The American Fraternal Alliance (AFA) is an

umbrella group An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and iden ...

fraternal orders Fraternal may refer to: * Fraternal organization, an organized society of men associated together in an environment of companionship and brotherhood, dedicated to the intellectual, physical, and social development of its members * Fraternal order ...

in the United States. It was founded as the National Fraternal Congress of America in 1913, in Chicago, Illinois.

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''International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders'' New York; Facts on File, inc 1997 p. 24 and 179 It adopted its current name in 2011.

History

The origins of the AFA go back to November 17, 1886, when a congress of sixteen fraternal orders representing 535,000 members met in Washington, DC. The original meeting was called by the

Ancient Order of United Workmen The Ancient Order of United Workmen (AOUW) was a fraternal organization in the United States and Canada, providing mutual social and financial support after the American Civil War. It was the first of the "fraternal benefit societies", organizati ...

, the pioneer fraternal insurance society, to establish uniform insurance legislation in all states. The 1913 meeting in Chicago resulted in the formation of a permanent organization, the National Fraternal Congress (NFC). On March 21, 1901, several fraternal orders created the rival Associated Fraternities of America in Chicago.Schmidt p.46 It was created "as a protest against the workings" of the NFC. The two groups re-merged in 1913 as the National Fraternal Congress ''of America''. Another group the competed with the NFC for a time was the American Fraternal Congress, which was organized in

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, in 1898. This group differed from the NFC in that it only allowed orders that had adopted the legal reserve system to be members. The NFC adopted a Uniform Bill for state insurance regulations in 1893. In 1910, with the assistance of the

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– it promulgated the Mobile bill, which was modified in 1912 as the New York Conference bill. It also created a

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in 1899.Schmidt pp.226-7 It became the American Fraternal Alliance in 2011. Its headquarters are in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Publications

The NFC published a magazine, ''Fraternal Monitor'' and an annual ''Statistics, Fraternal Societies''.

Membership

The current members of the AFA include: * 1891 Financial Life (National Catholic Society of Foresters) * Alliance of Transylvanian Saxons * American Mutual Life Association *

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(formerly Woodman of the World) *BetterLife (merger of members National Mutual Benefit and

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) * Catholic Association of Foresters * Catholic Financial Life *CLC Life Insurance / Catholic Ladies of Columbia * Catholic Life Insurance * Catholic Order of Foresters * KJT - Catholic Union of Texas * Catholic United Financial * Croatian Fraternal Union of America * CSA Fraternal Life * Employes Mutual Benefit Association * Everence Association, Inc. * FCSLA Life (First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association of the USA) * First Catholic Slovak Union * Foresters Financial * GBU Life *

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* Greek Catholic Union of the USA (GCU) * Hermann Sons Life * KJZT Family Life *

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*KSKJ Life ( American Slovenian Catholic Union) * LPSCU Life (Ladies Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union) * LCBA ( Loyal Christian Benefit Association) * Luso-American Financial *

Modern Woodmen of America Modern Woodmen of America (MWA) is an American Benefit society, fraternal benefit society, which sells various investments and insurance products, with membership over 750,000 as of 2017. Total assets reached US$17.5 Billion 1,000,000,000 (numbe ...

* NSS Life – National Slovak Society * Police and Firemen’s Insurance Association *

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Polish National Alliance The Polish National Alliance (PNA) ( pol. Związek Narodowy Polski, (ZNP)) is the largest and one of the oldest Polish fraternal organizations in the United States. The original goal was to mobilize support among Polish Americans for the libera ...

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d * Portuguese Fraternal Society of America * Providence Association of Ukrainian Catholics in America *

Royal Arcanum The Supreme Council of the Royal Arcanum, commonly known simply as the Royal Arcanum, is a fraternal benefit society founded in 1877 in Boston, Massachusetts by John A. Cummings and Darius Wilson, who had previously been among the founders of the ...

* Royal Neighbors of America *RBO - Russian Brotherhood Organization * Serenia Life Financial * Slovak Catholic Sokol * Slovene National Benefit Society (SNPJ) *

Sons of Norway Sons of Norway (), founded in 1895 as the Independent Order of the Sons of Norway, is a fraternal organization principally representing people of Norwegian-American, Norwegian heritage in the United States and Canada. The organization includes i ...

* SPJST * Teachers Life *

Thrivent Thrivent Financial for Lutherans (marketing name Thrivent) ( ), is an American Fortune 500 not-for-profit financial services organization headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Appleton, Wisconsin, and founded by Lutherans. As a member-own ...

Ukrainian National Association The Ukrainian National Association (UNA) (), known before 1914 as the Ruthenian National Union (), is a North American fraternal organization founded in Shamokin, Pennsylvania on February 22, 1894, when the first wave of immigrants from the terr ...

* United Transportation Union Insurance Association (UTUIA) * Western Catholic Union * Woman’s Life Insurance Society * WoodmenLife * WSA Fraternal Life

Former members

Former members of the AFA include: * ACTRA Fraternal Benefit Society * Baptist Life Association * Catholic Family Fraternal of the State of Texas (KJZT) * Catholic Holy Family Society *

Degree of Honor Protective Association The Degree of Honor Protective Association is a fraternal benefit society. It was originally organized as a female auxiliary to the Ancient Order of United Workmen, but split off in 1910 to become its own independent group. It merged with Catholi ...

* Grand Court Order of Calanthe * Grand Orange Lodge of British America Benefit Fund * Knights of Peter Claver, Inc. * Order of the Sons of Hermann in the State of Texas * Order of United Commercial Travelers of America *Polish National Union of America *Polish Union of the United States of North America *Serb National Federation *Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol of the USA * Sons of Poland *Sons of Scotland Benevolent Association *Toronto Police Widows and Orphans Fund *Ukrainian Fraternal Society of Canada

References

External links