African American Fraternal Associations in U.S. Society and Politics

Harvard FAS

Cross-class fraternal associations were long central to African American civil society. Using unique primary sources as well as secondary works, this research seminar explores the development of a range of fraternal orders that flourished from the mid-1800s through the Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras. Case studies include the largest U.S.-centered transnational associations; fraternal groups founded and led by Black women; and the small number of groups that tried to include both Blacks and…