Origins
Fraternal orders emerged from earlier guild and lodge traditions, crystallizing into distinctive organizational forms in early 18th-century Britain. The Grand Lodge of England (1717) united Masonic lodges under common governance, establishing Freemasonry as the prototype for countless subsequent orders. Masonry combined social fellowship, ritualized initiation, degrees of membership, moral symbolism, and mutual aid among brothers. This organizational template—lodge-based, ritualistic, hierarchical, offering both fellowship and practical benefits—proved remarkably generative.
Fraternal orders proliferated throughout the 18th and especially 19th centuries. The Odd Fellows (1819 in its modern form), Knights of Pythias (1864), and Improved Order of Red Men (1834) joined Masonry as major orders. African American orders emerged where white lodges excluded Black members: Prince Hall Masonry (1784), Black Odd Fellows, and others. Ethnic orders served immigrant communities. Women’s auxiliaries and independent women’s orders developed. By 1900, fraternal orders enrolled perhaps 40% of American adult men and substantial proportions in other countries.
The form served multiple purposes. Ritual and symbolism provided meaning and mystery; initiations marked transitions; degrees created hierarchies of advancement. Mutual aid addressed practical needs: sickness benefits, death benefits, burial assistance. Social functions provided fellowship, entertainment, and community. Networking connected members for business and employment. The lodge combined elements of insurance company, religious order, and social club in distinctive configuration.
Historical Significance
Fraternal orders constituted major social institutions before modern welfare states and entertainment industries developed. They provided social insurance when government did not; they provided entertainment before mass media; they provided community for people displaced from traditional ties by urbanization and mobility. Understanding 19th and early 20th-century social life requires understanding fraternalism’s pervasive presence.
The orders shaped civil society and political culture. They provided training in democratic procedures, public speaking, and organizational management. They created networks that could mobilize for political purposes. They inculcated values of brotherhood, charity, and mutual obligation. Critics charged that secret rituals and oath-bound loyalty conflicted with democratic transparency and that exclusive membership reinforced social hierarchies. The tension between orders’ democratic and exclusive tendencies ran throughout their history.
Fraternal orders declined dramatically in the 20th century. Government welfare programs assumed functions orders had performed. Entertainment alternatives multiplied. Ritual and secrecy lost appeal. Changing gender roles undermined male-exclusive organizations. Membership aged and shrank. Yet orders persist in diminished form: Masonry, Elks, Moose, and others continue with reduced membership. And fraternal legacies remain: the insurance companies, hospitals, and orphanages orders established often survive as independent institutions. The form’s historical significance exceeds its current presence.
Key Developments
- 1717: Grand Lodge of England; Freemasonry organized
- 1730: First American Masonic lodge
- 1776: Illuminati founded in Bavaria
- 1784: Prince Hall Freemasonry; African American Masonry
- 1819: Odd Fellows reorganized in England
- 1834: Improved Order of Red Men founded
- 1864: Knights of Pythias founded
- 1867: Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
- 1868: Ancient Arabic Order Nobles Mystic Shrine (Shriners)
- 1882: Knights of Columbus founded; Catholic order
- 1888: Fraternal Orders begin providing insurance regulation
- 1900: Peak of American fraternal membership
- 1906: Loyal Order of Moose revived
- 1920s: Ku Klux Klan (revived) as malignant fraternal form
- 1950s: Decline accelerates
- 1995: “Bowling Alone” thesis; fraternalism’s decline analyzed
- 2000s: Masonic revival efforts; membership continues declining