Later that year, the organization changed its name to Fraternal Order of Eagles and formed the first Aerie.

1898 – 'Order of Good Things' established.

( February 2019) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. In the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the term Aerie is the name of the building in which the members meet and hold events. Every year they raise millions of dollars to combat heart disease and cancer, help children with disabilities, and uplift the aged and infirm.Īn aerie in nature is the lofty nest of any bird of prey, including eagles and hawks. The Eagles have provided support for medical centers across the United States and Canada to build and provide research on medical conditions. The Eagles pushed for the founding of Mother's Day, provided the impetus for Social Security, and pushed to end job discrimination based on age.

The organization's appeal is also attributed to its funeral benefits (no Eagle was ever knowingly buried in a potter's field), the provision of an aerie physician, and other membership benefits. Most early members were actors, stagehands and playwrights, who carried the Eagles story as they toured across the United States and Canada. Touring theater troupes are credited with much of the Eagles' rapid growth. In April 1898, the membership formed a Grand Aerie, secured a charter and developed a constitution and by-laws, with John Cort elected the Eagles' first president. As numbers grew, participants selected the bald eagle as the official emblem and changed the name to 'The Fraternal Order of Eagles'. After deciding how to handle the strike, they agreed to 'bury the hatchet' and form an organization dubbed 'The Order of Good Things'.Įarly meetings were held on local theater stages, and after taking care of business, attendees rolled out a keg of beer and enjoyed social time. They were competitors who had come together to discuss a musicians' strike. The organization was formed by six theater owners sitting on a pile of lumber in Moran's shipyard in Seattle, Washington. The Fraternal Order of Eagles was founded on February 6, 1898. The Fraternal Order of Eagles, an international non-profit organization, unites fraternally in the spirit of liberty, truth, justice, and equality, to make human life more desirable by lessening its ills, and by promoting peace, prosperity, gladness and hope. 1, Eagles Auditorium Building in Seattle. Terracotta ornamentation of the former Eagles Aerie No.

Grand aerie foe