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Founded By and For Women It was 1888, a time of great social, economic and scientific change in the United States. The Suffragettes were busy forming the Equal Rights Party. Edison had just introduced his phonograph. Kodak announced the first handheld camera, and Burroughs patented his adding machine. In November 1888, Marie L. Kirkland put a notice in her local paper, the Daily Nonpareil, of Council Bluffs, IA, to call a meeting of the wives of Modern Woodmen of America members to arrange a social. Nine women, including Mrs. Kirkland, met and formed a "ladies auxiliary" to Modern Woodmen Camp 171. However, within a year the group reorganized as a social organization, with a constitution, rituals and articles of incorporation, and renamed itself Royal Neighbors of America. The name is derived from Proverbs 27:10, "For better is a neighbor that is near than a brother that is far." The word "royal" was added to signify the ladies' belief in the nobility of their work. The name has been so reflective of the Society's principles of "neighbor helping neighbor" that not once in its more than 109 years has there been a suggestion to modify the name. The first Royal Neighbors of America Head Camp was held in Council Bluffs in January 1892, with women from four camps in Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois attending. Mrs. Kirkland, who is credited as the "Mother of the Society," was elected the first Supreme Vice Oracle and wrote the constitution and bylaws. Miss Lilian Huff was elected the first Supreme Oracle and wrote the Society's first rituals. In the years following the Civil War, commercial life insurance grew in popularity in the United States. The insurance was backed by old-line, stock companies and was so expensive that only prosperous businessmen could afford it. In the 1870s and '80s, a number of fraternal benefit societies (nonprofit membership organizations) were formed to offer affordable insurance protection to their members. However, both the early commercial insurers and newly formed fraternal benefit societies excluded women. Between 1892 and 1894, the idea of forming a fraternal benefit society for women was discussed at Royal Neighbors of America meetings. At the third Head Camp in January 1894, delegates voted to incorporate as a fraternal benefit society in the state of Illinois, which had favorable insurance laws. It took a year of organizing, but at the Head Camp in January 1895, a petition for a charter to offer life insurance was approved and sent to the Illinois Secretary of State. The charter was signed on March 21, 1895, officially forming the Royal Neighbors of America Fraternal Benefit Society, which included more than 4,100 charter members. The Society was formed, according to the early Royal Neighbors charter, "to bring joy and comfort into many homes that might otherwise today be dark and cheerless. . . by affording the mother an opportunity to provide protection upon her life." Our Emblem Since 1894, the emblem of Royal Neighbors of America has remained a steadfast representation of the values most important to the pioneering women who founded our Society. The generations of women following in their footsteps have held fast to their vision. The emblem symbolizes RNA's six great guiding principles: The blue petal represents Faith. The yellow petal represents Unselfishness. The green petal represents Courage. The purple petal represents Endurance. The white petal represents Modesty. The center represents Morality. This emblem, unchanged in more than 100 years, remains not only an integral part of the Royal Neighbors of America logo, but a symbol that unites our membership in a bond of fraternalism. |
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