When Silverton-area resident Karen Kidd first learned about Freemasonry, the fraternity’s so-called “no women allowed” rule intrigued her. However, when she did a Google search on the subject, she found there had been women Masons in the past, there are women Masons now and if she chose, she could become one.

As Kidd continued to investigate Masonry, she began to fall in love with it. She became a Freemason in a Seattle-area Lodge in 2006. In a March 2008 ceremony in Manchester, England, she was honored by many of her Malecraft Brethren when her essay “I am Regular” won the World Award in Internet Lodge No. 9659’s Short Papers competition. This past April, Cornerstone Book Publishers (New Orleans, La.) published her book detailing the lives of women who managed to be made Freemasons early in the organization’s history and some who tried but failed.

Haunted Chambers; The Lives of Early Women Freemasons, is not only the most complete list of early women Freemasons to date but includes as much detail about their lives as can still be found.