equal than the Elks they weren’t
allowed to join. The Improved
Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks (IBPOE) was formed in 1897.
The first lodge was in Cincinnati,
Ohio.
In the early twentieth century, IBPOE
lodges became popular places for
black men to spend their free time.
In 1902, a black woman named
Emma Virginia Kelley started an
organization called the Daughters of
the Elks in Virginia. It became part of
the IBPOE.
Meanwhile, white
women weren’t allowed
to join the Elks. At the
Elks’ national convention in 1989,
a proposal to admit women was
defeated. The question came up
again in 1995. Membership in the
Elks was dropping. Women were
putting pressure on the society to
let them in. Finally the Elks said yes.
The Constitution of the Grand
Lodge of Elks was amended.
Women were allowed to join.
500,000
Number of IBPOE
members across
1,500 lodges worldwide
as of 2018.
• The Elks society was
established by white men
in 1868.
• People of color couldn’t
join, so two black men set
up their own Elks lodge.
• By the early 1900s, black
men and women were
both able to socialize in
IBPOE lodges.
Emma
Virginia Kelley
in 1921.
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