The American Fraternal Alliance (AFA) is an umbrella groupoffraternal orders in the United States. It was founded as the National Fraternal Congress of America in 1913, in Chicago[1] and adopted its current name in 2011.[2]
The origins of the AFA go back to November 17, 1886, when a congress of sixteen fraternal orders representing 535,000 members met in Washington, DC. The original meeting was called by the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the pioneer fraternal insurance society, to establish uniform insurance legislation in all states. The meeting formed a permanent organization, the National Fraternal Congress (NFC).[3]
On March 21, 1901, several fraternal orders created the rival Associated Fraternities of America in Chicago.[4] It was created "as a protest against the workings" of the NFC. The two groups re-merged in 1913 as the National Fraternal Congress of America.[5][6]
Another group the competed with the NFC for a time was the American Fraternal Congress, which was organized in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1898. This group differed from the NFC in that it only allowed orders that had adopted the legal reserve system to be members.[7]
The NFC adopted a Uniform Bill for state insurance regulations in 1893. In 1910, with the assistance of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners – it promulgated the Mobile bill, which was modified in 1912 as the New York Conference bill. It also created a mortality table in 1899.[8]
The NFC published a magazine, Fraternal Monitor and an annual Statistics, Fraternal Societies.[9]
The current members of the AFA include:[10]
And in Canada:
