Rough Mason, Mason, Freemason, Accepted Mason - Oscar Patterson III 2017

About the author

Dr. Oscar Patterson III is Worshipful Master of Ashlar Lodge No. 98 Free and Accepted Masons in St. Augustine, Florida, for 2017. He holds the Gold Proficiency Card and is State Chairman for Public Education and Citizenship. He is also a member of the York and Scottish Rites, York Rite College, Allied Masonic Degrees, and Red Cross of Constantine as well as The Masonic Society, The Philalethes Society, Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076’s Correspondence Circle, and several research Lodges in the United States. His research has appeared in Masonic journals and magazines in the United States and the United Kingdom. His book, Interpreting Masonic Ritual, is published by Hamilton Books.

Patterson holds the B.A. in religion and philosophy, the M.F.A. in design, and the Ph.D. in Communication Theory and Research. He is retired after having served as a professor and administrator at several universities in the U.S. during his thirty-five-year teaching career. He lectured at universities in Africa, Europe, and South America as well as the United States, and was appointed as a Fulbright Fellow. His scholarly articles appeared in major academic journals and he presented papers at numerous conferences.

Prior to beginning his academic career, Patterson was a juvenile officer, a Methodist minister, and an infantry officer with command and staff assignments in Vietnam. He also spent time as an actor and theatrical designer. He is a native of North Carolina who worked his way through college surveying land and in a textile mill. He and his wife, Julie, live in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, where he does administrative work as a volunteer for the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.