Fraternal Order Orioles is a social and charitable organization that was founded in August 1910. The organization currently consists of about 54 local Nests and affiliated Auxiliaries located in 9 states in the eastern United States.
The Order was founded in Rochester, New York. The Order was originally named the Order of Owls, but another fraternal order of the name had a court issue an injunction against using that name. [1]
At its 1923 convention in Reading, Pennsylvania the delegates voted 241 to 8 for a modification of the Prohibition Amendment that would allow the manufacture of light wine and beers. They also decided to only vote for congressmen who were in favor of such a prohibition. [2]
As stated above, local unites are called "Subordinate Nests"; state or provincial groups are called "Grand Nests" and the national structure is the "Supreme Nest", which meets in convention annually. The head of the order is a "Supreme Worthy President" and the head of a local Nest is "Worthy President". [3] In the early 1920s the Order had a $150,000 headquarters in Buffalo, New York. [4] By the 1970s the headquarters had moved to Reading, Pennsylvania. [5] The headquarters is currently listed as a Post Office Box in DeBary, Florida.
Membership comes in three categories: good standing, which makes the member eligible for benefits in case of an accident; social membership, which is membership without benefits; and honorary membership, which is for people who do not live near a local Nest. Women are eligible to join local auxiliary units connected to the local Nests. [6]
The Order had 143,000 members in 208 Nests in the early 1920s, [7] 12,649 in 1979 in 57 Nests and 10,000 members "about a decade later". [8] As of 2023, 36 Nests continue to operate. [9]
The Order benefits are allocated on an ad hoc basis for sickness, accident or injuries. This is not an insurance function, but more a form of charity that the Order is not obliged to pay. [10]
The Order has a ritual that was meant to be secret. It resembles many of the other fraternal societies of the day, with an altar in the center of the lodge room, a Bible, and prayers. In addition to the Initiatory Degree, there is also a Supreme Degree, both awarded by the Supreme Nest. The FOOs watchwords are liberty, integrity, on the Orders emblem. [11] The order also has passwords, though it does not consider itself a secret society. [12]
The Knights of the Golden Eagle was a fraternal organization founded in Baltimore in 1872.
The Independent Order of Vikings is a Swedish-American fraternal organization promoting Swedish and culture and language. It was founded in Chicago the 1890s and has members throughout the United States.
Fraternal Order of Eagles (F.O.E.) is a fraternal organization that was founded on February 6, 1898, in Seattle, Washington, by a group of six theater owners including John Cort, brothers John W. and Tim J. Considine, Harry (H.L.) Leavitt, Mose Goldsmith and Arthur Williams. Originally made up of those engaged in one way or another in the performing arts, the Eagles grew and claimed credit for establishing the Mother's Day holiday in the United States as well as the "impetus for Social Security" in the United States. Their lodges are known as "aeries".
The Ancient Order of United Workmen (AOUW) was a fraternal organization in the United States and Canada, providing mutual social and financial support after the American Civil War. It was the first of the "fraternal benefit societies", organizations that would offer insurance as well as sickness, accident, death and burial policies.
Danish Brotherhood in America is a fraternal organization that was founded in 1882 in Omaha, Nebraska. It had about 8,000 members in 2010. A period report said of the Danish Brotherhood, "This is by far the strongest and most influential secular organization about the Danes in America."
The Junior Order of United American Mechanics is an American fraternal order. It began as a youth affiliation of the Order of United American Mechanics, but seceded to become its own organization and eventually absorbed its parent order. Originally, it was an anti-Catholic, nativist group.
The Order of Owls is a secret fraternal order founded in 1904 in South Bend, Indiana, USA, by John W. Talbot. According to its literature, the purposes of the society is "to assist each other in business, to help each other in obtaining employment, to assist the widows and orphans of our brothers, to give aid to our brother in any way that they may need, and assemble for mutual pleasure and entertainment." Its "catechism" said "Owls do good, speak kindly, shake hands warmly, and respect and honor their women."
The Daughters of America is an American secret society, Nativist organization dating from the late-19th century. It was founded in 1891 as an auxiliary of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. Since its heyday in the 1930s, the organization is believed to have shrunk significantly, to the point that it is no longer known whether or not it still exists. As of July 2022, the organization is still active, though membership is dwindling and new membership almost nonexistent.
There have been a number of interlocking fraternal orders known as the beavers. The Fraternal Order of Beavers was created in 1911. The relationships between these and the Beavers Reserve Fund Fraternity, Beavers National Mutual Benefit and the National Mutual Benefit is complex. The North American Order of the Beaver was founded in 1990.
The Degree of Honor Protective Association is a fraternal benefit society. It was originally organized as a female auxiliary to the Ancient Order of United Workmen, but split off in 1910 to become its own independent group. It merged with Catholic Financial Life in 2017.
The Order of Chosen Friends was a fraternal benefit order that existed in North America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The group suffered a number of splits during its lifetime, leading scholar Alan Axelrod to call it "almost a parody" of fraternal benefit societies of the time.
The Knights and Ladies of Honor was a highly successful and popular American fraternal benefit organization in the late 19th and early twentieth century. It is perhaps the first major fraternal benefit organization to adopt the idea of diversity allowing non-white persons and racial groups to be recognized and establish lodges.
The Dramatic Order of the Knights of Khorassan or Dokeys are a side degree of the Knights of Pythias, somewhat analogous to the Shriners in Freemasonry. The Order was founded in 1894.
The Pythian Sisters is a fraternal order with members throughout the United States and Canada. Although affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, they are not an auxiliary group as they have their own charter. The Pythian Sisters provided sick and death benefits to members.
The Modern Order of Praetorians, sometimes known as The Praetorians, was a fraternal organization founded in Dallas in 1898 or 1899 by Charles B. Gardner, who had formerly worked with the Home Forum and Woodmen of the World. Despite early setbacks the Order thrived and in the early built the Praetorian Building, the first skyscraper in Texas.
The William Penn Association is a fraternal benefit society in the United States. It was created through the merger of a number of Hungarian American fraternal organizations such as the Verhovay Aid Association. Today the organization is open to people of any ethnicity and is licensed to sell insurance in 20 states.