Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World serving the community for 100+ years.
One such organization is the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks of the World (IBPOEW). Currently boasting 500,000 members in over 1,500 lodges worldwide, the IBPOEW is the largest Black fraternal organization in the world. The IBPOEW's stated purpose is "that the welfare and happiness of its members be promoted and enhanced, that nobleness of soul and goodness of heart be cultivated, that the principles or Charity, Justice, Brotherly/Sisterly Love and Fidelity be inculcated, that its members and their families be assisted and protected, [and] that the spirit of patriotism be enlivened and exalted."
The Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World was granted a copyright as an organization on September 28, 1898, in Cincinnati, Ohio. A Pullman porter, Arthur James Riggs, and Benjamin Franklin Howard, who were both members of another fraternal organization, met in that city, and they discovered that they both had dreams of forming an Elks organization for people of color. Their dreams and plans were realized when the first Lodge, Alpha Lodge No. 1, was organized in Cincinnati, as a result of the efforts of these two men. As the Elks prevailed, the organization struggled against many racist attitudes and legal efforts to deny the existence of the Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World.
