November 10, 2008 #07

Royal Arcanum Receipts Resurface

What would historians do without the Internet? Take these fragile browning receipts (see below) from the ROYAL ARCANUM. This research might ahve taken weeks. Birgit Christiansen sent these over by snail mail. She says her husband found them while insulating an attic on Union Street in Portsmouth. NH. We can see here that in 1907 brother J.A. McCarty apparently paid his monthly dues of $1.01 to J.O. Pettigrew. But why? A quick check of the Internet shows us that The Royal Arcanum is one of the nation’s oldest fraternal benefit societies, founded for "unselfish motives" in 1877. Like early "widows and orphans" charity funds, the organization grew out of a national need to provide insurance protection for middle class and poorer families. Instead of relying on charity, male members obtained life insurance by joining one of the many men’s organizations, like Masons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Columbus, etc. that flourished in late 19^th century America.

The Arcanum was founded in Boston out of the Knights of Honor, a group that went bankrupt in 1916. Amazingly, the Royal Arcanum survives in Boston and, according to its own web page, is dedicated to "uniting fraternally all eligible male and female persons of sound bodily health and good moral standing, who are socially acceptable." Wow, socially acceptable. You don’t hear that phrase much anymore. But despite that politically incorrect language, it appears that the group has its heart in the right place. The Web site asserts that it teaches "morality without religious distinction, patriotism without partisanship, and brotherhood without creed or class." Wait a minute, what about race? Must be a typo. Not so. A deeper search on Google turned up a 1915 Supreme Court case (237 U.S. 531) against the Royal Arcanum in 1915 in which the founding documents are spelled out more clearly. In this version the first goal of the organization in 1877 was "To unite fraternally all white men of sound bodily health and good moral character." That’s right, white men. Men of color, as with most of these organizations, were not admitted at first. "Mongolians, whether of pure or of mixed blood, no matter what they believe, are ineligible," one source reports. This law was later dropped. In order to gain their insurance privileges, new members, typical of the era, went through an elaborate membership ceremony. Royal Arcanum members were "hoodwinked" and presented the symbol of Virtue, represented by the color white, and the symbol of Mercy, represented by the color blue. Members who revealed the secret symbols of milk and water could be expelled from the organization. Besides instructing its paying members in patriotism and morality, the Royal Arcanum also continues to provide death benefits, annuities and school loans up to $10,000. It retains a small scholarship program that gives out a total of just over $45,000 a year, enough to send one student to an Ivy League college these days. By comparison, the local charitable foundation in New Hampshire gives out close to $4 million in scholarships annually. A quick search of eBay shows a variety of Royal Arcanum medals pins and ephemera. An early 20^th century postcard shows a couple embracing beneath a crown with the line "Love an Arcanum man for he is True and Royal."

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