The Gilded Age of Fraternalism
Brotherhood and Modernism in 1920s America
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jrff.v5i2.27646Keywords:
Fraternalism, 1920s America, Freemasonry, Ku Klux Klan, Luncheon ClubsAbstract
The growth of the American obsession with fraternalism has been the subject of several historical treatises all seeking to understand what drew men and women into the lodge. The 1920s however, are a period that is often overlooked and neglected. Fraternalism continued to be a powerful national influence during this decade, and across the country orders received a surge of new recruits in the years following the First World War. Although their lodges had plenty of applicants, many fraternal leaders were concerned about the state of their institution in this post-war era. This article aims to analyse the evolution in the fraternal market that took place in the 1920s by examining the rapidly modernizing society of the Jazz Age and discussing the changing priorities of America’s men and women.
References
Publications and Lodges
Chicago Daily Tribune. ‘300,000 Shriners Expected; Gala Week in Capital’. Chicago Daily Tribune, June 3, 1923.
Chicago Daily Tribune. ‘Golden Rule in Fraternalism, Coolidge Says’. Chicago Daily Tribune, August 30, 1924.
The Fellowship Forum. ‘Letter: Warns Masons to Unite Force’. The Fellowship Forum, June 30, 1923.
Grand Lodge of Kentucky. Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky. Louisville, KY: Masonic Home Printing Office, 1922.
Grand Lodge of Illinois. Procedings of the Grand Lodge Independent Order of Odd Fellows of the State of Illinois 1920. Springfield, IL: Grand Lodge of Illinois, 1920.
Grand Lodge of Illinois. Procedings of the Grand Lodge Independent Order of Odd Fellows of the State of Illinois 1922. Springfield, IL: Grand Lodge of Illinois, 1922.
Grand Lodge of New York. Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of New York. New York: Lent & Graff Co. Press, 1922.
Grand Lodge of Oregon. Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Oregon. NP: NP, 1921.
Grand Lodge of Texas. Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Texas. Waco, TX: Gayle Printing Company, 1921.
Los Angeles Times. ‘Harding Lauds Justice, Loyalty of Shriners’. Los Angeles Times, June 6, 1923.
The Washington Post. ‘Throng Cheers Gorgeous Effects and Great Drill Exhibitions of Marchers’. The Washington Post, June 7, 1923.
Primary Sources
Allen, Devere. ‘Substitutes for Brotherhood’. In KKK: The Kreed of Klansmen, ed. E. Haldeman-Julius. Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius Company, 1924.
Axelrod, Alan. The International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders. New York: Facts on File, 1997.
Beito, David T. From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State: Fraternal Societies and Social Services, 1890-1967. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2000.
Carnes, Mark C. Secret Ritual and Manhood in Victorian America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1989.
Charles, Jeffrey A. Service Clubs in American Society. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1993.
Clawson, Mary Anne. Constructing Brotherhood: Class, Gender, and Fraternalism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1989. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9781400860500
Dumenil, Lynn. The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society in the 1920s. New York: Hill and Wang, 1995.
Fox, Craig. Everyday Klansfolk: White Protestant Life and the KKK in 1920s Michigan. East Lansing, MI: Michigan University Press, 2011.
Frost, Stanley. The Challenge of the Klan. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1924.
Fry, Henry P. The Modern Ku Klux Klan. Boston, MA: Small, Maynard & Company, 1922.
Gist, Noel P. ‘Structure and Process in Secret Societies’. Social Forces 16(3) (1938): 349–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2570806
Harwood, William S. ‘Secret Societies in America’. The North American Review 164, No. 486 (1897): 617–24.
Hernandez, Miguel. ‘Fighting Fraternities: The Ku Klux Klan and Freemasonry in 1920s America’. PhD diss., University of Exeter, UK, 2015.
Hines, Thomas S. ‘Echoes from “Zenith”: Reactions of American Businessmen to Babbitt’. The Business History Review 41(2) (1967): 123–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3112563
Kaufman, Jason. For the Common Good? : American Civic Life and the Golden Age of Fraternity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Knobel, Dale T. ‘To be an American: Ethnicity, Fraternity, and the Improved Order of Red Men’. Journal of American Ethnic History 4(1) (1984): 62–87.
Lewis, Sinclair. Babbitt. New York: Grosset and Dunlap Publishers, 1922.
Lynd, Robert and Helen Lynd. Middletown: A Study in Contemporary American Culture. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1929.
McBride, Harriet W. ‘The Golden Age of Fraternalism: 1870-1910’. Heredom 13 (2005): 1-31.
Miller, Nathan. New World Coming: The 1920s and the Making of Modern America. Cambridge, MA: Da Dapo Press, 2003.
Pegram, Thomas R. One Hundred Percent American: The Rebirth and Decline of the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s. Chicago, IL: Ivan R. Dee, 2011.
Preuss, Arthur. A Dictionary of Secret and Other Societies. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co., 1924.
Suesser, Carl. ‘Whence the Joiner?’. The American Monthly, April 21, 1929.
Stevens, Albert C. Cyclopaedia of Fraternities. New York: Hamilton Printing and Publishing Company, 1899.
Tabbert, Mark. American Freemasons: Three Centuries of Building American Communities. New York: New York University Press, 2005.
Weber, Max. From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology. Trans. H.H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills. New York: Oxford University Press, 1946.
Chicago Daily Tribune. ‘300,000 Shriners Expected; Gala Week in Capital’. Chicago Daily Tribune, June 3, 1923.
Chicago Daily Tribune. ‘Golden Rule in Fraternalism, Coolidge Says’. Chicago Daily Tribune, August 30, 1924.
The Fellowship Forum. ‘Letter: Warns Masons to Unite Force’. The Fellowship Forum, June 30, 1923.
Grand Lodge of Kentucky. Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky. Louisville, KY: Masonic Home Printing Office, 1922.
Grand Lodge of Illinois. Procedings of the Grand Lodge Independent Order of Odd Fellows of the State of Illinois 1920. Springfield, IL: Grand Lodge of Illinois, 1920.
Grand Lodge of Illinois. Procedings of the Grand Lodge Independent Order of Odd Fellows of the State of Illinois 1922. Springfield, IL: Grand Lodge of Illinois, 1922.
Grand Lodge of New York. Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of New York. New York: Lent & Graff Co. Press, 1922.
Grand Lodge of Oregon. Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Oregon. NP: NP, 1921.
Grand Lodge of Texas. Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Texas. Waco, TX: Gayle Printing Company, 1921.
Los Angeles Times. ‘Harding Lauds Justice, Loyalty of Shriners’. Los Angeles Times, June 6, 1923.
The Washington Post. ‘Throng Cheers Gorgeous Effects and Great Drill Exhibitions of Marchers’. The Washington Post, June 7, 1923.
Primary Sources
Allen, Devere. ‘Substitutes for Brotherhood’. In KKK: The Kreed of Klansmen, ed. E. Haldeman-Julius. Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius Company, 1924.
Axelrod, Alan. The International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders. New York: Facts on File, 1997.
Beito, David T. From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State: Fraternal Societies and Social Services, 1890-1967. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2000.
Carnes, Mark C. Secret Ritual and Manhood in Victorian America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1989.
Charles, Jeffrey A. Service Clubs in American Society. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1993.
Clawson, Mary Anne. Constructing Brotherhood: Class, Gender, and Fraternalism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1989. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9781400860500
Dumenil, Lynn. The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society in the 1920s. New York: Hill and Wang, 1995.
Fox, Craig. Everyday Klansfolk: White Protestant Life and the KKK in 1920s Michigan. East Lansing, MI: Michigan University Press, 2011.
Frost, Stanley. The Challenge of the Klan. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1924.
Fry, Henry P. The Modern Ku Klux Klan. Boston, MA: Small, Maynard & Company, 1922.
Gist, Noel P. ‘Structure and Process in Secret Societies’. Social Forces 16(3) (1938): 349–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2570806
Harwood, William S. ‘Secret Societies in America’. The North American Review 164, No. 486 (1897): 617–24.
Hernandez, Miguel. ‘Fighting Fraternities: The Ku Klux Klan and Freemasonry in 1920s America’. PhD diss., University of Exeter, UK, 2015.
Hines, Thomas S. ‘Echoes from “Zenith”: Reactions of American Businessmen to Babbitt’. The Business History Review 41(2) (1967): 123–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3112563
Kaufman, Jason. For the Common Good? : American Civic Life and the Golden Age of Fraternity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Knobel, Dale T. ‘To be an American: Ethnicity, Fraternity, and the Improved Order of Red Men’. Journal of American Ethnic History 4(1) (1984): 62–87.
Lewis, Sinclair. Babbitt. New York: Grosset and Dunlap Publishers, 1922.
Lynd, Robert and Helen Lynd. Middletown: A Study in Contemporary American Culture. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1929.
McBride, Harriet W. ‘The Golden Age of Fraternalism: 1870-1910’. Heredom 13 (2005): 1-31.
Miller, Nathan. New World Coming: The 1920s and the Making of Modern America. Cambridge, MA: Da Dapo Press, 2003.
Pegram, Thomas R. One Hundred Percent American: The Rebirth and Decline of the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s. Chicago, IL: Ivan R. Dee, 2011.
Preuss, Arthur. A Dictionary of Secret and Other Societies. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co., 1924.
Suesser, Carl. ‘Whence the Joiner?’. The American Monthly, April 21, 1929.
Stevens, Albert C. Cyclopaedia of Fraternities. New York: Hamilton Printing and Publishing Company, 1899.
Tabbert, Mark. American Freemasons: Three Centuries of Building American Communities. New York: New York University Press, 2005.
Weber, Max. From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology. Trans. H.H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills. New York: Oxford University Press, 1946.
Published
2016-07-22
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Hernandez, M. (2016). The Gilded Age of Fraternalism: Brotherhood and Modernism in 1920s America. Journal for Research into Freemasonry and Fraternalism, 5(2), 200-224. https://doi.org/10.1558/jrff.v5i2.27646
