The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE; also often known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks) is an American fraternal order and social club founded in 1868. It is one of the leading fraternal orders in the U.S., claiming nearly one million members. History
The Elks had modest beginnings in 1868 as a social club (then called the "Jolly Corks") established as a private club to elude Ne
w York City laws governing the opening hours of public taverns. After the death of a member left his wife and children without income, the club took up additional service roles, rituals and a new name. Desiring to adopt "a readily identifiable creature of stature, indigenous to America", fifteen members voted 8-7 to favor the elk above the buffalo. Early members were mostly from theatrical performing troupes in New York City. It has since evolved into a major American fraternal, charitable, and service order with more than a million members, both men and women, throughout the United States. Membership was opened to African Americans in the 1970s, although the Winter Haven, Florida Elks Club was famously segregated as late as 1985, when Boston Red Sox Coach Tommy Harper protested a Red Sox policy of permitting them into the spring training clubhouse to issue lodge clubroom invitations to white players only. Women were permitted to join in the mid-1990s, but currently atheists are excluded. The opening of membership to women was mandated by the Oregon Public Accommodations Act, which was found by an appeals court to apply to the BPOE, and it has been speculated that the religious restriction might be litigated on the same basis. A year after the national organization changed its policy to allow women to join, the Vermont Supreme Court ordered punitive damages of $5,000 for each of seven women whom a local chapter had rejected citing other reasons. citizens over the age of 21 and believe in God.
