It was over 100 years ago on February 6th, 1898 the Fraternal Order of Eagles was founded by
six theater owners sitting on a pile of lumber in Moran's shipyard in Seattle Washington.
Competitors in the theater industry, they met to discuss a musicians strike. After deciding
what to do on that issue, they decided to bury the hatchet and and form an organization dubbed
"The Order of Good Things".
The first meetings were held on the stages of various local theaters and after the business
was settled a keg of beer was rolled out and all enjoyed a few hours of social activities. A
few weeks later as their numbers grew they chose the Bald Eagle as their official emblem and
changed the name to "The Fraternal Order of Eagles." The membership formed a Grand Aerie in
April 1898, secured a charter, drew up a constitution and by-laws and elected it's first
president, John Cort.
Most of the first Eagle members were connected with the theatre, actors, stagehands,
playwrights, etc., and as they went on tour they carried the story of the new order with them
across the United States and Canada. This is the reason the Eagles grew so quickly and all the way
across the country. Many cities in the east have low aerie numbers such as New York #40,
Philadelphia #42 and Buffalo #46.
The idea spread like wildfire. The order was unique in it's concept of brotherhood and it's
early success has been attributed to it's establishment of a sick and funeral benefit
(no Eagle was ever buried in a "Potter's Field"), along with provisions for an Aerie
physician and other "fringe benefits", unknown in other fraternal organizations up to that
time.
As the Eagles grew, so did its responsibilities to it's members. Its first Constitution and
By-Laws were merely copied from those previously used by a defunct fraternal organization and
it took later members like Frank Hering - the "Father of Mothers Day," and long time editor
of the national Eagle Publication - to revise the By-Laws and make them unique from any other
organization.
Hering, a member of South Bend Aerie No. 435, who had been Notre Dame's first Athletic
Director and a great football quarterback and baseball player, wrote the order's funeral
service. When he died in 1943 his stirring words were recited over his own body by Grand
Worthy president Lester Loble. It was men like Hering who kept the eagles from going under
during the difficult days at the turn of the century and built the solid foundation it rests
on today.
Over the years, the Eagles have fought and won many bitter battles for a Workman's
Compensation Act, Mothers and Old Age pensions, Social Security laws and "Jobs After 40"
and are still fighting to liberalize present social benefits along with combating vicious
diseases plaguing mankind through their sponsorship of the Art Ehrmann Cancer Fund, Max Bear
Heart Fund, Jimmy Durante Children's Fund, "Doc" Dunlap Kidney Fund and the Diabetes Fund.
Many great social and political leaders have belonged to the Eagles. President Theodore
Roosevelt was one of the many who joined and praised the order for its humanitarian
accomplishments, as did a later Roosevelt - Franklin D. President Harry S. Truman often
reiterated that the Eagles were his type of organization - one founded by, and for the
common man.
1898 Order was founded in Seattle, Washington on February 6th.
1908 Sponsored America's first Mother's Pension Law.
1911 Sponsored America's First Workmen's Compensation Laws.
1923 Sponsored America's First Old Age Pension Law.
1923 25th Anniversary.
1935 Supported Enactment of Social Security Law.
1941 Dedicated "Eagle Dormitory" at Boy's Town, Nebraska.
1944 Established the Eagles Memorial Foundation.
1948 50th Anniversary.
1950 Financed the entrance of The Chapel of the Four Chaplains.
1953 Established Eagle Haus in Free Berlin, Germany.
1957 Inaugurated Nation-wide "Jobs After 40" program.
1959 Established EAGLE-CARE Trade School in Naples, Italy.
1960 Dedicated "Eagle Hall" at Home on the Range for Boys in North Dakota.
1961 Dedicated "Eagle Village" in Florida as senior Eagle retirement home.
1962 Established EAGLE-CARE Trade School in Abadan, Iran.
1963 Established "Eagle House" in Benyan, Turkey.
1964 Established "Eagle House" in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.
1965 Established "Eagle House" in Israel and Tunisia.
1966 Establishment of Ralph Bird Memorial Library at Eagle Village.
1967 Establishment of Jimmy Durante Children's Fund.
1968 Established "Eagle House" in Columbia, South America.
1969 Established "Eagle House" in the Phillipine Islands.
1970 Established "Eagle Ridge Village" in Topeka, Kansas.
1971 Established "max Schroeder Eagle House" in South Korea.
1972 Established Golden Eagle Fund.
1973 75th Anniversary.
1974 Established "Jimmy Durante Eagle House" in Managua, Nicaragua.
1975 Initiated Blow the Whistle on Crime program.
1976 Instituted the first European Aerie.
1977 Established EAGLE-CARE Weaving Center in Guatemala.
1978 Established "Hubert H. Humphrey Eagles Care School" in Honduras.
1979 1st Telethon for Hughen School for Children in Point Arthur, Texas.
1983 Max Baer Heart Fund offers 1st Grant.
1984 $405,000 donated to Eagles Truman Cardiovascular Lab.
1985 Eagles mark $1 million in donations to St. Jude's.
1986 Eagles launch "Crack down on Crack" drive.
1987 Eagles~Care drive is launched.
1988 Honoring the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery with a plaque.
1989 Eagles launch a drive to make desecration of the flag a crime.
1990 Memorial foundation increases educational grant from $3,000 to $4,000.
1991 Eagles drive to support our military in Desert Storm.
1992 Eagles launch fund to aid Florida victims from hurricane Andrew.
1993 Eagles launch flood relief to help people in the Midwest.
1994 The Eagles Donor Fund established.
1995 Eagles donate $50,000 to the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial.
1996 Dedication to the Soldiers of WWII in Hawaii.
1998 100th Anniversary.
1998 $1,000,000 given to Charity at Grand Aerie Convention.
1999 Memorial Foundation establishes H.O.M.E. Fund and G.R.E.A.T. program.
1999 April 29th is designated as Judge Bob Hansen Day.
2001 Memorial Foundation establishes the "Attack on America Fund" to assist the victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks.
2001 Memorial Foundation extends medical and educational benefits to the
families of all members who lose their life on the job.
2001 Eagles purchase property to consolidate National Headquarters.
2002 FOE International Headquarters opens in Grove City Ohio.
2003 Eagles are a major sponsor in the development of the Military Tribute to Bob Hope located in San Diego California.
2003 "Where Eagles Fly" becomes our theme song.
2004 May 1st is designated as �Child Advocacy Day�