Mention how the nation's capital is laid out, and someone is sure to mention the Freemasons—the secret, international order often rumored to be behind the city's planning. And not just that: Popular lore has linked Freemasonry, which has its roots in the stonemasons' guilds of the Middle Ages, to the Boston Tea Party and even the pyramid on the dollar bill. But how influential are the Masons, really? With Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown's new book, The Lost Symbol, focusing on the group, that's a question even more will be asking. And it's one that Jay Kinney's The Masonic Myth seeks to answer. Kinney, librarian and director of research for the San Francisco Masonic Scottish Rite, recently chatted with U.S. News about the Masons' role in U.S. history. Weigh in on the discussion below, and don't forget to check out the interview in the latest issue of U.S. News Weekly.
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