From mutual aid to the welfare state: fraternal societies and social services, 1890-1967 (Google eBook)

David T Beito

Univ of North Carolina Press, 2000 - Political Science - 320 pages

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, more Americans belonged to fraternal societies than to any other kind of voluntary association, with the possible exception of churches. Despite the stereotypical image of the lodge as the exclusive domain of white men, fraternalism cut across race, class, and gender lines to include women, African Americans, and immigrants. Exploring the history and impact of fraternal societies in the United States, David Beito uncovers the vital importance they had in the social and fiscal lives of millions of American families.

Much more than a means of addressing deep-seated cultural, psychological, and gender needs, fraternal societies gave Americans a way to provide themselves with social-welfare services that would otherwise have been inaccessible, Beito argues. In addition to creating vast social and mutual aid networks among the poor and in the working class, they made affordable life and health insurance available to their members and established hospitals, orphanages, and homes for the elderly. Fraternal societies continued their commitment to mutual aid even into the early years of the Great Depression, Beito says, but changing cultural attitudes and the expanding welfare state eventually propelled their decline.

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Review: From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State: Fraternal Societies and Social Services, 1890-1967

User Review  - Derek - Goodreads

Beito does a very good job exploring the number of ways in which traditional fraternal organizations, founded on the principles of mutual aid, promoted social welfare in the US until the rise of the ...

Contents

• IV: 5
• V: 17
• VI: 44
• VII: 63
• VIII: 87
• IX: 109
• X: 130
• XI: 143
• XII: 161
• XIII: 181
• XIV: 204
• XV: 222
• XVI: 235
• XVII: 291
• XVIII: 307

Popular passages

Page 1 - The tendency to join fraternal organizations for the purpose of obtaining care and relief in the event of sickness and insurance for the family in case of death is well-nigh universal. To the laboring classes and those of moderate means they offer many advantages not to be had elsewhere.‎

Bibliographic information

• Title: From mutual aid to the welfare state: fraternal societies and social services, 1890-1967
• Author: David T Beito
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press, 2000
• ISBN: 0807860557, 9780807860557
• Length: 320 pages
• Subjects: History / United States / 20th Century; Political Science / Political Economy; Political Science / Public Policy / Social Policy; Political Science / Public Policy / Social Services & Welfare