Bio:

Adam Kendall holds a master’s degree in history from California State University, Los Angeles, and is the executive director of the Oakland Scottish Rite Historical Foundation. A past master of San Francisco’s Phoenix Lodge No. 144, Adam is an affiliate member of Benicia No. 877 and currently serves as the 2023–2024 Junior Warden of the world’s premier lodge of research, Quatuor Coronati No. 2076 (English Constitution). 

For nearly two decades, Adam has worked in various roles promoting the study of Masonic history and fraternal material culture. From 2013–2015, he served as the Masonic Library and Museum Association president and was the collections manager for the Henry W. Coil Library and Museum of Freemasonry from 2007–2016. He is the editor of Heredom, published by the Scottish Rite Research Society, and serves as the 2024–2026 President of the Philalethes Society. He is also a member of the Society of Blue Friars, an organization established in 1932 to recognize Masonic authors. Adam’s research has been published in notable publications such as the Journal of American Studies, the Journal for Research into Freemasonry and Fraternalism, Heredom, and Ars Quatuor Coronatorum.

Over the years, he has lectured at a variety of lodge events and academic symposia, such as the World Conference on Freemasonry & Fraternalism at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the British Association for American Studies at Exeter University, the California International Masonic Symposium and the International Conference on the History of Freemasonry at Edinburgh, Scotland.

Prepared Topics:

“Masonic Libraries and Museums: What, Why, How?” – 45 Minutes

“Observing the Secret and Silent: Recovering Lost Narratives with Masonic Material Culture” – 45 Minutes

“The Scandals and Secret Rites of Benjamin Hyam: An American Masonic Story” – 45-60 Minutes

“The Ku Klux Klan, Freemasonry, and the American Fraternal Press” – 60 Minutes

“Klad in White Hoods and Aprons: Freemasonry and the Second Ku Klux Klan in California, 1921–1925” – 60 Minutes

“The Masonic Whitewash Committee: American Anti-Catholicism, Freemasonry, and the Knights of Columbus in the 1910s” – 60 Minutes

“The Mason’s Boy”: The Story of Walter Wilcox – 30 Minutes

“Myth and Conspiracy: The Strange Bedfellows of Masonic and Anti-Masonic Culture” – 45-60 Minutes

“The Almighty is the Organizer’: Freemasonry and Civic Space in the West” – 45-60 Minutes

Travel information: Any distance. Costs: flights, hotels, and minor incidentals (Uber/Lyft rides). A donation to the Oakland Scottish Rite Historical Foundation will be appreciated, but is not necessary.

Websites:
https://www.facebook.com/fraternalhistorian/

https://osrhistoricalfoundation.org/