In June 1923, Washington was transformed into the Middle East
The photograph in question shows the stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue NW between the White House and Lafayette Square, though both are obscured by buildings and trees. What you can see are some curious towers, thin and circular and — on closer inspection — vaguely Middle Eastern. They were temporary decorations built to celebrate the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. You may know them as the Shriners.
The Shriners would become known for their philanthropy — funding children’s hospitals — but they would also be known for their zanier side: donning fezzes and zipping around in tiny cars.In 1923, you couldn’t be a Shriner until you’d already completed those other, more sober levels of Masonry, so Shriners were some of the most accomplished men — only men, and only White men — in the country.
In came palm trees. There were Sphinxes, too, made in Pennsylvania. The District Commissioners had to authorize the largest components: 10 pillars, including four modeled after columns in the Temple of Karnak in Luxor. These were 50 feet high, six feet in diameter, painted with hieroglyphs and topped with gigantic papyrus blossoms.
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