Category: Ladies of the Modern Maccabees
Categories: Michigan History | Fraternal Organizations
Ladies of the Modern Maccabees L.O.T.M.M.
The Ladies began as a local club, or "Hive" in Muskegon, Michigan, but made application to form a statewide auxiliary at the Great Camps 1886 convention. They were denied. They tried again at the 1887 convention and were turned down. In 1888, permission was given to create a "Great Hive" for the state. Laws were drawn up and officials elected and the Great Hive of Michigan was chartered in May 1890. Great Hives were founded in other states such as Ohio and New York, and a "Supreme Hive" was established on October 1, 1892. By December 1, 1896 there were Great Hives in half of the states in the Union as well as Canada and membership was up to 66,000, with 33,000 in Michigan alone. The Ladies of the Maccabees was the first fraternal benefit society operated exclusively by women. In 1915 the Ladies had 179,719 members. The Ladies of the Maccebees merged into the Knights of the Maccabees in 1926.
In 1892 there was a schism within the auxiliary and a new group was formed called the Ladies of the Modern Maccabees. This group became the Women's Benefit Association in 1915 and the North American Benefit Association in 1966. On March 25, 1886, nine ladies met at the home of Adelphia Grace Ward (aka Mother of the Order, Past Great Commander) to establish the order of the Ladies of the Modern Maccabees (L.O.T.M.M.). This was an insurance benefit society which grew to 80,000 members by 1913 and had paid out over $50 million in endowment benefits. She became known as "Mother Ward" throughout the length and breadth of Maccabeedom. The Modern Maccabees were later led by schoolteacher Bina M. West who wanted to help build a fraternal insurance society for women, and she was quite successful. By the early twentieth century the group had 100,000 members and by the late 1920s over 250,000. It still had 80,000 members in 1994.
Person Profiles (2)
This page was last modified 05:33, 22 March 2023. This page has been accessed 765 times.