Fraternal Order of Eagles

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Fraternal Order of Eagles International is a fraternal organization. It was founded on February 6, 1898, in Seattle, Washington, by a group of six theater owners, including John Cort (the first president), brothers John W. and Tim J. Considine, Harry Leavitt, Mose Goldsmith, and Arthur Williams. Originally made up of those engaged in one way or other in the performing arts, the Eagles grew and claimed credit for establishing the Mother's Day holiday in the United States as well as the "impetus for Social Security".

Originally, membership in the order was restricted to whites only; this led to a controversy in Milwaukee in the late 1960s, when a radical Roman Catholic priest, Father James Groppi, discovered that many local judges were members of the order. Groppi questioned how a judge could render impartial decisions in cases involving non-whites when that judge belonged to an organization which excluded non-whites from its membership. The result was a series of demonstrations, including, in some instances, picketing of the residences of the judges in question. Eventually, the order dropped its ban on non-white members, but nonetheless its membership remains overwhelmingly white today.

As with many other fraternal organizations, the Eagles' numbers have dwindled in recent years, though no membership figures have been identified.