Civic
Fraternities |
| Freemasons | Statement
of Purpose This exhibit presents an investigation of a handful of
the early civic fraternities in Moorhead, Minnesota.
The project attempts to explain how the leaders of the A.O.U.W,
Freemasons, Knights of Pythias, and Odd Fellows helped influence the
development of the Clay County communities, Moorhead specifically. The
information gained through this study is by no means complete. It
seems that more
and more information is received by the Clay Country Historical Society,
which in turn helps us continue to build a more complete picture of the fraternal atmosphere
in the community throughout history.
Statement of Analysis My investigation begins with referencing city directories from 1891 to 1932. I tracked the members of the executive boards of the four fraternities in question and referenced the leaders' appearances in Clay County government, private ownership of businesses, positions on local banking institutions, and members' occupation. I also continued to track former leaders and future leaders throughout the chosen timeline (1891-1932) for appearances in city and county government, and leadership roles in the banking institutions of the community. We can therefore estimate the influence of particular fraternities during a period in the study and the overall power of the general fraternal system at a given point in the timeline. |
Timeline of Organizations |
|---|---|---|
| Knights of Pythias | ||
| Ancient Order Of United Workmen | ||
| Odd Fellows | ||
A message from the web designer: This project by no means is a complete analysis of the fraternal organizations. The pictures painted here are only a small glimpse of the fraternal climate of the selected years not representing the complete memberships of the organizations or even every organization present into the community.
Created by James Sander