream-colored paper, which exhibits discoloration commensurate with age. The cover displays a circular Masonic emblem rendered in blue and white. The year is presented in both the Gregorian calendar format (A.D. 1939) and the Masonic dating system (A.L. 5939 – Anno Lucis). The lodge's name and establishment date of 1781 are indicated, in addition to the lodge's location within the Masonic Hall of Chestnut Hill.
The program includes a list of elected officers for the year 1939, specifying Samuel P. Aarons as Treasurer and Frank E. Perry as Secretary. Past Masters, including Alton S. Keiser and David Strawbridge, are also listed.
The interior contains the agenda for the stated meeting, scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Masonic Hall on Germantown Avenue. The agenda includes a petition for membership from Glenwood Eckhart and the planned conferring of the Master Mason (M.M.) degree. Additional sections address rehearsal schedules and available Masonic employment resources. A communication from Matthew Galt, Jr., Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, is included. This communication pertains to a meeting scheduled for February 28, 1939, and details Masonic attire and attendance protocols. It also includes a request for updated member addresses, directing responses to William E. Hocken and Jon S. Snyder.
A directory of lodge members is included. Specific individuals named in the directory are: John S. Stewart, Jr., Charles F. Rudolph, Samuel E. Knauff, Harry L. Gallagher, Robert B. Lewis, Edward P. Grant, Powell M. Nelson, Galant S. Shaw, John H. Norcross, John T. Larson, Herbert C. Goodman, William C. Moore, Walter B. Ransom, Harry W. Benson, John H. McCann, Wm. L. Stevenson, James J. White, Louis H. Dryfoos, Horace P. Arms, Allen R. Mitchell, Loring S. Strode, James G. Gardiner, Thomas Bury, Francis M. Thomas, George D. Conley, William H. Rambow, Harry L. Zinn, Albert Warden, John Deacon, William F. Faust, Howard Anderson, Duane W. Callender, E. Clyde Sherrard, Wm. K. Hardt, John C. Zimmerman, Jr., and John S. Haddon (referenced in connection with "Information concerning the Pumps").
The document exhibits minor wear consistent with its age. Photographic documentation is available illustrating the document's contents and current condition.