ELKS STATE ASSOCIATIONS AND HOW THEY CAME TO BE.
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks has, since its creation, been guided and dedicated to the finer instincts and higher principles of life on Earth but, by the sheer virtue of being made up of human beings, is an imperfect organization. The Elks stand as an example of all that is good in a fraternal gathering and like a human being, our beloved Order can commit kind, even noble, deeds and acts of unselfish generosity. Yet, because of the human factor, there has always been (and always will be,) petty squabbles, jealousies and cliques.
Grand Lodge was the unhappy victim of such unpleasantness in 1890, when, through personal preferences and general pig-headedness, there was a schism in the Grand Lodge over the holding of the annual “Communication” in Cleveland rather than New York. Charges flew both in and out of court and Grand Secretary Arthur Moreland and the entire New York Lodge No. 1 were expelled from the Order. The great fraternal chain was later reunited but if Grand Lodge could have such troubles how could subordinate lodges fare any better? The answer of course is that they couldn’t. Early in our Order’s history, a few like-minded individuals, who gathered as Elks but subdivided by heritage or religion or some other perceived status, formed themselves into mini-clubs with names like the “Growlers” or the “Eleven O’clock Club”. Membership was limited to those Elks who met the additional requirements of the mini-club. It is easy to imagine the difficulties to the Lodge and the embarrassment and anger to the Lodge members that such a system caused. Two Elk brothers, equal in all respects save that one is Christian and the other a Jew, are proposed for membership in the Growlers and only one is accepted. The difference could have, just as easily, been between an Irish or Italian heritage, or even between the occupation of plumber and lawyer. Such inter-lodge politics and personal bias could tear apart the most successful lodge.
Understanding this, the Grand Lodge established early on that that there could be no “society or organization limiting it membership to Elks, which is not expressly authorized by the Constitution and Statutes of the Order.” Thus no lodge or group of members could create a “club within a club” which would discriminate between fellow Elks in its makeup. Thusly, amongst other things, state associations were banned.
Few had originally thought that the Order of Elks would be as great and as large an organization as it was to become. So lodges were named after the cities in which they were established. Later the Grand Secretary complained that a Lodge’s full name was too much to write out each time a Lodge was to be mentioned in the minutes and he suggested that the Lodges be also designated alphabetically with New York Lodge (founded in 1868) being known as A and Boston Lodge (founded in 1878) known as J. Around 1880, as the number of lodges and lodge members skyrocketed, the letters were dropped and replaced with numbers so that A became 1 and J became 10.
This increase in Lodges and membership was taken as a sign by some who felt that the Order was growing so quickly that Grand Lodge would soon be overwhelmed. This small but vocal minority felt that the only solution was to create State Grand Lodges, much in the manner of the Masons, which would see to the governmental and legislative needs of each individual state or territory under the supervision of a “Supreme Lodge”. While this radical idea was passionately debated between its two sides, it was never picked up as a major issue by the general membership and, therefore, never actually brought to the floor of the Grand Lodge. The Elks members, as a rule, felt it would be foolish to give up to a state association their right to take part in legislative and governmental questions in a national forum. But the germ of an idea had begun to take hold and, while it may not have been desirable to have a state association that would limit an Elk’s participation in the Order to a local scale, it was thought that if a state association could be used to facilitate or increase the communication between lodges and the Grand Lodge or increase the sociability of it members then a state association could be a pretty neat thing.
So it came to pass that as early as the end of the last century despite the statutory ban, state associations were being created. The history of the Grand Lodge notes that the first state association created was that of Ohio (1898) and that the second was that of West Virginia (1908) but, in fact, they’re wrong. The second state association was the first Massachusetts Elks Association which was founded in 1901.
The first State Reunion of Massachusetts Elks took place at Worcester, June 17, 1901, and was a remarkable success, both in point of numbers and enthusiasm. The meeting site was the Wapiti Club, an artificial island in Lake Quinsigamond. The assembled Elks were called to order by District Deputy Charles A. Kelley of Boston lodge No. 10 and a permanent organization was established with the election of Kelley as president for the ensuing year. Julius C. Zaeder was elected vice-president; Bro. Wright of New Bedford, secretary; Bro. Thomas Smith of Haverhill, treasurer. A committee of two representatives from each of the 15 Lodges in Massachusetts, thirty in all, was chosen as an Executive Committee. The Executive Committee was charged with framing a set of by-laws and to take action on the various subjects submitted to them. Past District Deputy Edward I. Kauffman of the Lawrence Lodge was elected as the chairman of the Executive Committee. One hundred seventy five members of Massachusetts Lodges were present and over the span of three hours they discussed the following topics;
1.) The establishment of a permanent organization to arrange for an annual state convention
2.) Arrangements for the transportation of those who wanted to attend the Grand Lodge sessions and reunions.
3.) Ladies’ socials and the influence of the same on the members and membership of the Order.
4.) The elaboration of the initiatory ritual and other ritual matters.
5.) The possibility of an exchange of visits by Lodge officers for the purpose of proficiency in exemplifying the initiatory work.
6.) Discussion of Grand Lodge laws, subordinate Lodge by-laws and territorial jurisdiction.
7.) Expression of choice for District Deputy
8.) Interchange of ideas for the promotion of the Order in the East.
9.) The possibility of the grand Exalted Ruler visiting our annual State Reunion, thereby bringing him in touch with the representatives of every Lodge in the Commonwealth.
Discussion was lively and entertaining but with the exception of a mere two of the topics discussed, namely the selection of the presiding officer and the choice of the next meeting place, all final determinations were left to the executive committee. And therein lay a problem. The business session was spirited but the most excitement was over what Lodge or city would have the honor and bragging rights of inviting and entertaining the Grand Exalted Ruler. When the business session adjourned the festivities began and the dynamo of the executive committee pretty much sputtered to a halt. Some Elks complained that the cost of attending the National Convention in Salt Lake City was such that attendees could afford to go only if there was a installment plan of weekly or monthly payments leading up to the trip. It took a lot of time and planning to assemble such a number of Elks for that first meeting and that it was vital that the momentum not be lost by the Executive Committee in following up on the referred matters. Bro. Edward McLaughlin, correspondent for The Elks-Antler warned in the October 1901 issue that should the Executive Committee fail to meet its obligations of service then Massachusetts Elks would have to start all over again. But the Association of Massachusetts Elks, as it was known, continued for some years more holding the 1903 convention in Lowell on June 17th.
Beginning in 1906, the Grand Lodge re-addressed the state association question and in 1907 in Philadelphia, the statute was amended so that there would be nothing which would “prevent the members of the lodges in various states from holding reunions, which shall be open to all Elks in good standing, provided, however, that they shall not, in any manner assume any of the functions of the powers of government, or in any manner attempt to influence or control by endorsement, or otherwise the legislation of Grand Lodge, or the election of its officers, or in any other matter involving the policy of the Order. “ Soon Grand Lodge created committees which would work with state associations as they worked toward the goals of the Order.
As anyone who has ever run a lodge function or party can tell you, when there aren’t clearly defined areas of responsibility, an event can run wild,; things not get done correctly or in time, etc. and the newly created state associations were not exempt. Many were not successful and many folded only to be resurrected in a new form with new officers and rules. The Association of Massachusetts Elks of 1901, held functions, meetings and reunions. This first association was reformed on August 31, 1910 with Bro. James R. Nicholson of Springfield #61 serving as President for the first two years. This association was, in turn, reorganized on September 28, 1914 and more formally organized July 12, 1917, when Grand Lodge authorized and officially recognized state association across the country. Today, every state association has its major project; ours being the Massachusetts Elks Scholarship, Inc. of which we are so justifiably proud.
A note about that special man who was our first president. Charles a. Kelley was a Past Exalted Ruler of the Mother Lodge of New England, Boston Lodge No. 10. He was the creator of that distinctive “button” known as the Kelley pin which to this very day is worn with pride by P.E.R.s who are fully paid contributors to the Elks National Foundation.
Springfield Lodge’s own, James R. Nicholson, who served as the first president under the 1910 reorganization, was later to serve our Order as Grand Exalted Ruler 1915-1916 and lived to see the 50th anniversary of his installation as G.E.R. before he passed away in 1965; the only G.E.R. so fortunate.
Massachusetts has actually had four, not three, state associations.