The American Fraternal Alliance (AFA) is an
umbrella group of
fraternal orders
A fraternal order is a fraternity organised as an order, with traits alluding to religious, chivalric or pseudo-chivalric orders, guilds, or secret societies. Contemporary fraternal orders typically have secular purposes, including social, cultu ...
in the United States. It was founded as the National Fraternal Congress of America in 1913, in Chicago and adopted its current name in 2011.
History
The origins of the AFA go back to November 17, 1886, when a congress of sixteen fraternal orders representing 535,000 members met in Washington, DC. The original meeting was called by the
Ancient Order of United Workmen
The Ancient Order of United Workmen (AOUW) was a fraternal organization in the United States and Canada, providing mutual social and financial support after the American Civil War. It was the first of the "fraternal benefit societies", organizatio ...
, the pioneer fraternal insurance society, to establish uniform insurance legislation in all states. The meeting formed a permanent organization, the National Fraternal Congress (NFC).
On March 21, 1901, several fraternal orders created the rival
Associated Fraternities of America in Chicago. It was created "as a protest against the workings" of the NFC. The two groups re-merged in 1913 as the National Fraternal Congress ''of America''.
Another group the competed with the NFC for a time was the
American Fraternal Congress, which was organized in
Omaha, Nebraska, in 1898. This group differed from the NFC in that it only allowed orders that had adopted the legal reserve system to be members.
The NFC adopted a Uniform Bill for state insurance regulations in 1893. In 1910, with the assistance of the
National Association of Insurance Commissioners – it promulgated the Mobile bill, which was modified in 1912 as the New York Conference bill. It also created a
mortality table
In actuarial science and demography, a life table (also called a mortality table or actuarial table) is a table which shows, for each age, what the probability is that a person of that age will die before their next birthday ("probability of deat ...
in 1899.
Publications
The NFC published a magazine, ''Fraternal Monitor'' and an annual ''Statistics, Fraternal Societies''.
Membership
The current members of the AFA include:
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Alliance of Transylvanian Saxons
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American Mutual Life Association
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Association of the Sons of Poland
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Baptist Life Association
*
Catholic Association of Foresters
*
Catholic Family Fraternal of the State of Texas (KJZT)
*
Catholic Financial Life
Catholic Financial Life (CFL) is a Milwaukee-based life insurer and fraternal organization. It is one of the largest Catholic not-for-profit financial services organizations in the United States, second only to the Knights of Columbus. Fraternal ...
*
Catholic Holy Family Society
*
Catholic Ladies of Columbia
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
*
Catholic Life Insurance
*
Catholic Order of Foresters The Catholic Order of Foresters are fraternal benefit societies in the United States.
Massachusetts Foresters
On 30 July 1879, some members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Boston, Massachusetts, most of them Irish immigrants, desiring to ...
*
Catholic Union of Texas, The KJT
*
Catholic United Financial
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
*
Croatian Fraternal Union of America
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CSA Fraternal Life
CSA may refer to:
Arts and media
* Canadian Screen Awards, annual awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television
* Commission on Superhuman Activities, a fictional American government agency in Marvel Comics
* Crime Syndicate of Amer ...
*
Degree of Honor Protective Association
*
Employes Mutual Benefit Association
*
Everence Association, Inc.
*
First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association of the USA
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
*
First Catholic Slovak Union of the USA and Canada
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
*
GBU Financial Life GBU may refer to:
Organizations
* Air Bissau (ICAO code: GBU), the national airline of Guinea-Bissau
* Football Association of Greenland (''Grønlands Boldspil-Union''), the governing body of association football in the island country of Greenland
...
*
Gleaner Life Insurance Society The Gleaner Life Insurance Society, originally the Ancient Order of Gleaners, is a fraternal benefit society based in Adrian, Michigan.
History
The Ancient Order of Gleaners was formed in 1894 in Caro, Michigan by Grant Slocum. Articles of incor ...
*
Grand Court Order of Calanthe
The Grand Court Order of Calanthe is a fraternal benefit society for African American women. It was established in Louisiana in 1883 as an auxiliary to the Knights of Pythias. Calanthe was the wife of Pythias in the Greek legend Damon and Pythias.
...
*
Greek Catholic Union of the USA (GCU)
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Independent Order of Foresters
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Knights of Columbus
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Knights of Peter Claver, Inc.
*
KSKJ Life, American Slovenian Catholic Union
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Ladies Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union
*
Loyal Christian Benefit Association (LCBA)
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Luso-American Life Insurance Society
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Modern Woodmen of America
Modern Woodmen of America (MWA) is one of the largest (based on assets) fraternal benefit societies in the United States, with more than 750,000 members. Total assets reached US$15.4 billion in 2016. Though it shares the same founder, it is not ...
*
National Catholic Society of Foresters
*
National Mutual Benefit
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National Slovak Society
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Order of the Sons of Hermann in the State of Texas
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Order of United Commercial Travelers of America
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Police and Firemen’s Insurance Association
*
Polish Falcons of America
The Polish Falcons of America ( pl, Sokoły Polskie Ameryki) is a nonprofit fraternal benefit society, with a strong emphasis on physical fitness.
History
The "falcon" movement originated after the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1863. It ...
*
Polish National Alliance of the United States of North America
*
Polish National Union of America
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Polish Roman Catholic Union of America
The Polish Roman Catholic Union of America ("PRCUA") (pol. ''Zjednoczenie Polskie Rzymsko-Katolickie w Ameryce'') is the oldest Polish American organization in the United States. Currently licensed to sell its products in 27 states, it is a frat ...
*
Polish Union of the United States of North America
*
Portuguese Fraternal Society of America
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Providence Association of Ukrainian Catholics in America
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Royal Neighbors of America
Royal Neighbors of America is a Life insurance company targeted towards women.
History
In 1888, Marie Kirkland of Council Bluffs, Iowa placed a notice in her town newspaper asking the wives of Modern Woodmen of America members to meet for a so ...
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Russian Brotherhood Organization of the USA
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Serb National Federation
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Slovak Catholic Sokol
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Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol of the USA
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Slovene National Benefit Society The Slovene National Benefit Society, known in Slovenian as Slovenska narodna podporna jednota, and by its Slovene initials S.N.P.J. is an ethnic fraternal benefit and social organization for Slovene immigrants and their descendants in the United ...
*
Sons of Norway
Sons of Norway ( no, Sønner av Norge), founded in 1895 as the Independent Order of the Sons of Norway, is a fraternal organization principally representing people of Norwegian-American, Norwegian heritage in the United States and Canada. The or ...
*
SPJST
*
Supreme Council of the Royal Arcanum
The Supreme Council of the Royal Arcanum, commonly known simply as the Royal Arcanum, is a fraternal benefit society founded in 1877 in Boston, Massachusetts by John A. Cummings and Darius Wilson, who had previously been among the founders of the ...
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Thrivent
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Ukrainian National Association, Inc.
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United Transportation Union Insurance Association
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Western Catholic Union
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Western Fraternal Life Association
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Woman’s Life Insurance Society
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Woodmen of the World and/or Assured Life Association
Assured Life Association, formerly Woodmen of the World and/or Assured Life Association, having officially changed its name to on January 1, 2015, is a fraternal benefit society based in Denver, Colorado whose beginnings can be traced to the same ...
*
Woodmen of the World/Omaha Woodmen Life Insurance Society
WoodmenLife (officially Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Society) is a not-for-profit fraternal benefit society founded in 1890, based in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that operates a large privately held insurance company for its members. ...
*
WSA Fraternal Life
And in Canada:
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ACTRA Fraternal Benefit Society
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) is a Canadian trade union representing performers in English-language media. It has 25,000 members working in film, television, radio, and all other recorded media. The orga ...
*
FaithLife Financial
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Grand Orange Lodge of British America Benefit Fund
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Independent Order of Foresters
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Knights of Columbus
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Order of United Commercial Travelers of America
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Sons of Scotland Benevolent Association
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Supreme Council of the Royal Arcanum
The Supreme Council of the Royal Arcanum, commonly known simply as the Royal Arcanum, is a fraternal benefit society founded in 1877 in Boston, Massachusetts by John A. Cummings and Darius Wilson, who had previously been among the founders of the ...
*
Teachers Life Insurance Society
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Toronto Police Widows and Orphans Fund
*
Ukrainian Fraternal Society of Canada
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* Som ...
See also
*
Canadian Fraternal Association The Canadian Fraternal Association (CFA) was (see: https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/scr/cc/CorporationsCanada/fdrlCrpDtls.html?corpId=3091741) a trade association based in Waterloo, Ontario, for fraternal benefit societies in Canada which engaged in advocac ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
Official Homepage
Organizations established in 1913
Supraorganizations
1913 establishments in Illinois
Fraternal orders