Independent Order of Odd Fellows

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For IOOF, the Australian investment company see IOOF (company)

The I.O.O.F. Hall at the corner of Yonge and College in Toronto, Ontario

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) is a fraternal organization derived from English Oddfellows orders of the mid-1700s.

The Patriotic Order in England was followed by the Union of United Orders and the Loyal Order. In 1813, various lodges of the Union Order organized the Manchester Unity of Odd Fellows. Several unofficial lodges existed in New York City, but American Odd Fellowship is regarded as being founded in Baltimore in 1819, by Thomas Wildey, and the following year affiliated with the Manchester Unity. Within a few years the new American separated from the English Orders and formed the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Its ladies' auxiliary is known as the Rebekahs. Both the Odd Fellows and Rebakahs have higher branches known as Encampments and Patriarchs Militant.

Today, some branches of the order (ie: some countries) allow women to join the Odd Fellows itself, leading the Rebekahs to have declined in importance. The higher branches and their degrees are in places regarded as being of less importance, or too time-consuming, and are (in some countries) gradually being abandoned.

1 Grand United Order of Odd Fellows
2 External links

[edit] Grand United Order of Odd Fellows

The Grand United Order of Odd Fellows is a fraternal organization founded in 1843 for black members.[1] Created at a time when the IOOF was primarily a white-only organization the GUOOF obtained its charter directly from the Manchester Unity in Great Britain so the American IOOF organization had no control over it. Although still in existence the membership in the US has declined, due to the mainstream IOOF no longer being segregated and also due to the decline in fraternal membership in general.