This Week in H’burg is a weekly column featuring photos and fun facts from local photographer Pierre Ratté. Each week we’ll feature a new photo from Ratté along with a fact about the subject matter of the photo.
Grange halls are found in towns all over America. Their full name is: National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry. Started in 1867 by eight individuals sitting around a wooden table, these halls became a vital force in our democracy.
The Grange motto: “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.” The Grange declaration of purpose includes these timely words: “We shall constantly strive to secure harmony, good will, and brotherhood … We shall earnestly endeavor to suppress personal, local, sectional, and national prejudices … We desire a proper equality, and fairness; protection for the weak; restraint upon the strong; in short, justly distributed power. We propose to develop a better and higher manhood and womanhood…”
In joining a Grange hall, people pledged to live by principles of faith, hope, charity, fidelity and loving their neighbor as themselves. The Grange marker honoring its founders is the only private monument on our National Mall. The Chalk Hill Grange was established a mere three years after the national founding in Washington, DC.
Pierre Ratté posts a daily picture on Instagram, Facebook and TodayinHburg.com. He can be reached at pj*****@ic****.com. His book “100 Days Sheltering-In-Place” can be purchased at Levin’s and Copperfield’s bookstores, TodayinHburg.com or Amazon.com.
