OPENING PLENARY SCRIPT - American Fraternal Alliance

What is the National Fraternal Congress of America?
HISTORY
America’s Fraternal Benefit Societies
The modern fraternal benefit society is built upon a foundation laid by the British Guilds and friendly
societies. Fraternal benefit societies began almost 150 years ago as a volunteer movement to help the
hundreds of thousands of immigrants pouring into the United States. Fraternal benefit societies were formed
to help immigrants learn the language, customs and values of America; to help newcomers find
employment; to connect individuals with similar backgrounds to solve common problems; and to provide
financial support, including “passing the hat” to collect burial funds when members died.
The idea of fraternal protection was novel and attractive to the public when introduced in the latter half of the
19th century. It was appealing because it was born of a need among the working classes for insurance
protection at affordable rates.
To make their plans more practical than the method of levying an assessment for each death, some
societies changed to a plan of flat assessments at regular intervals, uniform for all ages of members. Then
followed the graded assessments plan, which graded the assessments according to age of entry.
As societies grew older, all of these assessment plans presented problems of adequate rates that were fair
to both old and young members. But each marked a step of progress toward a strong and solvent financial
position. During this process, many newly formed societies prospered for a while and then fell by the
wayside. Their existence, however, was not in vain. Many thousands of dollars were paid to survivors who
otherwise would not have received anything, as fraternal protection was all they could afford.
Fraternal benefit societies still maintain their concern for providing financial and fraternal security to
members. However, the hat passing is long gone, replaced by financially sound insurance products,
investments, banking and other financial services.
National Fraternal Congress
During the early years, fraternals followed a directionless, experimental course. Any progress was largely
the result of independent action by one society or another. Eventually, these societies recognized the
serious need for coherent direction through standardized practices. A group of representatives from 16
different fraternal benefit societies inaugurated steps to create an organization for their societies. In
November 1886, in Washington, D.C., representatives of 12 of the 16 societies met and created the National
Fraternal Congress (NFC). Since then, the National Fraternal Congress, and its successor, the National
Fraternal Congress of America (NFCA), have been dominating influences in molding the thought and
progress of fraternalism.
Legislation was one of the first major problems that engaged the attention of the Congress. Laws unfriendly
to the societies were passed in certain states and some legislatures imposed unfair restrictions. The
Congress took on the challenges to offset this situation and was successful.
Member societies of the Congress also were handicapped by the existence of a number of fraudulent
organizations that operated under the cloak of fraternalism as a screen for their real activities. The
Congress, through its legislative committee, succeeded in passing laws in certain states that defined and
limited the field of such organizations. In the majority of the states around 1890, the general statutes
contained no provision for regulation or supervision of fraternals. Some states had special rulings of the
insurance departments and other states covered the fraternal benefit societies by special laws. The National
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