Louisiana Fraternal Lodges

About Fraternal Organizations in Louisiana

A deep look at the history, oldest lodges, membership process, and notable members of fraternal organizations across Louisiana.

History of Fraternal Organizations in Louisiana

Louisiana's fraternal history is unlike anyone else's. The state was Catholic before it was American, French and Spanish before it was English-speaking, and African and Caribbean before it was anything else. Those layers produced a fraternal landscape with no real parallel in the United States. Freemasonry arrived in New Orleans through French and Caribbean channels in the 1790s, well before the Louisiana Purchase, and Perfect Union Lodge in New Orleans, chartered in 1794, is one of the oldest continuously operating Masonic lodges in North America.

The Grand Lodge of Louisiana was constituted in 1812. Beyond Masonry, New Orleans developed a parallel ecosystem of mutual-aid societies, benevolent associations, and Carnival krewes that operated as fraternal organizations in everything but name. Black New Orleanians built one of the country's strongest networks of mutual-aid and burial societies, and the Prince Hall Masonic tradition in Louisiana produced figures like P.B.S. Pinchback, who served as the first Black governor of any U.S.

state. The Catholic majority along the Mississippi and in Acadiana made Louisiana a natural home for the Knights of Columbus once the order arrived from Connecticut in the 1880s and 1890s. The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks established New Orleans Elks Lodge No. 30 in 1881 — one of the order's earliest lodges in the South.

Other early lodges arose in Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lake Charles, Alexandria, and Lafayette, and the order found particular footing in the river towns and the oil-and-gas centers of southwestern Louisiana. The Loyal Order of Moose, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Woodmen of the World, and the Knights of Pythias all built strong Louisiana followings in the early twentieth century. The Carnival krewes — Comus, Rex, Momus, Proteus, Zulu, and the rest — overlap with these orders in ways that visitors from other states often find puzzling, but in Louisiana the line between a fraternal lodge and a Carnival krewe has always been a porous one.

Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks in Louisiana

New Orleans Elks Lodge No. 30 was instituted in 1881, making it one of the oldest BPOE lodges in the South and one of the earliest west and south of the Mason-Dixon line. From the start it occupied a peculiar Louisiana place in the order's national life. Its early membership rolls were heavy with theater people, newspapermen, lawyers, and merchants — a profile that mirrored the original New York Elks lodge from which the order had grown only thirteen years earlier.

The lodge's downtown clubhouse on St. Charles Avenue became a New Orleans landmark for much of the twentieth century, hosting visiting Grand Exalted Rulers, national conventions, and an annual Flag Day ceremony that drew politicians from across the state. Other Louisiana Elks lodges followed in Baton Rouge (No. 490), Shreveport (No.

122), Lake Charles (No. 1146), Alexandria (No. 546), Monroe (No. 326), Lafayette (No.

1224), and a string of smaller cities and parish seats including Houma, New Iberia, Morgan City, Bogalusa, Ruston, Natchitoches, and Slidell. Louisiana Elks have long supported the Elks National Foundation scholarships and the order's veterans-service programs, and the state has a particularly active Major Project providing therapy services for children with cerebral palsy and other developmental conditions. Hurricane recovery has been a recurring focus: after Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Ida, and Laura, the Louisiana State Elks Association coordinated rebuilding grants, member-relief funds, and supply runs in partnership with national Elks programs. New Orleans No.

30's Mardi Gras-week events have drawn visiting Elks from across the country for generations, and Baton Rouge No. 490 has long maintained close ties to the LSU and state-government communities. Shreveport No. 122 anchors Elks life in the northwestern parishes and runs an active Hoop Shoot competition annually.

Loyal Order of Moose in Louisiana

The Loyal Order of Moose came into Louisiana in the early twentieth century with the same pitch it used everywhere — affordable mutual insurance, the Mooseheart child-care campus in Illinois, and a working-class clubhouse where dues bought you membership in a national network. New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, Lafayette, Alexandria, Monroe, Houma, Bogalusa, and Shreveport all chartered Moose lodges, and the order found particular traction in the oil-and-gas towns of the southwest, where the workforce was both transient and family-minded. Mooseheart's promise to take in the children of deceased members carried real weight in an industry where workplace fatalities were common, and Louisiana refinery and offshore-oil families sent more than their share of children to the Mooseheart campus. The Women of the Moose ran much of the actual charitable work, particularly food drives and Christmas-basket distributions in the smaller refinery towns.

Lake Charles Moose Lodge in particular built a reputation as a community anchor in southwestern Louisiana, and Baton Rouge's Moose Lodge developed close ties to the state's chemical and refining industries. The Louisiana Moose Association also funded scholarships for the children of deceased members and supported Moosehaven, the order's retirement community in Florida, which has hosted Louisiana members for generations. Today Louisiana retains roughly 20 active Moose lodges, mostly clustered in the southwestern parishes and the river cities, with smaller halls in north Louisiana and the Florida parishes.

Eagles, Knights of Columbus & Other Fraternal Orders in Louisiana

Knights of Columbus is the giant of Louisiana fraternalism. The order arrived in Louisiana in the 1900s, and within a generation it had councils in essentially every parish along the Mississippi, in the German Coast settlements, and across Acadiana. The Catholic culture of South Louisiana made KC a natural fit, and parish-based councils became the backbone of charitable life in towns like Lafayette, New Iberia, Houma, Thibodaux, Abbeville, Eunice, and Opelousas. New Orleans, naturally, has dozens of councils tied to specific parishes, and the Louisiana State Council ranks among the larger jurisdictions in the country on a per-capita basis.

The Fraternal Order of Eagles arrived in Louisiana shortly after its 1898 founding in Seattle, planting aeries in New Orleans, Lake Charles, and a handful of other cities. The Eagles never grew to KC scale in Louisiana, but the order's signature work on old-age pensions and Mother's Day was popular among the working-class membership. Louisiana also has a robust Carnival-krewe ecosystem that overlaps significantly with the older fraternal orders — many krewe members are also Masons, Elks, or Knights of Columbus, and the Mardi Gras balls of Comus, Rex, and Zulu have always had a fraternal feel. Combined with the Prince Hall Masonic tradition and a network of African American social aid and pleasure clubs, the Eagles and KC presence completes one of the country's most distinctive fraternal landscapes.

Louisiana Fraternal Lodges by the Numbers

Louisiana has approximately 35 active Elks lodges with combined membership of roughly 12,000 to 14,000. The Loyal Order of Moose maintains about 20 lodges with 6,000 to 7,000 members. Knights of Columbus is by far the largest fraternal order in Louisiana, with more than 250 councils and approximately 35,000 members under the Louisiana State Council. The Fraternal Order of Eagles is smaller, with around a dozen active aeries.

The Grand Lodge of Louisiana F&AM reports roughly 12,000 Masons across about 220 lodges, and the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Louisiana maintains an additional active membership of several thousand. Odd Fellows membership has declined since the 1920s peak but a few IOOF lodges remain active in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Beyond these national orders, Louisiana retains a uniquely robust network of Carnival krewes — Rex, Comus, Zulu, Bacchus, Endymion, Iris, Muses, and many more — that function as fraternal societies in everything but name. Lions Clubs and Rotary Clubs are also widespread, with Lions especially active in the Cajun parishes and Rotary anchored in the larger commercial cities of New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Shreveport.

How to Join a Fraternal Lodge in Louisiana

Joining a Louisiana fraternal organization typically begins with a phone call or a Friday-night fish fry. Elks lodges require U.S. citizenship, age 21 or older, belief in a Supreme Being, sponsorship by a current member, and a favorable lodge vote. Annual Elks dues in Louisiana run from $100 to $180 with a modest initiation fee.

The Moose welcome members of good character at least 21 years old with a belief in a Supreme Being; dues typically run $40 to $80 a year. The Knights of Columbus is open to practical Catholics aged 18 and older; dues are usually $30 to $50 plus per-capita assessments. The Fraternal Order of Eagles is open to people of any faith of good character at least 21 years old; Louisiana Eagles dues typically run $35 to $50. Carnival krewes operate on a separate track entirely — they are private associations with their own dues, captains, and selection processes, and joining a krewe like Rex or Bacchus is a different procedure from joining an Elks lodge.

Many Louisianans, however, belong to both, and the social overlap is considerable. The simplest path into any of the major fraternal orders in Louisiana is to attend a public event — a crawfish boil, gumbo cook-off, fish fry, or Knights of Columbus pancake breakfast — and ask the cook, bartender, or volunteer at the door how to apply. Most Louisiana lodges maintain Facebook pages with event calendars and contact information, and the Louisiana State Elks Association and Louisiana State Council of the Knights of Columbus both host comprehensive lodge and council finders on their websites.

Notable Louisiana Fraternal Members in History

Louisiana fraternal life has produced or attracted a long list of notables. Andrew Jackson, although a Tennessee Mason, was made an honorary member of Louisiana lodges after the Battle of New Orleans. P.B.S. Pinchback, the Reconstruction-era acting governor and U.S.

senator-elect, was a leader of Louisiana Prince Hall Masonry. Governor Huey P. Long was a Mason raised in Pythagoras Lodge in Shreveport, and his brother Earl Long was also a Mason. Author Lyle Saxon, who chronicled New Orleans for the WPA, was an Elk in New Orleans Lodge No.

30. Composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk's family had Masonic ties in New Orleans. Senator Russell Long, son of Huey, was a Mason and a Knights of Columbus member. Coach Eddie Robinson of Grambling was a Prince Hall Mason.

Chef Paul Prudhomme had Knights of Columbus connections in Acadiana. Drew Brees, while playing for the Saints, occasionally appeared at Knights of Columbus charitable events. Trumpeter Louis Armstrong was a member of the Knights of Pythias and was honored at events of the Black mutual-aid societies of New Orleans throughout his life. Senator John Breaux of Crowley was associated with Knights of Columbus events in Acadiana.

Chef Leah Chase had ties to multiple New Orleans fraternal and benevolent societies. Quarterback Archie Manning was honored at Louisiana Elks and KC charity functions during his Saints years. Author Anne Rice's family had New Orleans Catholic fraternal connections.

Frequently Asked Questions: Louisiana Fraternal Lodges

Sources & Further Reading

• https://www.elks.org
• https://www.lakofc.org
• https://www.mooseintl.org
• https://www.kofc.org
• https://www.foe.com
• https://www.la-mason.com
• https://www.hnoc.org
• https://www.mardigrasneworleans.com