Isabel Holbrook
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Isabel B. Holbrook was a prominent American worker in the American Theosophical Society and in Co-Freemasonry.
Miss Holbrook was born in Rockland, Massachusetts, on October 13, 1863 as the daughter of Turner Reed Holbrook and Lydia Jane Holbrook. "She attended the local schools and later the Bridgewater Normal. Following her graduation she taught for a number of years, specializing in biology and the natural sciences."[1]
Involvement in Co-Freemasonry
in 1910, Holbrook moved to Chicago to work on a new Masonic magazine:
Mrs. Minnie C. Holbrook and Miss Helen Jasper Swain, of New York City, and Miss Isabel B. Holbrook of Providence, Rhode Island, have taken up residence in Chicago for rhe purpose of editing and conduxting a new Masonic journal to be entitled "Universal Masonry" and to be published by the Rajput Press.
"Universal Masonry" is to deal with the subject of Masonry from the point of view of its esoteric origin and meaning.[2]
for many years served the Co-Masonic Order in this country in the office of Deputy Grand Commander.[3]
Theosophical Society activities
Membership records for Isabel Holbrook are incomplete. She was definitely a member of the American Theosophical Society before 1913, when some membership records were lost in a fire. She was a member of the Krotona Hollywood Lodge, founded February 21, 1913, and was based at Krotona in Hollywood for several years. By 1920 she had moved back to Chicago, where she lived with her older brother Elliot.[4] Then on June 30, 1923, after moving back to Rockland, she joined the Annie Besant Lodge in Boston, which was the ATS lodge nearest to her home.
In 1916 Miss Holbrook served as National Secretary of the Society, appointed by president A. P. Warrington.[5]
Later years
In 1921 her health declined, and "she returned to Rockland where she remained, continuing her lecturing as she was able, and contributing also by writing."[6] She passed away on Jun 11, 1935.
Writings
The Union Index of Theosophical Periodicals lists 2 articles by IB Holbrook and 37 articles by Isabel B Holbrook. Among these was a series called "As Above, So Below," one on "Pythagoras," and another on "The Book of Enoch."
She also wrote pamphlets:
- Egyptian Studies, Number One. Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Press, 1927. Its sub-title was The Path of Light in the House of the Hidden Places. "It is a study of the correspondences between the secret passages and chambers of the Great Pyramid and the Ritual known as The Book of the Dead in which the secret doctrine of Egypt is embodied. The author notes that this ancient Ritual had for its own title that of The Book of the Master of the Hiddon Places."
Notes
- ↑ "Isabel Holbrook" The American Theosophist 23 no.8 (July, 1935): 165.
- ↑ The Theosophic Messenger 11 no. 8 (May 1910): 481-482.
- ↑ "Isabel Holbrook" The American Theosophist 23 no.8 (July, 1935): 165.
- ↑ 1920 United States Federal Census.
- ↑ "American Section: Organization" The Messenger 3 no. 11 (Apr 1916): i.
- ↑ "Isabel Holbrook" The American Theosophist 23 no.8 (July, 1935): 165.
