Improved Order of Red Men collection

Collection

Collection number: ahc.MSS701f

Scope and Content

This collection contains by-laws, capital stock certificates, a membership certificate, and correspondence about the Improved Order of Red Men. The constitution and by-laws come from the Comanche Tribe, number six, of Atlanta, Georgia, and are dated 1890. The capital stock and membership certificates are issued to M. J. Greenblatt from the Chippewa Tribe, number fifty, also of Atlanta. The correspondence includes letters between Anthony K. O'Neill and Franklin Garrett on the unknown status of the organization in 1988.

Dates

1890-1988, undated

Creator

Improved Order of Red Men (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. All requests to publish, quote, or, reproduce must be submitted through the Kenan Research Center.

Administrative/Biographical History

The Improved Order of Red Men is a national fraternal organization that traces its origin to the Sons of Liberty. The Sons of Liberty was founded in 1765 and patterned after the Iroquois Confederacy's democratic governing body. On December 16, 1773, members of the Sons of Liberty met in Boston, Massachusetts, to protest the tax on tea imposed by England and later participated in the Boston Tea Party. In 1813, at Fort Mifflin, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, several of these patriotic groups, including the Sons of Liberty and the Sons of St. Tammany, came together and formed one organization known as the Society of Red Men. At a meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, the name was changed to the Improved Order of Red Men and in 1847 the various tribes organized to form the Grand Council of the United States.