Senate Majority Leader Keeps Membership in Society with Secrets, a Secret

by James Katsaounis

Last November, Pennsylvania State Senate Majority Leader, David J. Brightbill, took upon himself the mysterious secret oaths and obligations of the ancient fraternal order of the Freemasons. He was initiated in the company of eight fellow state senators who are also Freemasons. Sources working close to the senator at his two main offices in Harrisburg and Lebanon were unaware of his Masonic membership.

“Isn’t that a secret society?” asked David Warner, a field representative at the senator’s Lebanon office, when contacted to confirm the Brightbill’s membership. “I never heard the senator mentioning the Masons before,” he added.

Brightbill’s membership in the Freemasons (Masons) came to surface during a review of the senator’s resumes that are posted on the Pennsylvania Senate website and his personal website. Neither of the senator’s two online biographies listing his credentials and community involvement mentions him belonging to the Masons. Very little personal information is publicized on the two websites of the senator, only briefly mentioning his education and former career experiences.

News of the senator’s initiation into the fraternity did, however, get statewide attention in the “The Pennsylvania Freemason” magazine, a quarterly publication of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania with a membership of approximately 135,000. Appearing in the May 2004 issue of the Masonic publication, which can be viewed online, is an article and photo of Brightbill wearing Masonic regalia and standing alongside senators present at his initiation.

“Senator Brightbill is the thirteenth current state senator who is a Mason,” according to Thomas Labagh, past master of Abraham C. Treichler Lodge No. 682 in Elizabethtown, PA, where the senator holds membership. Labagh had the honor of conferring the “Master Mason Degree” upon the senator, the third of three ceremonies or degrees that a man joining the Masons must complete in order to become a full member in the fraternity. “I can’t tell you much about the ceremonies as they are held confidential by the members, but I can say that they exemplify moral qualities on how one should live his life,” added Labagh.

The Masonic fraternity is a male only organization with a worldwide membership estimated at approximately four million. The fraternity officially organized itself in 1717, London, England; however, there are records of the organization dating back to the fifteenth century. Websites for the organization state that Masons donate more than $2 million per day towards charities in North America. Among famous American Masons are 14 presidents of the United States beginning with George Washington and ending with Gerald Ford, and countless politicians, including two locally, Pennsylvania State Governor Edward Rendell and U.S. Senator Arlen Specter.

“He (Brightbill) joined [the Masons] because he has seen the many charitable programs sponsored by the fraternity, especially by lodges in his 48th district that covers five counties,” said Frank Hagist, past master and secretary of Abraham C. Treichler Lodge. Brightbill’s senatorial district covers portions of Berks, Chester, Dauphin and Lancaster counties, in addition to all of Lebanon County.

Belonging to an organization that contributes millions of dollars to charity on a daily basis and counts U.S. Presidents, astronauts and T.V celebrities among its membership would be something many people would find noteworthy for a resume, especially a state senator’s resume. “I don’t know why the website doesn’t state that the senator is a Mason,” said Deb Gentzler, executive assistant to the senator in the State Capital office, Harrisburg. “Without first speaking to the senator, I can’t confirm that he even is a member as you claim. We try to keep the websites up-to-date, and the legislative issues being accomplished by the senator are what really matter to the constituents,” she added.

Of the 12 other state senators who are Masons, nine of them include their Masonic affiliation on their online resumes. Among those who publicize their Masonic membership are Senate Majority Whip Jeffrey Piccola, District 15, and Senator Vincent Fumo, District 1. Those not publicizing their Masonic affiliation include President Pro Tempore Robert Jubelirer, District 30, and Senator Barry Stout, District 46.

While reviewing Brightbill’s two resumes, confirming information such as the senator’s education and work experiences proved to be more difficult than getting information from the “secret” Masons.

The senator graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Economics. When contacting the Penn State alumni records office, I was told that they could only confirm his year of graduation having been 1964. To confirm his major, I was transferred to the registrar’s office only to be told that I would have to pay $6 to research the information or if I had a social security number for Brightbill, I could possibly view it online. Feeling fortunate that I was able to confirm that he graduated and having learned the year in which he graduated, I considered accomplishing two of my three inquiries with the Penn State administrative offices enough to move on with my investigation.

Upon graduating Penn State, Brightbill entered law school at Duquesne University. I was unsuccessful in learning the date in which he graduated. It would have had to been close to 1970 in which according to the senator’s resume, he was the editor-in-chief of the “Duquesne Law Review.” But according to Mary Ann Buerkle, senior clerk in the registrar’s office, “because his record is so old” she would have to check the paper files and could not promise to get back to me in time for this article.

Dittakavi Rao, assistant director of the Duquesne’s law library, did confirm that Brightbill served on the editorial board of the “Duquesne Law Review” in 1968, but was unable to confirm that he was the editor-in-chief because the hard bound copies do not include the necessary page that lists the editor-in-chief. The only other source that would have this page is on microfilm. Rao was unable to access the microfilm copies since the machine used to view the film was not working.

I was then referred to Elisa Astorino, director of student organizations, regarding the “Duquesne Law Review” because it is considered a student organization. “I don’t have records for officers of student organizations dating that far back,” stated Astorino. “I can say that the ‘Duquesne Law Review’ is a scholarly journal which restricts publication membership to the top 15 percent of the students, so if indeed the senator was on the editorial board, he would have definitely been at the top of his class academically.” With Elisa’s statement regarding the journal’s membership restrictions being academically rigorous, and without the registrar’s office confirming the date of graduation, she was the closest source I was able to get to confirm the senator’s claim that he also graduated with honors.

Requesting confirmation from the senator’s Harrisburg and Lebanon offices regarding the senator’s educational experience at Duquesne University, I felt was met with suspicion, especially since my questioning about the senator’s involvement with the Masons. Deb Gentzler, executive assistant at the State Capital office, told me that she would get back to me but she never did; nor did she return two follow-up calls.

With all the stumbling blocks I was coming upon, I felt it to be ironic that the senator once worked as a news reporter for the “Lebanon Daily News.” When contacting the newspaper, I was referred to librarian Phyllis Whitman. Phyllis and one additional staffer at the newspaper are currently the two longest working employees at the “Lebanon Daily News,” but she was only able to confirm that Brightbill worked for the newspaper in the 1960’s. She and her co-worker have been with the “Lebanon Daily News” since the early 1970’s and Brightbill was no longer reporting for the newspaper by then.

As I diligently pushed forward to confirm more aspects of Brightbill’s resume, I did find a mistake. The senator’s resume states that he served on the board of directors for the Lebanon School Board from 1966-1967. Records at the Lebanon School Board show that Brightbill served on the board of directors from 1965-1969. “I hate to say this, but the senator’s resume is wrong,” said Linda Brandt, board secretary. “He was elected to the board November 2, 1965 for a four year term that ended in 1969,” she added. The senator omitted two years of service with the Lebanon School Board from his resume.

The excitement of finding a mistake on the senator’s resume was almost as exciting as trying to learn why Brightbill does not include his Masonic membership on his resume. I did inform David Warner, field representative at the senator’s Lebanon office, of what the Lebanon School Board told me and he expressed his appreciation and said that they would look into it. After a week of having this information, the senator’s website still remains unchanged.

The last piece of information, unrelated to the numerous positions held by the senator in the Pennsylvania State Senate and confirmable through the Pennsylvania State Senate website, was his service to Lebanon County as District Attorney from 1977-1981. Kerry Holtz, administrative assistant to the District Attorney, confirmed the dates of Brightbill’s service as being correct.

So is Brightbill keeping secrets? I am sure he, like most people, has things that he would like to keep personal or confidential. But, with all the mystery and secrets that surround the Masonic fraternity, it was the Masons who seemed most willing and proud to speak about their fellow fraternity brother. Maybe it is just poor website maintenance that is keeping the senator’s resume from being correct and complete, but we now know for certain that members of the senator’s staff have been informed of omissions to Brightbill’s resume. What they do with this information may very well be kept secret.