Agnostic, Blind, People of Color need not apply

It’s one thing to join an exclusive fraternal society, and to go through all the required secret mumbo-jumbo and hood-wearing. But to do all that just to buy insurance? That’s what boggles me, and why I’m compelled to dig further, so that I can better understand the values and goals of the founders. Was it, as early critics charged, simply a scheme to extract money from a huge influx of European immigrants who could not qualify to join the Masons, the Odd Fellows or other fraternal groups? Or was the idea of the Royal Arcanum to create a truly benevolent society for lower income Americans unable to afford life and disability insurance? Well, at least for men who were "physically sound and morally acceptable" – and white.

Among the advantages of membership, according to an early RA promotion, were low cost rates, fast payment of benefits, "marital help" and the exclusion of applicants from "unhealthy districts".

We are familiar today with health insurance companies rejecting applicants due to pre-existing conditions. For Arcanums, pre-existing conditions included atheism, blindness, a missing leg, and ethnicity.

Here is an excerpt from the 1942 regulations.

Persons Not Eligible for Membership.

Sec. 267, No application shall be received or accepted from a person in any of the following classes:

1. One who does not believe in a Supreme Being.
2. One who cannot understand, or read, or repeat the obligation as printed.
3. One whose leg has been amputated above the knee.
4. One who cannot state the year of his birth.
5. One who is deaf and dumb, or blind.
6. One who is not a white man.
   

At its very core, the organization was created to segregate men of pure or "royal" blood, a euphemism for members of the Caucasian race. How and when that fundamental principle was extracted from the company’s core values my research has yet to uncover. Could a one-legged agnostic black woman apply and receive Royal Arcanum insurance today?

All applying members, if they met those standards, had to be nominated by two existing members, pretty standard in clubs even today. The applicant had to show up in person, so the Order could check him out. Curiously, although all applicants had to be able to read (see Item b above), once vetted, a white applicant unable to sign his own name could sign the application with an "X" as long as witnesses were on hand.

Applicants then had to be investigated by a committee prior to their initiation – after which they could begin paying for their insurance policies.

Investigators examined "the character, habits and other qualifications" of the applicant, who also had to undergo a medical exam at a cost of $3 to $5. Successful applicants were given a ballot to be approved by the Supreme Council. Anyone receiving three black balls from council members was rejected. Anyone who became physically disabled or mentally impaired while waiting for his approval had to begin the process from scratch.

The successfully "elected" candidate then had 90 days to sign the "obligation of the Order," receive his "degree" and pay his assessment (a minimum of $2.50, depending on age). Then regular payments began as with any insurance firm.

To receive his insurance, the policyholder had to agree to live strictly according to written codes of the Royal Arcanum. He also swore not to bring up anything "of a political or sectarian character" at regular meetings and vowed to "or in any way bring reproach upon this order." Members were therefore bound not to say anything negative or to reveal any of the secrets of the group – under penalty of losing their insurance. The gag order applied, according to the oath, even to members who resigned or were kicked out.

Candidates, meanwhile, were instructed in the "cardinal principles" and the "secret work" of the Order. The Supreme Regent had the right to shut down the application process if "any pestilence or epidemic disease" broke out in town. Members who passed all this initiation were then expected to attend regular meetings to improve their moral character.

The only thing harder than getting into the Royal Arcanum, it seems, was getting your money out. The regulations include a host of reasons why members could be prevented from collecting benefits – including any time spent in prison, involvement in any protest movements, insufficient moral character, questions about beneficiaries. being blackballed by members, tardy payments, not attending meetings, etc.

As with most insurance companies, the Royal Arcanum was especially vigilant in cases of accidental death, since that required paying a double indemnity. The accident had to be violent and cause the death of the policy holder within 90 days; Double Indemnity claims were not paid in death cased by self destruction; taking of poison or inhaling of gas, whether voluntary or otherwise; war or any act incident thereto; engaging in riot or insurrection; operating an airplane of any kind; infirmity of mind or body; illness or disease, bacterial infection, etc.

The success of this system is evident since the Royal Arcanum is one of the only 19^th century fraternal benefit societies that has survived into the 21^st century.

© 2009 J. Dennis Robinson at SeacoastNH.com. All rights reserved.