A Fraternal History of Marin County California

Ethnic Fraternal Organizations

Lodges were extremely popular among immigrant groups from Eastern and Southern Europe. (From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State: Fraternal Societies and Social Services, 1890-1967, David T. Beito, p. 2 (The University of North Carolina Press, 2000).) Citing to the work of Lizabeth Cohen, Beito reiterates the point that during the 1920's, ethnic social welfare organizations provided more assistance than any other organization, public or private. Id. Unique factors contributed to the decline of ethnic fraternal organizations, including assimilation, "the drying up of 'new blood' from Europe," "accusations of mismanagement and corruption," and the enactment of laws hindering their operation (e.g., federal quotas limiting immigration from Europe) and subsidizing competitors (i.e., Blue Cross and Blue Shield, etc.). Id. at 204-206. With respect to studying these organizations, as Beito acknowledged, constraints such as language skills pose a major impediment to researching immigrant-based ethnic fraternal organizations. Id. at 3.

B'nai B'rith - B'nai B'rith

Bohemian, German and Austrian Fraternal Organizations: Schlaraffia, Order of Sohns of Hermann (OdHS), Schuetzen Verein, Austrian American Benevolent Association, German Mutual Benefit Association

It is unknown at this time whether two German Fraternal Organizations, Schlaraffia or the Order of Sohns of Hermann had Castles or Lodges respectively in Marin County. Schlaraffia had a Castle in San Francisco that met at the Rathskeller at Turk and Polk Streets. A number of photographs have been located relating to the San Francisco Castle of Schlaraffia. The Sons of Hermann had a Lodges in San Francisco and Petaluma as well as many East Bay cities.

It is likely that German Americans living in Marin were active in the San Francisco German Mutual Benefit Association and/or the San Francisco Schuetzen Verein, a German social and paramilitary group formed in California in the aftermath of the Gold Rush. Likewise, it is likely that Serbo-Croatians living in Marin were active in the Austrian American Benevolent Association.

Bohemian, German and Austrian Fraternal Organizations - Background, history and ritual

Schlaraffia was founded in 1859 at Prague (a city whose beginnings are sometimes linked to the order of Asiatic Brethren known as the Sat Bhai or Royal Order of Sikha). The founders of Schlaraffia were primarily theatre people and literati. Membership soon grew to encompass singers, businessmen, and professionals. The founders were not members of the aristocracy and, hence, were looked down upon. Schlaraffia responded by developing as an intentional spoof of the old aristocratic structure complete with pages, knights, majesties, thrones, castles. Its rituals and ceremonies mimicked those of the Danube monarchy and aristocracy.

The furnishings of the Lodge included a globe circled by the motto, "In Arte Voluptus," surmounted by a stuffed Eagle Owl (or Great Horned Owl or Bubo bubo) underneath a canopy, and an "armory" that included wooden swords, halberds, and shields. The knights are dedicated to the ideals of "art, friendship, and humor."

Joke and spirit controlled the "Sippungen", which followed after a ritualistic ceremonial. The helmet is from material, the swords from wood. The Schlarraffian "knights" fenced duels out, whose winner was the knight with the best lecture on a topic. Meetings are conducted in the German language, though membership is not restricted to those of German descent.

Members give artistic, literary, and/or humorous presentations (often original), according to their talents and capabilities, to entertain the group. While the subject matter of the presentations very often is Germany related, there are a few limits on the topic chosen and the members let their imaginations run free. To help insure harmonious meetings, however, no member is allowed to discuss religion, politics, or engage in derogatory personal attacks on fellow members.

See the photo gallery of Schlarraffian Knights from San Francisco.

A group that is unrelated to Schlarraffia is the Sons of Hermann. The Order of Sohns of Hermann (or National Order of the Sons of Hermann) is a German American institution that was founded in 1840 at New York City. The Sons of Hermann had its origin as a mutual protection society for German immigrants to New York City. The organization took its name from Hermann "the Cherusker," who in his time succeeded in uniting the German tribes against Roman invaders. Hermann, the Germanized version of his Roman name Arminius, led German tribes to their first successful rebellion over Roman overlords in 9 A.D., killing some 20,000 Roman Legionnaires somewhere near Detmold, Germany. Historians recognize Hermann as one of the most ingenious personalities who precipitated the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of a Germanic Europe.

The organization that bears his name promotes love of the German language and preservation of German customs and traditions as well as providing its members with insurance. The Sons of Hermann have rituals and ceremonies, but have never utilized a degree system. It is essentially an insurance provider. Initially the organization was united under a National Grand Lodge. The seeds of division were sown when the first Sons of Hermann Lodge was chartered in Texas in 1861; the Grand Lodge of Texas was chartered in 1890. However, by 1921 the Grand Lodge of Texas seceded from the National Order because it was larger and wealthier than the other Grand Lodges combined. 1896, the first Sons of Hermann sister lodge was established at Sherman. In 1920, the first mixed lodge, having both men and women members was established in Texas. The Texas Grand Lodge now has "family" as well as single-sex lodges. With respect to California, purportedly the California branch of Sons of Hermann has seen state membership decline in the last few decades from 4,000 to 860 members in 2000. Was your town the home of an Order of Sohns of Hermann Lodge? See Appendix.

The San Francisco Schuetzen Verein might in some ways be compared to the Uniform Rank attached to many of the fraternal groups of the time. However, the comparison is somewhat limited to the appeal of a paramilitary organization and the wearing of uniforms since it does not appear that the San Francisco Schuetzen Verein had a ritual, nor was it an adjunct to any other fraternal group. The San Francisco Schuetzen Verein was organized in1859 by German-speaking citizens of San Francisco. Membership in the San Francisco Schuetzen Verein was a matter of which leading business and professional men took pride. The Schuetzen Verein's regularly met at Platt’s Hall at Bush and Montgomery streets. Early in 1861, the Schuetzen Verein organized regular target shooting in the sandy doons of Hayes Park, located in Hayes Valley in the vicinity of Hayes and Grove streets, and by September 1861 held the first "eagle-king shoot on the Hayes Valley range. When Hayes Valley became occupied, their shooting range was relocated to Alameda County where they acquired their own park and range. In emergencies requiring crowd control, the City of San Francisco utilized the well trained and disciplined militia of the Schuetzen Verein until federal troops could arrive.

The German Mutual Benefit Society of San Francisco, formed c.1853, was one of the first such organizations in the country to build a fraternal hospital. From Mutual Aid …, Beito at 170.

The Austrian American Benevolent Association (AABA) was founded c.1870's by Serbo-Croatian émigrés who came primarily from the Dalmatian coast region of what was then the Austro-Hungary Empire. The San Francisco chapter of the Austrian American Benevolent Association owned a two story Lodge Hall at 425 Hayes at Gough. Members wore military style uniforms reminiscent of those of the Serbo-Croatian cavalry hussars. As well as providing mutual benefits to members, it was a convivial organization that sought to perpetuate and preserve the Serbo-Croatian culture.

[It is remarkable that during late 19th and early 20th Centuries, in contrast to the formation and/or the extension of the foregoing beneficial mutual aid and convivial societies in the United States, occult magical fraternities of a malignant nature were formed within Germany. These included, Austrian Guido von List's List-Gesellschaft ("Guido von List Society"), formed c.1905; excommunicate Cistercian monk Lanz Von Liebenfels's occultic order called the Ordo Novi Templi or The Order of the New Temple (ONT), an offshoot of the Ordo Templi Orientis formed in c. 1907; Guido von List's Hoeher Armanenschaft or Higher Armanen Order formed in c. 1911; several German occultists' (including Theodor Fritsch, Philipp Stauff (pupil of Guido Von List), and Hermann Pohl ) formed the Order of Teutons in 1912; Pohl split to form the Walvater Teutonic Order of the Holy Grail in 1915; Self-styled "Baron" Rudolf von Sebottendorf and Walter Nauhaus's formed the Thule Geselschaft (or Thule Society) in c. Nov. 1918; Karl Haushofer (student of Gregor Ivanovich Gurdyev, a.k.a. George Gurdjieff) founded the Luminous Lodge or the Vril Society; Pansophia was formed in 1922; Franz Sättler "Musallam" founded the Adonistic Society (a.k.a. "Order of Mental Builders") in 1925; and the Fraternitas Saturni was formed in c. 1926. These so-called German/Austrian magical lodges incorporation of misogynistic and racist ideas prefigured and/or were the schools that bred the future leaders of the National Socialist German Worker's Party (Nazis).]

Greek - Hellenic Fraternal Organizations - Order of Ahepa

A large Greek community exists in Marin County. Some Marin residents of Greek heritage belong to and/or are officers of the nearby Order of Ahepa Chapter 150 in San Francisco.

Order of Ahepa - History, Background, and Ritual

The American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association or the Order of Ahepa was founded July 26, 1922, in Atlanta, GA. It was founded at the height of Ku Klux Klan activities directed against people of Greek heritage in the very city that was the home to the national Imperial Headquarters of the revived Ku Klux Klan. Klansmen resented the industry and success of their neighbors of Hellenic ancestry. [Ironically the six organizers of the original Klan in 1865 created the words Ku Klux from kuklos, a variation of the Greek kyklos meaning cycle or circle. The Klan's twisted "Americanism" produced a Klan affiliate called the Royal Riders of the Red Robe which Klansmen hailed "as a real patriotic organization" for approved naturalized citizens unluckily born outside the United States: Immigrants from Greece, Italy and the Balkans were not eligible to join.]

The primary goal of the founders of the Order of Ahepa was to establish better relations with non-Greeks. To this end they created a patriotic fraternal order espousing undivided loyalty to the United States, American citizenship, proficiency in English, active participation in the civic mainstream, economic stability, social unity and the pursuit of education. The Order of Ahepa has consistently met its goals by supporting scholarships, educational chairs, medical research, community programs, charitable projects with over two million dollars a year. It proved its patriotism during World War II by selling over five hundred million dollars in U.S. War Bonds. Ahepa raised $400,000 for the restoration of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty and $775,000 for a sculpture commemorating the Centennial Olympic Games at Atlanta.

Consistent with its goal of promoting proficiency, the bulk of the Order of Ahepa's ceremonies are in English: For those whose understanding of English is limited, the oaths can be delivered in Greek. Virtues exulted by the Order of Ahepa are justice, tolerance, charity, and good fellowship. A key tenant of the Order is to "Speak evil of no one." The emblem of the Order represents faith, justice, hope, power and peace, represented by the cross, double edged Hellenic swords, rays of hope, hovering Eagle, olive branches. In addition to the traditional symbolism of the cross, it also stands as a reminder of the Emperor Constantine who adopted it as the symbol of his Empire after seeing it in a vision with the inscription "En Touto Nika" or in Latin "In Hoc Signo Vinces." The swords are those of justice and a reminder to uphold and defend free democratic institutions which have been characteristic of the Hellenic culture. The eagle stands for power and the olive branch for peach. The remaining parts of the emblem - the crown, octagon star, large stars enclosed by squares and linked by a chain - stand for the Supreme Lodge, eight founding members, district lodges and chapters - an indissoluble chain of brotherhood.

The officers of the Chapter are President, Vice President, Warden, Chaplain, Treasurer, Secretary, Captain of the Guard, and Sentinels.

The Order of Ahepa is a family organization. Women can belong to a Senior Women’s Auxiliary called the Daughters of Penelope. The Daughters of Penelope was founded on November 16, 1929, in San Francisco, California. Young men who are not of majority age can belong to the Order of Sons of Pericles, which is the junior auxiliary organization of the Order of Ahepa. The first Chapter of the Order of Sons of Pericles was instituted on February 3, 1926. The Order of Sons of Pericles gained official recognition as an auxiliary organization in 1928. Its counterpart is the Order of the Maids of Athena, which is dedicated to the principles and virtues symbolized in ancient Greek mythology by the goddess Athena. The Order of the Maids of Athena was founded on July 5, 1930 in Tacoma, WA (however, the first constitution and ritual were not written until 1935), but it did not officially became the Junior Auxiliary of the Daughters of Penelope until 1950.

Ahepa officials have visited all U.S. Presidents in the White House since meeting first with President Calvin Coolidge in 1924. Three presidents - Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman and Gerald Ford - have became Ahepa members.

Irish Fraternal Organizations: Knights of the Red Feather (Red Branch)

Nearby San Francisco was a major center for Irish fraternal organizations. The Knights of the Red Feather or Branch had its hall on Mission Street. A Lodge of the Knights of the Red Feather may also have met at southeast corner of Mason and O'Farrell streets. The KRB sponsored weekly picnics to Boyes Hot Springs in Sonoma County.

Knights of the Red Feather (Branch) - History, Background, and Ritual

By 1870 the population of San Francisco had grown to 100,000, one third of whom were Irish. One in every three Irish men at this time owned real estate. In 1859 the Irish were the only National group to have a banking institution of its own. The Hibernian savings and Loan Bank, set up by James Phelan, enabled the ambitious Irish to engage in business and industry. The San Francisco Directory of 1875 is a proof of their success; Irish businesses dominated it.

Organizations such as the Knights of the Red Branch, St. Patrick's Brotherhood and the Knights of Tara which in Eastern cities had been tied to the Clan-na-Gael, flourished in San Francisco near the turn of the century. The papers say very little about these groups other then that they held many standard events - balls, picnics and St. Patrick's Day festivities. An event sometimes celebrated by the Knights of the Red Feather was the birthday of the Irish hero John Emmett. Other Irish fraternal organizations include: Ancient Order of Hibernians, Irish American Society, Knights of St. Patrick, St. Patrick's Cadets, St. Patrick Mutual Alliance, Apostles of Liberty, Benevolent Sons of the Emerald Isle, Knights of St. Peter, Knights of the Columskill, and St. Patrick's Brotherhood. A San Francisco newspaper from 1902 referred to some young Irish Americans as "Clan-na-Gaelers."

Italian Fraternal Organizations: Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA)

Lodge "Marvelous Marin" No. 1969, San Rafael, was instituted on September 21, 1947. Founding members were Lena Creighton and Dora Amoroso. Lodge Marvelous Marin No. 1969 now meets at St. Rita's Parish Hall in Fairfax.

Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA) - History, Background, and Ritual

Order Sons of Italy in America, (OSIA) was established in New York City in 1905. It now has more than seven hundred fifty local Lodges coast to coast.

The Order Sons of Italy in America came to California at Fresno on September 22, 1922. There was already existing in Fresno the Columbus Nest Order of Owls, whose membership was almost entirely Italian. One member, Alfonso Cubicciotti, set about organizing the Order Sons of Italy in America. On September 22, 1922, he succeeded with the institution of Loggia Cristoforo Colombo No. 1149 (now called Colombo Stella). On April 21, 1923 it was followed by the institution of Lodge Vita Nuova No. 1198 in San Francisco.

The Grand Lodge of California was established in 1925 in the city of San Francisco. There were already twelve lodges as of the date of the Grand Lodge's institution. In its seventy-five plus years of existence, seventy-five filial lodges have been established, thirteen of which have been instituted since 1980, the last of which was instituted in 2000.

The Sons of Italy encourages ethnic pride in its members, pointing to the contributions of Italians to the world and to Italian culture. Devoted to the principles of "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, " the Grand Lodge of the Sons of Italy encourages its members to become American citizens.

Was your town the home of an Order of Son's of Italy in America Lodge? See, Appendix.

Mexican American Fraternal Organizations: League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) (nee Order of the Sons of America of Corpus Christi, League of Latin American Citizens, and the Fraternal Order of the Knights of America); and La Liga Protectora Latina

The Mexican American community contributes greatly to Marin County. It would be unlikely that Mexican American fraternal organizations have not spread to Marin.

Mexican American Fraternal Organizations - Background, History, and Ritual

Fraternal mutual aid societies "represented 'the only continuous organized life among the Mexicans in which the initiative wholly comes from the Mexicans themselves.'" (From Mutual Aid…, Beito, p. 20.)

A fraternal mutual aid society (or "mutualista") called La Liga Protectora Latina was formed in Phoenix, AZ in 1915, and its lodges later incorporated throughout the state. La Liga Protectora Latina would later become active in the civil rights movement.

In neighboring Texas three Mexican American fraternal mutual aid societies (or "mutualistas") existed. The Order of the Sons of America of Corpus Christi, League of Latin American Citizens, and the Fraternal Order of the Knights of America were all based in San Antonio, TX. In February 1927 the three began considering consolidation, which was effected on February 17, 1929. The new organization formed by this merger was called League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). In the 1930's LULAC spread to New Mexico and by 1946, LULAC organized in California. The first documented council in California was Santa Ana Council No. 147: Purportedly other Councils had existed in Los Angeles in the late 1930's but no documentation of their existence is extant.

The resources of such mutualistas were seldom able to provide long-term assistance for any members. The mutualistas did provide a financial resource that would help a family with immediate needs before, during or after a birth, a wedding or a death. In most cases the mutualistas were concerned with the total family, but memberships were usually restricted to the breadwinner or to males over a specified age. For the most part, these societies did not encourage assimilation. This was the case in the border towns as well as in some northern cities such as Chicago, Illinois and East Chicago, Indiana, where the mutualistas sought to maintain close cultural ties with Mexico.

LULAC has been particularly effective in combating school segregation. The Santa Ana Council No. 147 in California supported one of its members, Mr. Gonzalo Mendez, in his successful, precedent setting legal challenge to school segregation (Mendez v. Westminster School District of Orange County (1946) 64 F.Supp 544, 161 F2d 744).

[On the East Coast, two Latin fraternal benefit societies or mutualistas - El Centro Asturiano and El Centro Español - established very successful hospitals in Tampa, FL. See, From Mutual Aid…, Beito, pp. 170-171.]

Scandinavian Fraternal Organizations: Sons of Norway

There is a Sons of Norway Lodge in Northern San Rafael. Olav Lodge No. 82, Sons of Norway meets at: Lucas Valley Homeowners Association.

Sons of Norway - Background, History, Ritual and Emblems

The Sons of Norway was started by eighteen founding members at Minneapolis, Minnesota in the wake of the severe economic depression of 1893. The founders had been impressed by a group assistance plan in place in Trondheim where members paid a small amount each week and in return received free medical care (referred to as "Lodge Practice" a type of contractual medical care that would be fiercely opposed by the American Medical Association) for themselves and their families. Initially the new organization was to be called "Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson," but the name was rejected on the grounds that pronouncing the name would be too difficult for non-Norwegian Americans. Hence the name "Sønner av Norge" or Sons of Norway was adopted and the formal inception completed on 16 January 1895. Membership was restricted to males between the ages of 20 and 50 years, who were in good health, capable of supporting their family, and either Norwegian or of Norwegian descent. By the end of the 19th Century, there were twelve lodges of the Sons of Norway throughout Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and the Dakotas.

At about the same time, a similar organization was forming on the West Coast. On April 26, 1903, officers were elected and the name given to the new West Coast group was Grand Lodge, Leif Erikson Lodge 2-00l, Seattle. Though they were patterned after the Sons of Norway lodge from the Midwest, their request to become affiliated with the Sons of Norway brotherhood was turned down just as "Den norske forening" of Everett, Washington, had been refused for membership just a few months prior to that. The West Coast group retained the name Sons of Norway in spite of the rejection by the Minneapolis lodge. The main bone of contention was that the Pacific Coast group had discontinued the compulsory insurance clause, an idea that the Midwest group rejected.

In June 1909 a compromise was presented to the convention held in Wisconsin and the merger between the West and the Midwest finally realized making the Order a nation-wide fraternal organization. Eventually the Order of Sons of Norway extended further into Canada. It now has some 400 local chapters servicing nearly 66,000 members.

On the West Coast, twenty-nine Daughters of Norway Lodges were established. The first was stated in 1905 at Seattle, followed by a second lodge in Tacoma on April 24, 1907. Eleven of the lodges were still extant by the end of the century. East Coast Lodges of the Daughters of Norway merged with the Sons of Norway, but on the West Coast, the Daughters of Norway remain a separate organization.

The Order, Sons of Norway, aims to preserve and maintain interest in all that is good and noble in the Norwegian national character. The Sons of Norway traces the Norwegian contribution to the Untied States from the European discovery of the American Continent by Leif Erikson through the immigration of numerous Norwegian's who contributed to the development of the United States.

The emblem of the Order of the Sons of Norway has on it the North Star that is to remind members that as that Star is a fixed point of navigation, so should members always fix on the goal of assisting their fellow members.

The motto of the fraternity is, "Freedom, Fraternity, and Progress." Members a pledged to stand "United and True until Dovre Falls," in remembrance of the ratification of the country's short lived constitutional monarchy under the Danish Crown Prince Christian Frederik who was elected King and ratified a constitution modeled on the French and American Constitutions that had been drafted at Eidsvoll on May 17, 1814 following Denmark s having had to cede Norway to Sweden in accord with the Kiel settlement on December 1813 which was the price for Bernadotte's (then the Crown Prince of Sweden) participation in the Napoleonic wars (particularly the Leipzig battle); however, Sweden forced a union which lasted until dissolved in 1905. The delegates to the National Assembly, which met in the main building at Eidsvold Iron Works, who had forged the constitution dedicated it with the words, "Enig og tro til Dovre faller" (United and loyal until the mountains of Dovre fall.)

The officers of a Lodge are the Counselor, Inner and Outer Guards, Marshal and Assistant Marshal, Secretary and Assistant Secretary, Financial Secretary and Treasurer, Trustee, Social Director, Physician, Vice President, and President. Ritual and Order of Business for Local Lodges of the Sons of Norway (Minneapolis, MN 1949)