The International Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo, Incorporated is a fraternal and service organization with members in the forest products industry. Hoo-Hoo has members in the

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and

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History

The Concatenated order of Hoo-Hoo was founded on January 21, 1892, at

Gurdon, Arkansas Gurdon is a city in Clark County, Arkansas, Clark County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 1,840 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The town was founded in the late 19th century as a railroad town for the timber ...

. Its six founders were: * B. Arthur Johnson, editor of the ''Timberman'' of Chicago, Illinois * William Eddy Barns, editor of the '' St. Louis Lumberman'' * George Washington Schwartz of Vandalia Railroad, St. Louis, Missouri * A. Strauss of Malvern Lumber Company,

Malvern, Arkansas Malvern is a city in and the county seat of Hot Spring County, Arkansas, United States. Founded as a railroad stop at the eastern edge of the Ouachita Mountains, the community's history and economy have been tied to available agricultural and m ...

* George Kimball Smith of the Southern Lumber Manufacturers Association * William Starr Mitchell, business manager of the ''

Arkansas Democrat The ''Arkansas Democrat-Gazette'' is the newspaper of record in the U.S. state of Arkansas, printed in Little Rock with a northwest edition published in Lowell. It is distributed for sale in all 75 of Arkansas's counties. By virtue of one o ...

'' of

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

As most of the founders were only connected to the lumber industry tangentially — company executives, newspapermen, railroad men, etc. It was first suggested that the name of the new organization be "Independent Order of Camp Followers". However, the group instead settled on the name Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo — the term ''hoo hoo'' having become synonymous with the term ''lumberman''. The first regular Concatenation was held at the St. Charles Hotel in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, on February 18, 1892, when 35 of the leading lumbermen of the country were initiated.The order was more informal than other secret societies of its day. It did not have lodge rooms, enforced attendance at meetings, or anything else that other orders had that could be avoided. In 1923, the order's headquarters was at the Arcade Building in St. Louis.

Rituals and symbols

The founders wanted the organization to be unconventional and unregimented. Its one aim would be "to foster the health, happiness, and long life of its members". In a spirit of fun, names for some of the officers were inspired by

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

's ''

The Hunting of the Snark ''The Hunting of the Snark'', subtitled ''An Agony, in Eight Fits'', is a poem by the English writer Lewis Carroll. It is typically categorised as a nonsense poem. Written between 1874 and 1876, it borrows the setting, some creatures, and eig ...

''. The executive committee of the order was known as the Supreme Nine. It consisted of the Snark, the Senior Hoo-Hoo, Junior Hoo-Hoo, Scrivenoter, Bojum, Jabberwock, Custocatian, Arcanoper, and Gurdon. Each state or foreign country was ruled by a Viceregent Snark. Local groups were called Concatenations. Judicial affairs and care of the emblem were delegated to a House of the Ancients which consisted of the past executives of the Order and whose members served for life. The Hoo-Hoo emblem is a black cat with its tail curled into the shape of a figure nine. Its colors are white, black, and gold.

Membership

Membership is currently limited to people 18 and up who are of good moral character and are engaged in the forestry industry or "genuinely interested in supporting the purpose and aims of our order". Membership was originally restricted to white males over 21 who were engaged in the lumber industry as lumbermen, newspapermen, railroad men, and sawmill machinery men. A Mrs. M. A. Smith of Smithton, Arkansas, was initiated before the gender requirement was passed, so she stayed on as the order's only female member. The order was limited to having a maximum of 9,000 members. In the late 1890s, it had upwards of 5,000 members. By the early 1920s, this had grown to approximately 7,000.

Activities

The Order did not have any sick, disability, or death benefits, but it did quietly perform some charitable work among its members and assist them in finding employment. The

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

chapter of the Hoo Hoos worked and socialized with the Southern Forestry Congress. A monument commemorating the planting of trees by the Atlanta chapter of the Hoo Hoo Club in 1926 stands just inside the Park Avenue entrance to

Piedmont Park Piedmont Park is an urban forest and park in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, located about northeast of Downtown, between the Midtown and Virginia Highland neighborhoods. Originally the land was owned by Dr. Benjamin Walker, who used it as ...

Notable members

* James E. Defebaugh,

Michigan House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2020 ...

John Kaul John Lanzel Kaul (1866–1931) was an American businessman. He was involved in the timber industry and was a prominent figure in Birmingham, Alabama. Kaul was born in St. Marys, Pennsylvania on October 9, 1866 to Andrew Kaul and Walburga (L ...

, timberman * Hamilton Love,

lumberman Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks

, sportswriter, and humorist * Alfred Pettibone, businessman

References

{{reflist

External links

Hoo-Hoo International website

''The bulletin. A monthly journal devoted to the interests of Hoo-Hoo''

Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo
at The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture
Inventory of the International Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo, Inc., Records, 1892–1972
in the

Forest History Society The Forest History Society is an American non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of forest and conservation history."Forest History Society." Echo Project. Center for History and New Media, George Mason University. http://echo.gmu. ...

Library and Archives, Durham, North Carolina
January 21, 1892: Hoo-Hoo International, Not Your Father’s Skull and Bones
1892 establishments in Arkansas Fraternal orders History of Arkansas Men's organizations in the United States Organizations established in 1892 Secret societies in the United States Organizations based in Arkansas